5160 sources?

[bzzhewt]

Could anyone tell me some sources of 5160 steel or similar. Anything i can get from an in-town supplier would be good, but really am interested in junkyard and other free sources, like leaf springs, coil springs, and stuff.
Any other types of good blade steel sources would be good too.
As a side note, just out of curiosity, are there any types of steel that will make a great knife without any heat treating. I was thinking of saw blades particularly. Will they work?
Thanx

 

[Jeff Clark]

Saw blades are softer than you would want for a knife. Not only would blades dull faster than normal blades they would be more difficult for a user to deburr when sharpening. The hardness of a knife blade is uncommon in metal objects. It is up partway into the brittle zone compared to most structural steels. A compromise might be to buy a high quality Nicholson file from Home Depot and reduce its hardness into the knife range. You could do that by baking the file in your oven at around the maximum setting on the dial. I would buy two files. Bake one for an hour and see if it has softened enough that you can cut it with the other file. If not try for another hour. Repeat the process until you can just barely cut the baked file with the other file. To make sure that you've done enough tempering rap the baked file moderately hard on the sidewalk a couple times. If it doesn't break you have something that you can use to make a knife. It should be in the mid 50's RC.

 

[polarbearforge]

I usually call leaf springs and coil springs 5160-ish. They may or may not be 5160, and they are usually close to it. It's good stock to start with (imo) when starting out. If you're working on a piece you don't like, you don't feel as obligated to finish it and can throw it in the bin instead. After getting going, it's nice to get stock with a known chemistry. I just got some from Ray Kirk, at http://www.rakerknives.com and he also has 52100. Good place to get it.

Saw blades will work well sometimes. If you're lucky enough to find ones made from L6, they make really good knives. More often than not, though, there are brazed tips of good steel into a not so good steel body. This is the type that Jeff is saying is too soft for a knife.

Nicholson files make good stock. I usually use them until they're dull and then use them when I'm teaching people.

I was out in Rapid this past May for Quest. It was hot for forging....

Jamie