At the American Bladesmith Society school in Old Washington, AR I was
taught by MasterSmith's Joe Flornoy and Mike Smith to use Peanut oil
heated to aprox 140 degrees for quenching blades.

For my purposes I've purchased an electric roasting pan and use it for
oil quenching purposes. It will heat to 400 degrees or so, and it's
plenty big enough for even large blades. You can get them at WalMart,
Target or other places for between $20-40.

I documented the two week long experience at Bladesmithing school on
my web site, including video and other information related to
hardening if you would like to check it out:
http://www.pozadzides.com/bladesmithing/

Good luck,

John

On 23 Apr 2005 12:44:10 -0700, "Bandit"
wrote:

HI guys,
I have been lurking around here for awhile reading interesting posts
and gaining knowledge.

My question is, what is the "proper" type of oil for heat treating and
hardening small punches and buttons and so on. I have had a machinest
at work tell me "you want to use a high sulfur based oil".(- All I
know is when I used a high sulfur based oil to harden with it STUNK
like you know what!?) So, I guess what I'm asking is, what type of oil
is the correct oil? Can motor oil be used? Thanks, Tracy