Quench oil decision

[Noellaflamme]

So, I am going to be ordering some quench oil soon (have been using canola), and I am debating getting parks 50, or the 11 second mcmaster oil. I know there are certain steels that would do better with the P 50, but my main steels are 52100, 80crv2, and W2, but also started using 1095. I know the latter 2 and especially the 1095 would do best in P50, but i saw some tests people did with 1095 and the mcmaster oil getting around 65-66 as quenched and now I'm kind of conflicted whether the P50 is worth it since 1095 is more of an occasional steel for me... the W2 i have been getting decent results with the canola though.

What is everyone here's experiences in situations like this? i can get 5gal shipped of the mcmaster for about 100, but it looks like it will be much more for even a smaller amount of P50

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

Personally, I have two quench tanks in the shop..... Once holds Parks 50, which I use for the appropriate steels..... and the other tank contains Veterinarian Grade Mineral oil.....which is is very close to 11 second when pre-heated. Again.....I use the Mineral oil for the appropriate steels.

One thing having both in the shop has allowed me, is to experiment with the same steels in different quenches. I've discovered a number of things that contradict popular opinion/knowledge of quenching specific steels in certain quench medias......

As far as which one specifically you should use? It comes back to the steels you choose. Rather then use a bazzion different steels, pick 2-3 and work/learn/master them...... It's amazing the performance you can eeek out of a given steel if you take the time and effort necessary to master all it's aspects......rather then just a quench and a temper.

 

[Noellaflamme]

Personally, I have two quench tanks in the shop..... Once holds Parks 50, which I use for the appropriate steels..... and the other tank contains Veterinarian Grade Mineral oil.....which is is very close to 11 second when pre-heated. Again.....I use the Mineral oil for the appropriate steels.

One thing having both in the shop has allowed me, is to experiment with the same steels in different quenches. I've discovered a number of things that contradict popular opinion/knowledge of quenching specific steels in certain quench medias......

As far as which one specifically you should use? It comes back to the steels you choose. Rather then use a bazzion different steels, pick 2-3 and work/learn/master them...... It's amazing the performance you can eeek out of a given steel if you take the time and effort necessary to master all it's aspects......rather t
hen just a quench and a temper.

well I do generally just focus on 52100, 80crv2 and w2(depending on the knife), but recently picked up some 1095 pretty cheap so wanted to play with that which made me consider a faster quench. Im curious, what contradictions are you talking about? ive found some, especially with w2...

I definitely agree having 2 oils in the shop is probably best, for me its more that right now i dont want to have to buy 2 different ones

that's interesting about the mineral oil, how would you say it compares to canola?

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

The Vet grade mineral oil was the only qunechant I used from the beginning, until achieving my Mastersmith rating..... all the blades I made, including my JS and MS performance test blades where quenched in Mineral Oil. Most of the commercial quenchants are 95%+ mineral oil....with the remainder of it being wetting agents and/or flame retardants. So, the actual only difference I saw was how mineral oil flamed up, and how differing it's pre-heat temp affected the results of quenching specific steels.

Actually, the only reason I got/use Parks 50 is because Karl Anderson called me one day, and said that he had several "buckets" of Parks 50 that had been given to him....and I could have a 5 gallon bucket for the cost of shipping it to me. Couldn't turn that one down! I've actually come to rely on it for specific steels.....simple because I don't need to pre-heat it.....and of course it doesn't flame up.

Having spent the first 20 years of my Bladesmithing career using only the Vet grade mineral oil..... if the Bladesmith sticks to the steels its appropriate for..... there's really no need for anything else. For me the Parks 50 was an opportunity to experiment and see how I could use it to push the envelope of cutting performance.

 

[Daniel Macina]

I do believe I’ll pick up some mineral oil! Thanks Mr. Caffrey!

 

[Noellaflamme]

The Vet grade mineral oil was the only qunechant I used from the beginning, until achieving my Mastersmith rating..... all the blades I made, including my JS and MS performance test blades where quenched in Mineral Oil. Most of the commercial quenchants are 95%+ mineral oil....with the remainder of it being wetting agents and/or flame retardants. So, the actual only difference I saw was how mineral oil flamed up, and how differing it's pre-heat temp affected the results of quenching specific steels.

Actually, the only reason I got/use Parks 50 is because Karl Anderson called me one day, and said that he had several "buckets" of Parks 50 that had been given to him....and I could have a 5 gallon bucket for the cost of shipping it to me. Couldn't turn that one down! I've actually come to rely on it for specific steels.....simple because I don't need to pre-heat it.....and of course it doesn't flame up.

Having spent the first 20 years of my Bladesmithing career using only the Vet grade mineral oil..... if the Bladesmith sticks to the steels its appropriate for..... there's really no need for anything else. For me the Parks 50 was an opportunity to experiment and see how I could use it to push the envelope of cutting performance.

Well you just sold me on trying out mineral oil haha, I'm not too caught up in having the name brand oil everyone else has as long as I get good results...