hunting for a heat treat oven

Sam Eddleman

Sam Eddleman

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
1,086
my knife making is getting more serious and now i am looking to buy a heat treat oven soon. i am trying to get the most for my money. i am looking towards a paragon, but came across sugar creek industries - big knife kiln. has anyone heard of or used one? i am wanting a 24-36" oven. any feedback on the subject or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
 
I've been using the sugarcreek for about 6 months now and love it! My pal,Terry Guinn reffered it to me.he's been using it for several years with great results!!get the digital controller and you'll be in heatreat heaven :thumbup:
 
It is my opinion that a good used PID controlled industrial furnace off ebay or similar may be a better value than a new furnace that caters to knifemakers. A knife making buddy of mine has an evenheat (I think) and I was surprised how long it took to get up to high temperatures. It seamed like it was close to an hour to hit temps suitable for S30V or D2. An industrial unit, like Lindbergh Blue, gets up to temp for O1 in a few minutes and D2 a few minuets more, the elements are not exposed, there is a gas port and the fuzzy logic PID controller works very well and it doesn't get very hot on the outside.

Just food for thought, you should at least look at used industrial units. They sell new in the $3,000 - $6000 range, but sell used for much less. You might get more furnace for the same money.
 
Rashid I'm really interested in you diy heat treat oven wonder in you could post some pics of the oven body. What type of sheet metal did you use and is there a wiring schematics.
 
Datsun - the exterior is made from some thin sheet metal (alum?) I got at lowes.
Anything will work, really. You do need to weld together the frame that holds the thing
together. Lowes sells some iron - strips and angle iron. To save, see if you can get it at a local steel supplier.

For wiring instructions, look in my recent posts, I explained it multiple times recently
 
I don't know what your needs will be, but for some serious used ovens, look here:
http://www.surplusrecord.com/srg/007973.htm

For a knife making oven, Evenheat comes in lengths up to 49.5":
http://www.evenheat-kiln.com/knifeovens/knifeovens.htm

For speed and heat range max, you may want to consider building a gas oven with a controller. It is just a long HT forge with a 4-6" muffle chamber. The muffle is closed on one end and a plug/door on the other. It can be built vertical or horizontal, and can run on from two to five burners.A basic PID controller/solenoid system will run it nicely. How robust you build it is up to your needs and amount of use. It can be poured refractory,fire brick, or a tube/shell and Kaowool. Muffles can be heavy wall 4-6" pipe, or custom made to a specific shape. If you can build a good forge, you can build a 36" gas oven for about $300-500. Your access to scrap pipe and such may reduce this.
Stacy
 
I know several folks that have sugar creek ovens and most of my heat treating gets done in one. They are fine machines. Nathan is right about the speed though. I've never used the large Sugar Creek model, but the small 110V model isn't quick. If you think an evenheat is slow then you might want to get some popcorn and an easy chair for the 110V SC.
 
hello- i was choosing between a heat treat oven or a forge. Now i think what am gonna do is get a fprge--since im only working with O-1-- and build a heat treat oven in the near future. its scary for me becuase i know nothing about electronic but looking at some tutorials ive decided i could do and save a bunch of money. does that sound logical? a forge could can bring the O-1 to nonmagnetis easy-then ill quench it and stick it in the oven. Any thought on that
 
marekz,

O-1 can really benefit from a hold at temperature for 10 minutes. You can get hardness from heat to curie (non-magnetic) and quench; however, austentizing temperature, I believe, is a bit above curie, and not soaking at temperature will not get everything into solution. It can be done in a forge, you just have to be careful about keeping things consistent and not over-heating

--nathan
 
As was stated above, if you're planning on working with O1, do yourself the favor and get an oven. If you want to use a forge, get some 1080 or 1084, as we've suggested before.
 
What Acridsaint said, with emphasis! 01 is not forge friendly, if you want the best from it. All you can expect to get is a usable blade from a forge HT, unless you can work out a heat control that is reliable. When I say usable, I mean much less than it's real potential. 1080/84, is a much better choice if you go with a forge. Been there, done that with 01.
 
LRB said:
What Acridsaint said, with emphasis! 01 is not forge friendly, if you want the best from it. All you can expect to get is a usable blade from a forge HT, unless you can work out a heat control that is reliable. When I say usable, I mean much less than it's real potential. 1080/84, is a much better choice if you go with a forge. Been there, done that with 01.
Click to expand...

Why is O1 not forge friendly? You can soak it at the austenizing temp in the forge, no?
 
cotdt said:
Why is O1 not forge friendly? You can soak it at the austenizing temp in the forge, no?
Click to expand...

you can certainly soak it in the forge, the question is at what "EXACT" temperature your soaking it.

O1 is MUCH more picky about temperature than 1084 - thus his suggestion
 
FWIW, I picked up a Sugar Creek small knife oven on eBay that is manual with an optional digital temp readout. Primarily for soaking forged O1.

I won it at auction for $360 including shipping from "maxadink". He had several other ovens listed and is in Indiana so he may be the OEM, nothing listed currently though.

http://shop.ebay.com/maxadink/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

It's a small oven, seems to ramp quick enough for me but is not programmable which I can live with.
 
cotdt said:
Why is O1 not forge friendly? You can soak it at the austenizing temp in the forge, no?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but are you soaking it at 1475? or 1500? How long was it at that temp? Did it hit 1550? Or 1600? Did the tip go to 1650? Three minutes or five or ten or 15? It makes a noticeable difference.

It will work - but not optimal.
 
You can't go wrong with the paragon.I have the 14" and I am currently shopping for another one. The only thing I will do differant is get the largest one.
 
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