Vermiculite question
- Thread starter Gliden07
- Start date
Freds Edge
Well-Known Member
Go to Lowes or Home Depot and look in the Garden Dept or your nearest garden center
Sean Jones
Well-Known Member
I've used cat litter before. It's cheaper and accomplishes the same thing.
opaul
Well-Known Member
This is what I did.
Jason Volkert
Well-Known Member
I find the Vermiculite stuff is just a waste of time. I have never had any problem drilling holes after normalizing the steel.
tkroenlein
Well-Known Member
I agree with Jason. Normalizing followed by subcritical anneal seems easy enough.
opaul
Well-Known Member
That may work for some but I could not drill some 15N20 (pre-heat treat) without differential heat treatment and using vermiculite.
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
15N20 is a bear to anneal. Often I have to do multiple cycles to get it soft enough to work.
Personally, I couldn't do without vermiculite in the hot shop.....lots of usefulness.
Vermiculite has the highest insulation value of the common materials that Blacksmiths/Bladesmiths use in their shops.... which is why I recommend it over all the other products for slow cooling operations of any type. Likely it's biggest drawback is it's affinity for moisture.....get it wet, and it literally will never fully dry, which can spell disaster for it's use/our purposes.
The particular type isn't terribly important. Lowes, or Home Depot. If not there, I have had to ordered in the past through a local garden/nursery center. Most time's I've seen/purchased it in 5 cubic foot bags.
Personally, I couldn't do without vermiculite in the hot shop.....lots of usefulness.
Vermiculite has the highest insulation value of the common materials that Blacksmiths/Bladesmiths use in their shops.... which is why I recommend it over all the other products for slow cooling operations of any type. Likely it's biggest drawback is it's affinity for moisture.....get it wet, and it literally will never fully dry, which can spell disaster for it's use/our purposes.
The particular type isn't terribly important. Lowes, or Home Depot. If not there, I have had to ordered in the past through a local garden/nursery center. Most time's I've seen/purchased it in 5 cubic foot bags.
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Gliden07
Well-Known Member
Let me know!! I'm headed out to get some today I think?
opaul
Well-Known Member
After cooling in the vermiculite I was able to drill with no issues.