Pictures of the quench of a clay coated tanto

[Jesus Hernandez]

I have already posted pictures of the quench of a tanto under the "Show and Tell" topic "The Lasagna Project." Here are some additional pictures of two othe tantos being quenched with some thoughts on the process in the hope that someone more knowledgeable will help me understand better.

 

The first picture was taken probably within the first second of the quench and it appears to me that the vapor phase is either already finished or it did not exist at all. It looks like the blade is already in the nucleation boiling phase.

 

 

 

In this second picture taken about 2-3 seconds later the bubbles have left the blade completely.

 

 

By the third picture the water show no further turbulence and the clay has come off the blade. Some pieces are floating down.

 

 

Look at this detail enlargement of the 1st picture compared to the third. There is a huge bubble at a particular area where the clay coating formed a large void that was purposely left that way as part of the clay lay out. There were two other large voids but the one in the center was the largest. I can't wait to polish this blade to see how those areas will look.

 

 

And finally a picture of the third blade. The clay was layout in the saka choji pattern. The picture was taken in the first second of the quench. An amazing amount of turbulence occurs at the demarkation of the clay that will become the hamon but again it appears that I am not seeing a vapor phase. Am I missing something?

 

[daryl meier]

Jesus: Very interesting pictures!!!!! Would it be possible for you to use a video camera on the next or some future quench? It might be possible to view the sequential frames as stills and catch the time lag ( and measure it) from initial immersion to formation of the vapor phase and it's breakdown.

[kb0fhp]

TRULY COOL PICTURES! Would it be possible to email me copies of those pictures without the anotation? I would like to include them in an article I am writing for Advanced Materials and Process on the History of Quenching. If you could tell me how you want them to be attributed, I would appreciate it.

 

Because of the small size of the parts, or rather the small thermal mass, the vapor phase will be very short-lived. What you are seeing is the nucleate boiling phase, and finally the convection phase. The clay (yakaba-tsuchi - right? I am trying to learn) is designed to initiate nucleate boiling quickly. The powdered charcoal mixed with the clay burns out, leaving a series of micropores - these initiate the onset of nucleate boiling quickly - so you really shouldn't see much of a vapor phase. Perhaps if the object were larger, you would see a persistant vapor phase.

 

Scott

Edited May 23, 2006 by kb0fhp

[mete]

"designed to initiate nucleate boiling quickly" ? I wonder if they really knew the details of the quench sequence !! I thought they just stuck clay on there to retard quench .

[kb0fhp]

I think that was found by empirical study - why else put carbon in the clay? Perhaps to carburize? They may not hae known the reason, but the effect is the same.

[Jesus Hernandez]

I think that was found by empirical study - why else put carbon in the clay? Perhaps to carburize? They may not hae known the reason, but the effect is the same.

 

 

The two tanto depicted in this thread were coated with a clay that had 30% graphite/carbon in it. But the one depicted in the thread "The Lasagna Project" was coated with plain satanite.

 

I would try to get a video camera for the yaki-ire.

[Greg Thomas Obach]

charcoal also helps the clay from cracking off..... .. think it helps with the shrinking and expanding.. during heat up..

[Bob Ouellette]

Wow, those are some nice pictures. It really helps in learning about all this stuff. Thanks.

[robert washburn]

I will try and get a pic of a bowie that was treated with satanite and wheat straw ash.I got a very nice temper line after a 1200 grit finish. Robert

[R.H.Graham]

I think that was found by empirical study - why else put carbon in the clay? Perhaps to carburize? They may not have known the reason, but the effect is the same.

 

 

 

DING DING DING DING DING!

 

 

[kb0fhp]

"The Lasagna Project" was coated with plain satanite.

 

 

What is satanite?

[Jesus Hernandez]

What is satanite?

 

 

Satanite is a refractory material mostly made of crystalline silica.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Jesus Hernandez

[kb0fhp]

Thank you!

[Michael]

Some clay recipes do not include charcoal and they seem to be effective too (I guess satanite is one of them).

[Walter Sorrells]

This was Jesus's and my first try at photographing blades during the quench. As we tinkered with lighting, exposure control, etc., they got better. We do hope to try it again with a video camera, as well as (ideally) a camera with burst mode. But first we have to sell one of these blades for a scandalous amount of money and plough it back into increased camera mojo.

 

By the way, for anybody else who's interesting in trying this -- it's not hard. Fish tank, dark background, night quench, major amounts of halogen work light. Hints: shoot at as fast an exposure speed as you can since depth of field isn't an issue; put a dark (or at least neutral) background behind the fish tank; have one person to work the camera and one to do the quench; wipe the distracting bubbles off the inside of the fish tank walls; no flash.

[Brian Madigan]

Those are really cool pics, thanks for sharing. What was the shutter speed? I think you would need some extremely fast exposure rates to get more detail and freeze time. I've got to try mixing some straw ash with satanite. I'm guessing that some of the carbon would be taken up by the blade, most would burn off into the air though.

[Howard Clark]

I'd likie to second Daryl's suggestion for video, with a time scale superimposed would be the "perfect world" solution.

 

Cool stuff !