What purpose does the mercury serve here? Does it simply provide a
desired quench rate, or is there some sort of chemical
reaction/bonding/etc between the steel & the mercury?

Just curious.

Neither in this case. It just happens to be in the work area in large
quantities. I beleive it has something to do with the part and it's
standard workign atmosphere. Coolant is nonn-existant on this process, thus
the challenge.
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Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
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V8013-R