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Showerthought: I was wrong about using a slack tub for everything
At the Fire and Iron meet in St. Louis last fall, I watched a smith named Carl quench a complex leaf spring in oil instead of water. He explained the slower cool kept it from cracking, which my own work had been doing for years. Now I keep a bucket of old motor oil next to my water bucket. What other jobs have you guys found where water just doesn't cut it?
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nora5351mo ago
My buddy in Texas warped a big axe head using plain water last summer.
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zara_hunt1mo ago
Read an article a while back about guys using brine for certain tools, like punches. The salt in the water makes it cool even faster than plain water, which can help get a harder edge. Your mileage may vary though, since that speed can also mean more stress on the metal. Makes sense why oil would work better for something springy and complex. Always interesting to see how the old methods get tweaked for different jobs.
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