Hey, fellas! Long time nochat. I gotta question... Is there anything I can add to the quenchtank in my forgeshop to keep it from freezing over? i.e. salt, oil, ...? Any thoughts or sagely wisdom is welcome. Thanks!
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you," saith the Lord of hosts. ~Malachi 3:7b
Posts: 297 | Location: MI | Registered: 18 August 2012
Jos I can think of two things you can try. no. one try a 1in. sheet of Styrofoam cut to fit in your tank , folks up here in ak. do that to keep water in heir outdoor hot tubes from freezing. but only will work for a couple day`s of none use.
the next thing to try is a water proof heat tape and lay it inside the tank in some sort of pattern to cover the bottom then plug it in, by the way you should get the heat tape from a feed and farm supply place, the tape`s they have aremade to be sed in stock tanks I think you should be able to get one close to the size you need.
You can buy tank heaters for various size stock tanks and outdoor pet water tanks from most any farm supply store such as Tractor Supply which you can order on line from if no farm supply stores nearby. http://www.tractorsupply.com/e...h/stock-tank-heaters
JOSH I live in central kenai peninsula smack dab in the middle between kenai and Soldotna. the kenai peninsula is located in southcentrel ak. we are injoying a very nice mild winter here maybe only two in. of snow in most placesnight time temps down to maybe high teens at most daytime temps high 30`s to mid 40`s.
Originally posted by Firelock48: JOSH I live in central kenai peninsula smack dab in the middle between kenai and Soldotna. the kenai peninsula is located in southcentrel ak. we are injoying a very nice mild winter here maybe only two in. of snow in most placesnight time temps down to maybe high teens at most daytime temps high 30`s to mid 40`s.
am loving this winter so far
Ok. I was just wondering cause Ive got relatives who live in Delta Junction. Heck. Youve got a nicer winter than we Michiganders do.
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you," saith the Lord of hosts. ~Malachi 3:7b
Posts: 297 | Location: MI | Registered: 18 August 2012
The heater ideas are better than additives. Salt or alcohol will change the freezing temp of the water, BUT the actual temp of the water will effect the quench. Depending on the steel you can get a different quench from water that is say 30 degrees (but has additives to keep it liquid) than from water that is of an air temp of 80 degrees. In fact if the temp drops too rapidly as it might with water just around the freezing point, you could crack the piece.... especially if you are hardening a frizzen or something else with a good amount of carbon.
LD
It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004
That's another one of those things that never occurred to me,I guess I thought you'd be keeping the quench tank indoors,near the forge,so it'd be getting heat all the time,when the forge is being used......
Beer is proof that God loves us,and wants us to be happy-B. Franklin
Thanks all! I don't do too much hardening with water, unless im making strikers. So maybe I'll add salt or alcohol. Salt water, I discovered frreezes around 28°F and it hasnt gotten too much colder than that here in central MI. Ill give it a shot. Worse comes to worse ill use a heater.
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you," saith the Lord of hosts. ~Malachi 3:7b
Posts: 297 | Location: MI | Registered: 18 August 2012
I doubt it. I've found no difference so far. You'll often hear people talk about certain variables affecting the carbon content of your steel, i.e. repeated heatings in the forge, and you can bet your bottom dollar that 90% of them, if not more, are are pure hogwash.
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you," saith the Lord of hosts. ~Malachi 3:7b
Posts: 297 | Location: MI | Registered: 18 August 2012
Originally posted by MountainRanger: I don't know anything about forging, but will the salt affect the carbonization or hardening of the metaL when you quench it?
The salt won't affect it. In fact many top blade smith's use salt baths for heat treating and there is a Super Quench recipe that uses in part a salt brine.