Is a little Quenching Oil fire normal?

[DaQo'tah Forge]

Hi this is DaQo'tah

okay, last night I was doing a heat treating quench on my 52100 blade when the steel that is sticking out of the oil caught fire.

I pulled the blade out of the hot oil, and, due to the fact that I still had a burning torch in my left hand, and a fire dripping blade in the other, ended up blowing the fire out like it was a birthday candle.

This morning the very same thing happend!

Does this always happen?

Im not actually useing a real Quenching type oil, but due to the fact that I would have had to order a 55 gal drum of the real stuff, I decided to try Mineral oil...perhaps this is a oil that seems to catch fire more easy?

There is another oil that I was thinking about Experimenting with and that's a hydraulic oil called , Hy-Guard by John Deer.

I got to try something different, Im not interested in becoming a barbecue.

 

[Bruce Bump]

I use a hydraulic oil called Texaco A. I like it because it has the flame retardant in it. It flames a bit but puts itself right back out. Onr thing you shouldnt do is leave a portion sticking out of the quench. That helps start the fire. If you are doing an edge quench be sure to wear gloves and use long handle tongs. I sometimes weld a temperary steel handle to the tang for best control.

 

[fitzo]

hehe I love the flames licking the blade and top of the oil when one quenches. One of the rushes of doing one's own HT! I've never had a problem with it. As Bruce suggested, it disappears when you immerse the whole blade. I use a Mobil quenchant, so perhaps it's fire-retarded too. One should always have a fire extinguisher in the shop just in case... but I've quenched alot of blades and that fire is something I look forward to.... haven't had a problem yet <knock wood>. Sure scared the bejesus out of my student, tho. That was a fun moment for me...

 

[mike koller]

I agree it is a rush and one I to look forward too!!!
But I also have a lid that flips down and completely closes the top of my quench tank and extinquishes itself.

Be safe,have fun,and most of all...keep it fun!

 

[DaQo'tah Forge]

hi this is the DaQo'tah

I got some different stuff to try tonight.

its some John Deer Hy-Guard, I will let you know how it goes,,,

 

[DaQo'tah Forge]

Hi this is DaQo'tah!

Last nights experiment with the John Deer Hy-Guard was a success!

The 52100 blade is looking in fine shape. The Hy-Guard seems able to do the job, but Im now checking on for Texaco Type A from a 'Uncle Al'..so far I have had no answer back,,,but I hope to get some if its not too much money.

The Hy-Guard was so cool looking in my Quenching Tank, is a blood red color, and that's just what you would expect at a Klingon bladesmithing forge like mine!

The 52100 blade was heated to a the right temp, (I have rigged a electric burner under my quenching tank ) to a temp of 170, then I turned off the heater to allow it to cool as I started to heat the steel with my torch.

I must confess I was scared to death at that moment when it was time to dip the edge of the blade down into the oil. I have had 2 big nasty fires two fight off with my last attempts at quenching a blade, and I don't even want that to happen again!

The blade went into the oil, now the oil at room temp (here in December in North Dakota room temp is darn cold remember) is very thick,,,even thicker that pancake syrup , but at a temp of now 160 it was as thin as water, anyway, as I was saying, the blade went into the oil tip down.

I have a little aluminum table in my oil quenching tank, that adjusts, the tip went in and then after 7 seconds the rest of the sharpen blade area was rocked into the oil.

The smoke was incredible! I most likely inhaled the equivalent of a 20 year 2 pack a day smoker,,,but there was NO FIRE!

Im happy with the results, the edge just tested hard, the back still gets bit by the file, so Im on track. But like I said, Im going to try to get some real Quenching Oil from Uncle Al as soon as I get more information..

I will let ya know