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Cast-iron machine vise fitted with two long aluminum quench plates and a black knob handle, on black with a purple glow

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Quench vises and plates for knifemakers.

These vises hold a hot blade between flat aluminum plates while it cools, which helps reduce warping and gives you a fixture for warm straightening. That is most of the fight with thin stainless and long blades.

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  • Quench vise with the red toggle clamp raised (open) over two thick aluminum plates, on black with a purple glow
    3 left

    XL 4×14 Quench Vise, Quench Master 2500

    Cam-action clamping to 2,500 pounds across 4x14-inch plates. Helps hold the blade flat, and gives you a fixture for warm straightening.

    Starts at$395View

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What matters here

Why it is built this way

  • Held flat while it cools

    Clamp the blade the moment it comes off the heat and it cools between two flat, heavy plates that help keep it from warping.

  • Aluminum pulls heat

    1-inch aluminum plates take heat out of thin stainless fast, from both faces at once.

  • Paring knife to sword

    The plate system runs 14, 20 and 30-inch plates on one quick-slide vise. The XL takes 4x14.

Why plates keep a blade flat

Two thick aluminum plates pull heat out of the blade while the clamp holds it flat; that is plate quenching, and it is what the XL vise is built for.

Plate Quenching: The Aluminum Sandwich

  • firm, even clamping pressure (vise or clamps)
  • aluminum plate, 1"+ thick (thin plates warp and lose contact)
  • aluminum plate
  • blade sealed in a stainless foil pouch, straight from the kiln
  • compressed air into the gaps speeds the cool

Aluminum wicks heat out of the thin blade faster than the steel needs — while holding it dead flat.

Air-hardening steels only (AEB-L, MagnaCut, CPM & most stainless). Carbon steels still need oil.

Clamp it the moment it leaves the heat. The XL closes on 4x14-inch plates with up to 2,500 pounds of force.

Questions

Before you order

Read shipping and returns
Do I still need quench oil?

It depends on the steel. Plates are the standard approach for air-hardening and thin stainless; most carbon steels still want oil, and some makers quench in oil then move straight to plates to hold the blade flat. Check your steel's data sheet in ForgeBrain.

Which one for kitchen knives?

The XL 4x14 vise covers most chef knives and gives you the clamping force to straighten while the blade is still warm. Step up to the plate system if you make anything longer than 14 inches.

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A hand holding a freshly machined aluminum quench plate inside the coolant-misted mill

Heat treat

Hold the blade flat while it cools.

Tell me the longest blade you make and how much stainless you run, and I will tell you which vise is enough.

Ask Rich a questionRead the heat treat guides