Blade Materials

[KaNuckles]

Thinking of getting into making a few knives, hawks, etc... I am curious as to what or how to tell what materials will make good quality blades. I know things like old car springs and railroad spikes will make good ones. I have some old crowbars and prybars I figure should make good tough blades. What about bar stock? I have some about 1-1/2" in dia. It was probably (but not necessarily) used as electric motor/fan drive shaft. Maybe old pick heads or mattocks? Any suggestions will help. Thanks a lot.

[Spots]

Railroad spikes don't make good blades. Neither does anything else that doesn't have high enough carbon to harden up. Old mattocks, pick heads, axes and jack hammer bits, along with axle shafts and crow bars are lower carbon, so that they are tough, but they will not get hard enough to hold a keen edge very long. Junk yard steel your best bet is old leaf springs, which are normally 5160 or 6150, though 6150 is normally big truck springs, and it is very hard to work under the hammer. Coil springs also have a good amount of carbon normally. If you plan to grind instead of forge, you'll need flat stock, and leaf spring is gonna be super thick for stock removal without forging due to it being 3/8" thick. A good source for known quality bar stock is newjerseysteelbaron.com, and 1084 is one of the better steels, especially for ameatures and beginners. I use it alot for some knives as its about $35 shipped for four feet, and its very easy to heat treat.  Do you plan to forge, or do stock removal?

 

Good junkyard steel for knives:

High quality, worn out files

Hoof rasp

Leaf springs

Coil springs

Brick hammers for hawks

 

Good steel if you order:

1084

5160

 

These will be the easiest to work and heat treat.

 

Edit:

 

The difference in tough and hard is this. High carbon steel will get very hard and brittle when hardened by heting to non magnetic then quenching in oil or water (I can explain this later). You then must temper back to keep it from shattering to easily on an impact. Tempering removes some of the hardness. The problem with things like crowbars, rail road spikes, etc. They are low carbon. They will take impact all day, but they do not have enough carbon to harden properly to have any edge holding ability. The edge will just roll and deform, and it doesnt make much of a knife. If you wanna learn and really help yourself get started quickly, I do free blacksmithing and bladesmithing classes, and they will give you a jump start on proper forge building, steel selection, techniques, etc.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Spots

[UncleJak]

Having learned practically everything I know from Spots, I second what he said.  I have had some good sucess with old files as of late.  I have made a couple of cool rr spike knives )but I know they aren't as good as they would be with better steel) but they are really cool and great conversation starters.

[KaNuckles]

Thanks a lot. That's good to know. I kind want to forge more than material removal but I will probably do a little of both. 

[Guest Broomhead]

I'll echo spots on everything. If you aren't going to be forging, then take it from me and order some flat stock. I started with thoughts along your line of thinking and quickly learned better. If you want to make knives through stock removal (removing material through grinding/filing) then ordering flat bar stock is your absolute best bet. Stay away from junkyard steels as they are iffy when it comes to heat treating them and whether they'll harden enough. Most junkyard steel, as it's called, is mild steel without enough carbon to harden properly to be able to keep an edge. You can sharpen any piece of metal, but the edge will not withstand [i]any[/i] kind of abuse, even cutting cardboard. Then you are left with what amounts to a prison shank, or a knife shaped object (KSO).

[bigbabysweets]

Leaf springs might be hard to work, but make some good knives. I'm fixing to make some leaf spring machetes! If you go to the flea markets there are almost always files for about $1. Awesome starter material. Also look for old saws. Some of the band saws still make good knives though they may be a bit thin for certain blade styles. You can find it cheap/free and it's easy to shape/practice profiling, creating your gradual tapers for a cutting edge, handle attachment. I've hadrequests for wittling knives and filet knives with this stuff.