theWeatherman
Well-Known Member
I was wondering if anyone knew where to purchase 1gallon of Parks 50?
good morning,
not trying to stir the pot, but why not try Wesson or Crisco? found this reference article while researching heat treatment of steel. http://www.industrialheating.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000001097301 unless i am completely misreading it, ....
thank you for making the article more clear. wouldn't vegetable oil be an economical alternative to a hobby level knife maker like myself who may only heat treat 4 or 5 knives a month?Not completely misreading, but slightly misreading it as many, many others have done. The Totten research was done in search of an alternative to petroleum products for a base for formulated quenchants not a replacement as is. Things all look good for processing it into a reliable quench oil, but the research did establish quite well why the processing would be necessary due to the instability of vegetable based oils. First time tests worked great but the stuff, off the shelf, did not continue to provide the same results with repeated use. There are about three bio-based quench oils being produced now, that I am aware of, so there is promise there but there must still be some sticking points (probably cost of processing) that is keeping the industry from getting away from skyrocketing costs of petroleum bases ASAP.
Weatherman , Try and find some 20 weight non- detergent motor oil in 1 gal containers . It has nearly the same viscosity and is a darn good substitute for parks 50 .
Weatherman , Try and find some 20 weight non- detergent motor oil in 1 gal containers . It has nearly the same viscosity and is a darn good substitute for parks 50 .
I know it's a palin in the pocketbook to purchase a 5 gal bucket of Parks 50, been there. I've seen others use various other quenchants with mixed results. Peanut oil seems to work ok for a few blades, but over time breaks down and doesn't provide consistant results. When I purchased my quench oil, I took into consideration that I wanted the most accurate and consistant results when heat treating blades. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to purchase a quality quenchant. In the long run, it's an "Investment" no an "Expense".
Motor oil is about the worst oil to settle on for any kind of quench oil. Much depends on what steel you want to use. Parks #50 is good for all the 10xx steels, but maybe a bit fast for many others. If you must use an oil never intended or formulated for use as a quench oil, and you are quenching 10xx types of steel, canola oil will get you by, but it needs to be warmed at around 130° first. When I say, get you by, it will give you close to the desired goal, but just a tad shy of best. It will work very fine for all the 10xx steels except 1095. With 1095 it will only get you by. Commercial quench oils are formulated to cool steel at certain rates, and at certain rates to certain degree ranges after the initial cool. No one quenchant will do all steels to their highest degree of quality, because of different cooling speeds required for different steels. If you are using 1095, after entering the quench oil, it needs to cool from 1475° to under 900° in about .8 of one second, to be at it's absolute best. That requires a brine rather than oil, but the brine often cracks blades, so to reduce the cracking possibility, Parks #50 is next best at a cool down of just over a second. Canola oil runs just behind Parks #50. Good, and maybe good enough, but not quite as good as the Parks. If you are using a 10xx steel below 1095, the canola will do it for you.