Tried quenching in warm water to avoid cracks, got a surprise instead

Last month in my shop over near Hudson, NY, I had a batch of 1084 knives that kept cracking on me, so I read online that quenching in warm water around 130 degrees could soften the shock. I set up a bucket, heated it with a cheap aquarium heater, and dropped in a blade I was sure would survive. Thing came out looking like a potato chip, twisted sideways and with a hairline fracture from tip to tang, plus the water had turned a weird rust color from the scale. Has anyone else messed with water temps or should I just stick to canola oil and stop overthinking my quench tank?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

victor_ward2d ago

Warm water at 130 still cools way faster than oil, so the temp did nothing to stop the shock, it just gave you steam and uneven cooling on one side. A potato chip warp and a crack running tip to tang is exactly what fast water quench does to 1084 when the blade goes in at an angle or the steel is too hot. Canola is fine for that steel, so skip the aquarium heater and put that money into a proper quench tank instead.

7