My crucible is a thin mild steel box with a square that just fits inside it acting as the lid. I seal the seams with clay.
I use normal BBQ charcoal which i think must be contaminated with something to make it light easier; anyway this honks like an oil refinery till the contamination has burnt off.. So i open my door and windows to get a goo through draft for ventilation and leave it too it just keeping an eye open in case of fire.
You would think i would stop using it but i have always got excellent results with it and its a lot less hassle and expense than bone charcoal and charred leather and such other such stuff.
The quench is a 55 gallon drum of rain water from the workshop roof which i put a couple of bags of ice in and then shove the air line into for 5 minutes or so before hand.
As for conducting the quench i see lots of clever systems for removing the lid and tipping the crucible; again i have not found this to be necessary. I have a long iron to withdraw the crucible from the furnace with. The crucible with the lid sealed on with the clay is submitted whole into the quench and swirled around. The pressure usually blows the lid off.
The key is to keep the charcoal in contact with the metal parts and also for them not to be exposed to air. My method solves both of these issues.
I will link some pictures of my CCH results from two previous projects.
Im not saying im an expert just that someone getting in to it might learn something from my method and someone who already does it might too. Its all about learning. I seem to get a lot of blues and yelows and straws sometimes some greens
Last edited by Demonwolf444; 10/08/18 04:36 AM.
