Kevin R. Cashen
Super Moderator
Folks probably know that there is nothing that I take more seriously than my heat treating. Because of this “heat treating” day at Matherton Forge is always an all day affair that gets my total and undivided attention. I could slot some guards or shape some handles while the blades are being borne but that would interfere with my continuous monitoring of the temperatures and process, so heat treating day is also a lot of tedious watching and waiting. At first I thought a thread like this would just be a matter of sharing my boredom with all of you, but then what on earth could be boring about heat treating?
Well the Blade show is drawing near and today is heat treating day, and because it is also “empty the tubes, repair leaks and renew the salts” day it will be a particularly long one. So since the computer in the lab is right there next to the testing equipment and a few steps from the heat treating area I thought I would share some of the day with you.
I started the day by turning on the kilns which hold the low temp Thermoquench salts and letting them get a head start in coming up and leveling off at 420F. Next I finished cleaning out the four foot high temp tube I emptied yesterday. By the way here is an tip on that that I found very effective- if you need to empty a high temp salt tube, don’t even think about doing it at temp when they are liquid, take them outside when they are cold and put a garden hose in the top and let it run. This method quickly dissolves and empties the tube in just a couple hours. Warning- only do this with simple NaCl based salts like Parks Nusal, salts with other hazardous elements like barium should not be removed in this way for the obvious reasons.
I knew I had to clean out the bottom of my tube because the last swords had a bit of decarb at the tip which I had to remove, indicating that a contaminant sludge ahs accumulated in the bottom, and sure enough I found a thick deposit and removed it. This is why I now keep my tubes completely covered when not in use to keep dust and debris from getting inside. I have refilled the tube and it is not coming up to temp to melt the salts, it will be a longer process than usual to get it all melted with the tube topped of and running well.
Well the Blade show is drawing near and today is heat treating day, and because it is also “empty the tubes, repair leaks and renew the salts” day it will be a particularly long one. So since the computer in the lab is right there next to the testing equipment and a few steps from the heat treating area I thought I would share some of the day with you.
I started the day by turning on the kilns which hold the low temp Thermoquench salts and letting them get a head start in coming up and leveling off at 420F. Next I finished cleaning out the four foot high temp tube I emptied yesterday. By the way here is an tip on that that I found very effective- if you need to empty a high temp salt tube, don’t even think about doing it at temp when they are liquid, take them outside when they are cold and put a garden hose in the top and let it run. This method quickly dissolves and empties the tube in just a couple hours. Warning- only do this with simple NaCl based salts like Parks Nusal, salts with other hazardous elements like barium should not be removed in this way for the obvious reasons.
I knew I had to clean out the bottom of my tube because the last swords had a bit of decarb at the tip which I had to remove, indicating that a contaminant sludge ahs accumulated in the bottom, and sure enough I found a thick deposit and removed it. This is why I now keep my tubes completely covered when not in use to keep dust and debris from getting inside. I have refilled the tube and it is not coming up to temp to melt the salts, it will be a longer process than usual to get it all melted with the tube topped of and running well.