Hey all, I am looking to make/commission a vertical quench tank for swords, and I need to settle on dimensions and specifications. I will only ever be quenching one blade at a time, so I probably don't need a whole lot of volume. Here are my questions:
What material?
How tall?
What diameter?
Round or square?
Approximately how much oil will such a tank hold?
Thanks.
Jordan
Jordan,
Horizontal or vertical? Most Japanese swords I have seen quenched went into the tank horizontally verses most European swords I have seen were quenched vertically. Horizontal lends it self to square/rectangular and vertically, pipe is going to be cheaper than square/rectangular tube.
Volumes are approx. due to it depends on the wall thickness for actual volume:
Squares x 36"
- 4" = 2.5 gal
- 6" = 5.6 gal
- 8" = 10 gal
- 10" = 15.6 gal
Rounds x 36"
- 4" = 2 gal
- 6" = 4.4 gal
- 8" = 7.8 gal
- 10" = 12.3 gal
Couple other things to think about, if using oil, are you going to pre-heat it? Keep the material thin unless you have an efficient way to heat the oil. That's a lot of hot oil, you will need a lid not for if you have a fire but for when you have a fire.
Thanks,
Steve Seib
This is really helpful, Steve. I do want a vertical tank, and I think having a lid makes a whole lot of sense.
In a 4" round tank, will the oil heat up too quickly to effectively harden a 30+ inch broadsword? Or will it stay within a reasonable quenching range?
I'm sure smaller will be cheaper, but I definitely want it to do the job well.
we use a O2 cylinder with the top cut off, works well. we had been using a 4"/4" square tube before we switched to a faster oil. that also worked well, but started to over heat after 2-3 blades
MP
