Scott,
'Bout any old metal container that'll hold enough oil that you can completely immerse the blade into up to the tang will work. I never worried about the tang, since I soften it to blue anyway. For most of my blades, used an old coffee can. Stuck it on the stove on low, since you only want to heat the oil to 140 F. If that makes you nervous, then place the oil container into another container holding water; like a double boiler concept. Heat it thataway. To check for temperature I've used an old thermometer from a milk pastuerizer, a soil thermometer, and a candy/jelly therometer. Depends if you're married or not. If for some reason heating the oil inside won't work, an old coleman camp stove works. Or some such. Basically I heat the blade at 400 F until it turns a light gold "straw" color. That can take anywhere from around 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on how thick your blade is and how accurate your oven temperature guage is. I've a separate one that you stick in the oven. When it reaches that temperature, I grab it with a pair of pliers and plunge it straight down into the warm oil,which by the way is moved outside just before I do the quench. Once all the hissing/bubbling stops, I usually let the blade cool down in the oil until it's just warm. Then wash it off with dishsoap and stick it in your fridge. Zero degrees is optimum, but anything below freezing works. If your freezer temp isn't at 0 F(mine is), then you might want to add a couple of days to the freezing. Any other questions, feel free.
