5/1

Today is the start of May. We have gotten a lot of work done in this project so far, though we are coming to the end of Senior Project. Today we used the welding skills we have learned to fabricate a two-piece quench tank. Earlier in the week I started a pair of tongs while Ciro worked on small personal projects, like bracelets and small leaf hooks. These tongs area different in style, and will be generally more versatile with holding a wider range of dimensions when working. I learned how to make these online, and am becoming increasingly grateful for YouTube and other online sources. But personal experience is still hte most valuable, as was clear with this quench tank. Ciro and I worked through different designs we could use to make a quench tank using materials we had. We decided on using a 5 gallon propane tank that had been lying in our scrap pile for some time. Our criteria was that we needed one compartment for holding water and one for oil. This tank will be used primarily to cool tongs down while working, but also to quench hot tool steel for hardening (using either water or oil depending on the carbon content of the steel and its properties). We ran through multiple ideas, such as using a plastic divider with a steel border welded down the middle of the tank, or fitting a piece of steel to the inside profile of the tank. We decided that the best course of action would be to chop the whole tank in half lengthwise and put a ¼” steel plate divider in the middle and weld all around the edges. There were many spots with big holes, so we had to fill those with weld but for the most part the welding was pretty straightforward and enjoyable. It ended up being watertight except for one spot, so we had certainly made something to be proud of. It was invaluable to have a partner in this process to work through and bounce ideas off of.