Homemade Chisels

Quoted text begins.Just grind a little at a time on your green wheel, and let the tool cool in
air. Both overheating and quenching will crack the tungsten.
Simon
End of quote.

Hi Simon,
Just a couple of weeks ago I was making a bowl gouge at my local
blacksmithes and he was cooling carbide (at least, that was what he said he
was doing) and I asked about this with respect to cracking and/or loss of
temper. He pulled me over to a bucket of funny looking substance, like
little pellets mixed with grains of some sort. He told me that this 'stuff'
was available at the local greenhouse? but i got distracted and forgot to
ask what was in the bucket.He added that unless one uses this mix to cool
then some of the temper would be lost if air cooled. The substance makes the
cooling really slow.
10 minutes or so . Now, I just have to find out what was in the bucket!!!
I will give him a call and ask him tomorrow. Any ideas? turner Bill.