1095 spring steel

C

CharlieSoxx

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Apr 8, 2015
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First post for me so please excuse any forum errors I might make. I've got a sheet of .039 1095 spring steel and a buddy who owns a laser capable of cutting it into knife blanks. Other than the obvious corrosion issues that must be dealt with will this stuff make a good knife with regard to initial sharpness level and edge durability? I anticipate using this knife for light kitchen duty. Thanks in advance.
 
I posted this yesterday under the custom knife makers sub forum but haven't received a reply. I have some .039 spring steel sheet that I am considering turning into a fine slicing knife for kitchen use. Will this material take and hold a good edge? Any help with this topic would be much appreciated.
 
Lack of response may be because questions of this nature belong in the Shop Talk sub forum...

You don't say if the "spring" steel is already heat treated...If it is tempered for springs (probably),

then it will be too soft for good edge retention....will need to be re-hardened and tempered.

I'd suggest going over to Shop Talk, and reading the "Stickies".....Lots of good info there on steels and

proper heat treating.
 
That's pretty thin however as Russ mentioned heat treat is extremely important to achieve any measure of succes. 1095 is a great steel IMHO and will patina with use.

I'd love to see a super thin slicer in 1095 for the kitchen. :thumbup:
 
Wickedpedia shows a typical hardness of 1095 spring steel of 48-51 HRC and a maximum of 59 HRC.

I made a machete years ago from blue spring steel. I had to have a friend laser the shape, I couldn't touch it with an end mill (even carbide) or saw without going through mucho tooling. Harder'n woodpecker lips as they say.

I wanted to thin it back fairly far so I took a couple swipes on a belt sander every morning for a month or two so as not to overheat. I still have it. It will take down Arundo Donax (also known as wild bamboo) nicely.

 
I believe if you read the "stickies" at the top of the page you will get your answers and then some. It could be a great project.
Frank
 
.039" is too thin for most any knife beyond a small thin paring knife. HT will be tricky, so if you don't have the equipment it will be pretty much a no-go.
 
Thanks a bunch gentlemen. I think I know just enough to be dangerous but my understanding of this material is that it has already been heat treated and tempered and that is where the "spring" in spring steel comes from. I know I can't drill it and you can practically bend it double and it flies back to it's original position. Just like a spring I guess. I was under the impression that if I can get an edge on it I'm done.
 
Sounds like it will make a great filet knife, You just need to be SO SO careful not to over heat it while grinding, If it turns blue you just took the temper out of it
 
Once again thanks to all. Well I went for it this weekend. Like Davek14 I have a friend with a laser and another with a water jet for the handles. I went with the Santoku shape because I felt it fitted the material and the intended use. Handles are Delrin and they are just sitting in place for the picture because I haven't put an edge on the blade yet but I've got plenty to practice on because we cut out six. We cut out three 1/4 inch holes in the tang so that the handles can be internally pinned. I think it looks OK now we'll see if we can make it cut something.

Well OK... I thought I was ready to post a picture but I guess I'm not. Is the only way to post a picture on this forum is if it exists on an internet web page somewhere?
 
You may have lost your temper when using the laser cutter to profile your knife.

As for posting the picture, you should be able to upload it as an attachment.
 
As a registered user you will need to host your pictures on a photo hosting site, start an account on photobucket and then copy and paste the link in the picture into your message field

photobucketll_zps350b67c6.jpg
 
This is what it looks like when you copy and paste, after that remove the URL tags, below is the what it looks like after you have done that, I changed the bracket style so it will show up in this post

{URL=http://s1127.photobucket.com/user/jonekatt/media/photobucketll_zps350b67c6.jpg.html}{IMG}http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l636/jonekatt/photobucketll_zps350b67c6.jpg{/IMG}{/URL}


{IMG}http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l636/jonekatt/photobucketll_zps350b67c6.jpg{/IMG}
 
I would think that a laser cutter screw up the heat treatment in the heat affected zone(?).
edit: oops. looks like knife-to-a-gunfight beat me to it.
 
Well thanks again. I guess I'm going to have to learn some new tricks here. I thought photo bucket was something you threw your used flash bulbs in. I'll figure that out later tonight. You know the metal along the cut sure looks good. Didn't even seem to scorch the bluing but if it turns out to be a problem I'll water jet the blade as well. What characteristic of the metal would you expect to see or not see once I attempt to put an edge on if the temper has been degraded?
 
CharlieSoxx said:
Voila! An old geezer learns a new trick!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what my ex wife said when she taught me how to start the vacuum cleaner ;0)

That's a pretty slick looking knife, sharpen it up and cut some cardboard, see if it holds an edge
 
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Compare the performance against a carbone Opinel or Green River or Old Hickory or ... My guess is that your knife will need more frequent sharpening. Sharpen it several times before making a judgement as any damage might only be skin deep. Let us know what you discover.
 
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