2 questions

B

Bama Man30

Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
6
Hello all. So I'm very new at this. I just finished my first build using 01 tool steel from amazon. It worked good and held up during a torcher test of a friend. However I want to play with other steels and was wondering how hard is the HT process of damascus (1095 and 2% nickle said to have 200 layers) if ht is even a must. Also I was looking at cheap steel options at an old tool store. Can a good blade be made of and old (just shy of 1/8in thick) floor scraper? It was somewhat hard to bend and had a blue color to it. It was a replacement blade. Sorry for a long read, but thanks for any help in advance.
 
It's hard to give advise on an unknown steel. If it is cheap, your best bet is to buy it and test it. My guess is that by the time you ruin a couple of saw blades and drill bits trying to work with cheap steel, maybe it wasn't that cheap after all.
 
If you want to make a knife as opposed to a knife-shaped-object-that-won't-hold-an-edge, then yes, you will need to heat treat the blade. In fact, you will need to heat treat the blade CORRECTLY, and the only way to do that effectively is to know what kind of steel you are working with.

There is lots of information in the stickies about heat treating 1095 (and damascus made from 1095).
 
Thanks tryppyr. I figured it needed to be but wanted to ask b4 wasting resources and time. And u are correct there is a ton of info, but it gets overwhelming trying to sort through the bs makers, the self proclaimed makers, and those who actually know what they are doing.... that's y I'm here. Thanks again
 
Welcome to Shop Talk.

The stickies at the top of the Shop talk page have a lot of info. It has been filtered for BS.

The best steel to work with simple tools and HT methods is 1084. 1075 and 1080work pretty much the same as 1084, so if one isn't available use the other. These steels are cheap and all will make great knives..

Using objects from an old tool store and/or other "found" sources to make knives is not a good idea.

Damascus made from 1095 and 203E will HT the same as 1095. It takes a bit of a soak time and accurate temperatures, and is best done by a person with the right equipment. It can be done with a forge if you have the experience, but you are risking having expensive steel make a poor knife.
 
Bladsmth... u closed a thread on me claiming I cannot sell knives on this forum unless I pay.... whoever my thread was simply asking about how I should price them. You posted the rules and I even got a "sigh" from you. Please be clear to me in regard to how asking how I should price my blades (which I can't even take a cc for if asked) is considered"selling my blades on this forum. I posted no pics, no website.... only a question... please take the time to make this clear for me so I don't get anymore "sighs" from you.... thanks
 
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