Tried quenching a cheap chisel in used motor oil and got a surprise

I had this old rusty chisel from a garage sale that I figured was a lost cause. Decided to heat it up and dunk it in some 10W-30 I had sitting around just for laughs. Came out of the quench with this weird rainbow pattern on the metal, but the edge held up through about three whacks on a piece of rebar before it chipped. Not my finest moment. Took me an hour to regrind it back down. Anyone else get weird results from using random oils instead of the proper stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

ninaowens1mo ago

Three whacks on rebar and you're surprised it chipped? Dude that's pretty solid for garage sale junk dunked in used oil. Sounds like it did better than it had any right to honestly.

allen.kai1mo ago

Buddy of mine bought a hammer at a flea market that looked exactly like that. First time using it, he hit a nail weird and the head flew clean off. Yours lasted three swings on rebar, that's a WIN in my book.

mason_lopez1mo ago

Allen Kai's buddy had the head fly off, so yours chipping after three hits on rebar is practically luxury quality. Did you try hitting it with anything else after it chipped or did you just retire it right then?

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