Tempering Question from Newbie

Fred4hp

New Member
I hardened a O1 blade by quenching in motor oil a week ago. I did not temper it yet so I am wondering if I can now temper it in my oven (toaster oven) or do I need to reheat it and quench again?
 
Yes, you can just go ahead and temper the blade. Be sure to use a thermometer in your toaster oven instead of going by the setting on the dial. You might want to try a vegetable oil in the future. Stuff like engine oils and transmission fluids sometimes have things in them that would don't want to put into the air you're breathing by sticking red hot steel into it. One risk that you run by not tempering right after you quench is that you can have cracking just from the stress in the steel crystals.

Doug
 
The oil does not creates sale but if you are talking about the junk than can accumlate from the oil, it's possible that vegetable oil will cause less of a mess. Scale is produce by the oxidation of the steel in the fire. To decrease it keep the temperature down as much as you can to austinize the steel for quenching and a fuel rich mixture will create more carbon monoxide and decrease the oxygen that can react with the steel.

To remove the oil scum from the blade I let it cool to where it's maybe just a little too hot to handle with bare hands and then scrub the blade in hot soapy water. Then I pop it into the tempering oven and there's a lot less crud to bake onto the blade.

Doug
 
Back
Top