Maxim oil is now selling Park #50.

I also have an update on the Duratherm G, their 10 second oil. I had previously been quenching 1080 in vet mineral oil, tempering at 425. I made a blade and quenched it in the duratherm G, tempered at 425, and it chipped a little. Looks like I can say that in this particular case, the duratherm g is faster and got better martensite conversion, so that I'll have to temper it at a higher temperature to get good performance.
 
Hey guys, I'd like to clarify a statement I made. when I said that I thought DT48 needs to be mechanically agitated what I meant was, I think it needs to be mechanically agitated in my quench tank. the quench tank I use holds about a gallon of oil, I've found this is too small to agitate to my satisfaction using oil. remember, I'm originally a brine quench guy with 1095. if I were to build say, a three gallon quench tank I could agitate better without using mechanical means. I hope this clarifies the issue a little.
 
last nite while staring at myself in the mirror while shaving I had 2 separate but equally stunning epiphanies ....

1...I am a really really really really really really disturbingly good looking guy


2...for agitation all you really need is one of those wore out mixers that you find at yard sales etc...OR one of those mixers you see in wal mart should work really well and be pretty tuff and cost next to nothing
 
Hey guys,
I was looking for some Parks #50, and an online search lead me to this thread. I saw that Lee Neves at Maxim Oil might be carrying some, so I tracked down his email from his webpage and shot him a message. I have yet to hear from him after a few weeks however.

Has anyone else had trouble reaching him by email?

Thanks!
 
Look further up in the thread. There is a contact phone number for one of the ladies who works with Lee who is responsible for taking care of the orders.
 
murphda2 said:
Look further up in the thread. There is a contact phone number for one of the ladies who works with Lee who is responsible for taking care of the orders.
Click to expand...

Wow... I completely missed that post! That's exactly what I needed. Thanks bud.
 
Sorry for the silence guys, I've been busy. I've now done five blades with the DT 48 and it seems to quench 1095 well. I just got my bucket of Park #50 and quenched some squares to send to Larry. there are three quenched in dt48 and three quenched in #50, so we'll see how they compare on the Rockwell tester. I haven't made a blade with the #50 yet so I cant compare edge retention but that will come soon.
Larry, the squares should be there on Tuesday or Wednesday. I sure appreciate your help with the Rockwell testing.
 
busted knuckles said:
Sorry for the silence guys, I've been busy. I've now done five blades with the DT 48 and it seems to quench 1095 well. I just got my bucket of Park #50 and quenched some squares to send to Larry. there are three quenched in dt48 and three quenched in #50, so we'll see how they compare on the Rockwell tester. I haven't made a blade with the #50 yet so I cant compare edge retention but that will come soon.
Larry, the squares should be there on Tuesday or Wednesday. I sure appreciate your help with the Rockwell testing.
Click to expand...

I'll give you the results as soon as possible after I get them.
Larry
 
busted knuckles said:
Sorry for the silence guys, I've been busy. I've now done five blades with the DT 48 and it seems to quench 1095 well. I just got my bucket of Park #50 and quenched some squares to send to Larry. there are three quenched in dt48 and three quenched in #50, so we'll see how they compare on the Rockwell tester. I haven't made a blade with the #50 yet so I cant compare edge retention but that will come soon.
Larry, the squares should be there on Tuesday or Wednesday. I sure appreciate your help with the Rockwell testing.
Click to expand...

i received the squares yesterday and was able to test today, but I think I will have to do some sanding to try and get them a little flatter. I could see movement on some when testing and on some the results were way different on the same piece such as #6 which went from 32 to 65.5 HRC. I have some appointments to take care of today but I,ll try to get them done tonight or early tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.
Larry
 
Well, I pulled the trigger on some Parks 50 from Maxim Oil, and the FedEx man just dropped it off.
I've been looking for a distributor for this stuff for quite a while (one that would sell me LESS than 55 gallons of the stuff!), and so far I've only been able to find 2. Kelly Cupples (in Washington, IIRC) and Maxim Oil in Texas.

While I have no doubt that Kelly is a phenomenal guy to work with (I'm sure I've read dozens of positive reviews on various forums, and I can't recall a single negative review), the shipping costs were a little bit prohibitive from WA to IN, and to source it from him would have come in at just under $200.

After tax and freight, I believe I only ended up paying about $112 or so all together, and that's by far the cheapest I've seen 5 gallons of Parks 50 anywhere, including back when the stuff was a lot easier to source. Many of the prices exceeded that BEFORE shipping. So it definitely appears that Maxim isn't trying to make any money on this stuff.

As far as the transaction, the lady I spoke with was very friendly, and they shipped the oil out very fast. I ordered Tuesday morning and received it Friday morning, very well packaged and in tact.

My only (MINOR) complaints are that I sent 2 emails to Lee Neves via the address listed on their website over the course of about 2 weeks (12-17 then 12-28) and never received a reply. I also requested an email confirmation when I placed the order so that I would know that it shipped. I was told it would not be a problem, but I never received that either.

Overall, it's not a big deal, as I was able to get the info I needed from members of this forum, and I saved a considerable amount of money while getting the quench oil I wanted. So all in all, Maxim Oil will definitely get my recommendation AND return business should I need any more quenchants in their supply.
 
I finished resanding the pieces sent to me by "busted knuckles" and retested them. The results came out pretty close to the same as before, but I think I can see why. After sanding to 800 I can see shadows in the steel, like a cloud or hamon. I don't know how it happened but I drew a line around the "cloud"and then tested inside and outside the cloud and here are the results. This is for #6 on your list busted knuckles which was the piece quenched in parks 50 and not tempered---- inside the cloud=39.5,43.7,& 32.6 HRC. Outside the cloud=65.75,64.9, & 64 HRC. The rest of the results are as follows---
1.quenched at 1500 in dt48 & drawn at 350 FOR 1 hr=HRC 62.7, 63.5, 63.5
2.quenched at 1500 in dt48 & drawn at 350 FOR 1 hr=HRC 61, 62, 63, 63.25
3.quenched at 1500 in dt48 & not drawn =HRC 67.5,67.5,67.5
4.quenched at 1500 in p50 & drawn at 350 FOR 1 hr=HRC 63.1,63,63
5.quenched at 1500 in p50 & drawn at 350 FOR 1 hr=HRC 62.9,62.75,62.1,61.9
6.quenched at 1500 in p50 & not drawn =HRC 39.5,32.6,43.7,64,64.9,65.75
Just so you know i also tested my machine ,before and after doing your plates, with the test plate that came with it which is HRC 61.7 and my results were always 62 HRC. so pretty close.
Any if you would like to retest some more plates I'd be happy to test them for you again. If you'd like I can send these back to you or try to get some pictures if that would help,just let me know.

Larry
 
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Question for busted knuckles and Larry?
in post number 47 busted knuckles you mentioned that you quenched
3 squares in the DT48 and 3 squares in the parks 50. But when Larry tested the squares
he mentions 4 quenches in DT48 and only 2 in the parks!
I am just wondering if one was marked wrong.
I do think the rockwell phase of this testing for both of quenches turn out some pretty consistent numbers.
I want to thank both of you guys for taking the time to help all of us out, your time is greatly appreciated.
 
John,
in the body of the note I said that #6 used parks 50 but in the list I added #6 again and forgot to change the dt48 to p50 as I copied and pasted the first part of them all. Thanks for catching that. I think your correct that most of them are pretty consistent except for #6.
I corrected the previous post of mine
 
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Hey guys, I just got back from California. thanks Larry for doing that, don't worry about the squares just trash 'em. good results on the RC tester. since I've been gone I haven't been able to do a blade with the 50 yet so I cant give a comparison on hamon development or edge retention, but I will soon.it seems clear that we are able to achieve similar hardness with these oils.more to come.
 
here's a couple of blades I did in the DT48. sorry the hamon on the tanto and the bowie doesn't show that well on these pics.
PB070224.jpgP1160386.jpgPC310359.JPGPC310360.JPGP1120368.JPGP1120369.JPG
 
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Just wanted to check and see if there has been any word on Maxim's quench oil, has anyone heard from Lee? I guess I'll have to break down and buy some
Parks 50...., GOD that'll kill me!!! But my quench is getting low, and I will have to replenish it soon....Rex
 
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