I've been quenching my blades wrong for three years and only just saw it

I was making a hunting knife for a friend and the edge kept chipping. I always used a fast oil quench, thinking speed was key. Then I watched a video from a smith in Texas who said for that steel, a slower quench in warm canola oil gives a better grain structure. I tried it on a test piece and the difference was clear, no more tiny cracks. So is a fast quench always better for hardness, or does it depend on the steel and the tool? What's your go-to quench for simple carbon steel blades?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_knight7d ago

Wait, what steel were you using? A fast quench can make some steels too brittle, so it's not always better. My go-to is warm parks 50 oil for simple steels, it's a good middle ground.

the_mia7d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, I was reading an old forum thread where a guy tested the same steel in water, oil, and parks. He found the water quench made it glass-hard but it chipped way too easy, just like you said. The parks oil gave it a little more flex so the edge could actually survive use. It totally changed how I look at quenching speed now. Sometimes slower is actually stronger for the final blade.