Recommendation? Heat Treat Ovens On 120V

Stark Knives

Stark Knives

Joined
Mar 19, 2010
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I've been looking into getting myself a heat treating oven so that I can do some smaller batches of blades and heat treat them myself instead of saving up big batches to send to Peters. I would go 220V to get faster heat up times, but it would be really hard to get 220V wired into my shop. Do you guys think a 120V is worth the investment despite the longer heat times? I was looking at some Paragon or Even Heat ovens about 5.5" x 18" x 4.255". I would probably do mostly carbon steels.
 
I have a 120v oven and it is plenty fast for me. If you are doing carbon steel you will likely max out at 1500f which only takes about an hour or less to heat up. Even when I do m390 at 2150f it only takes a couple hours. To be honest it takes WAY longer for it to cool so you can temper. So if you only have 1 kiln I think a 240v will only save you a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Hope this helps.
 
I have a 120v oven and it is plenty fast for me. If you are doing carbon steel you will likely max out at 1500f which only takes about an hour or less to heat up. Even when I do m390 at 2150f it only takes a couple hours. To be honest it takes WAY longer for it to cool so you can temper. So if you only have 1 kiln I think a 240v will only save you a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Hope this helps.
 
i ran my kiln in the kitchen for a while so i could use 220v its an even heat 18 inch now then if your using oil for quench i can see the issued of in house HT my normal run for XHP is right about 2 hours (30 min soak at temp ) i plan heat treating days so that i can run the kiln a bunch then cryo over night and temper the whole lot at once next day could be any where from 20-50 blades depending on size. i HT about 6 timems a year cause of the batch work
 
i ran my kiln in the kitchen for a while so i could use 220v its an even heat 18 inch now then if your using oil for quench i can see the issued of in house HT my normal run for XHP is right about 2 hours (30 min soak at temp ) i plan heat treating days so that i can run the kiln a bunch then cryo over night and temper the whole lot at once next day could be any where from 20-50 blades depending on size. i HT about 6 timems a year cause of the batch work and LN tank life
 
i ran my kiln in the kitchen for a while so i could use 220v its an even heat 18 inch now then if your using oil for quench i can see the issued of in house HT my normal run for XHP is right about 2 hours (30 min soak at temp ) i plan heat treating days so that i can run the kiln a bunch then cryo over night and temper the whole lot at once next day could be any where from 20-50 blades depending on size. i HT about 6 timems a year cause of the batch work and LN tank life
 
butcher_block said:
i ran my kiln in the kitchen for a while so i could use 220v its an even heat 18 inch now then if your using oil for quench i can see the issued of in house HT my normal run for XHP is right about 2 hours (30 min soak at temp ) i plan heat treating days so that i can run the kiln a bunch then cryo over night and temper the whole lot at once next day could be any where from 20-50 blades depending on size. i HT about 6 timems a year cause of the batch work
Click to expand...

Yeah that definitely makes sense, I'm trying to reduce some of my batch numbers so I can do some more one-off projects. How you're doing it definitely makes sense for what you need though!

Stang Bladeworks said:
I have a 120v oven and it is plenty fast for me. If you are doing carbon steel you will likely max out at 1500f which only takes about an hour or less to heat up. Even when I do m390 at 2150f it only takes a couple hours. To be honest it takes WAY longer for it to cool so you can temper. So if you only have 1 kiln I think a 240v will only save you a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! Sounds like it should work for what I would need it for most of the time.
 
I built my own 120v oven. It reaches 1475*F in 5 minutes. It is 4"x4.5"x6.5" so it is a small volume. I use it for folder blades and have used it for a few small fixed blades. I hang my blades vertically using kanthal wire. It is a simple oven design and requires no door which is always a pita in oven builds to get right.
XXxAfUI.jpg


I cover the top with a few old broken bricks and can arrange them to make openings for the wires and then close up. Quenching is also easy because no fumbling around with long pliers since the blade is hooked on a wire i just pull out and dunk. It also solved my constant warping issues with 1/16" steel when i used a traditional oven with a door and blades sitting on the oven floor. Hanging vertically is just superior i have found.

3Q3QNyF.jpg
 
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Randy3000 said:
I built my own 120v oven. It reaches 1475*F in 5 minutes. It is 4"x4.5"x6.5" so it is a small volume. I use it for folder blades and have used it for a few small fixed blades. I hang my blades vertically using kanthal wire. It is a simple oven design and requires no door which is always a pita in oven builds to get right.
XXxAfUI.jpg


I cover the top with a few old broken bricks and can arrange them to make openings for the wires and then close up. Quenching is also easy because no fumbling around with long pliers since the blade is hooked on a wire i just pull out and dunk. It also solved my constant warping issues with 1/16" steel when i used a traditional oven with a door and blades sitting on the oven floor. Hanging vertically is just superior i have found.

3Q3QNyF.jpg
Click to expand...
R Randy3000 thst is really cool. What do you use for the heating element and temp control?
 
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