5160 steel sizes

M

Marcel J.B. Morin

Joined
Sep 17, 1999
Messages
602
Is there any place to buy this steel in anything except 1/4" thickness? I would like to try it for stock removal but would prefer to use it in 1/8" or 3/16" thickness. Any help would be appreciated.

Marcel
 
5160 is standard auto spring material, with that in mind, I have never seen is commercially available in anything less than 1/4". About the only solution I can think of, is to have someone surface grind it down for you. Sorry, not much help finding what your looking for, but maybe say you a little frustration.

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Ed Caffrey "The Montana Bladesmith"
ABS Mastersmith
www.caffreyknives.com
 
Try Admiral Steel they have it in 13/64 which is 1 64th over 3/16. Close as I've seen
Take Care
TJ
 
Call some local shops that *make* car and truck springs. I`ve gotten both new 3/16" thick leaves and 3/16" thick unhardened and uncurved stock from them as well as thicker stock. The last knife I made and sold was to the guy at the spring place where I got the steel. I took $30 off the price for a big stack of assorted new leaves. I`ve got enough there alone to make more than a dozen large knives or 2 dozen small ones.
smile.gif
Marcus
 
:
I bought some RSS (Raw Spring Steel)
from Tulsa Auto Spring a while back to make some knives from.
I got it in 1/8" & 3/16" and from 1" wide to 1 14" wide.

The man was very honest with me which I always appreciate and told me that the RSS could be any "spring steel." That as y'all know includes the 10XX carbon series as well as 5160 alloy.
One of the pieces I got is marked 1084 so I do know for sure what it is and it is perfect for the purpose it's going to be used for. The rest is unmarked and can be any grade of carbon steel and since kitchen knives are going to be made from it I doubt its critical as to the grade as the heat treatment will be the most important step.
The hardening process for any of these steels is similar enough that good results can be obtained by heating to critical and quenching in warm oil.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you buy from a spring manufacturer you may not know what you're truely getting unless the steel is marked. And if you want a specfic steel like 5160 it may be better to buy it from a supplier that can and will guarantee the type.

If I were going to make a cleaver I would want 5160 specifically for that purpose.
The local oriental super market sells really nice cleavers really cheap so if I made a cleaver it would be just for fun.
smile.gif



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

........unknown, to me anyway........

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
I have bought 5160 from the Auto/truck spring shop locally in assorted sizes. They were also willing to order 1095 with the monthly orders and pass the shipping savings to me.

They also used the metal muncher/chopper to cut the pieces for me at no extra cost. Take time to talk to them and I bet you find a guy there who has tried to make a blade or two. If I only wanted a few pieces they said I could take the drops too.

Jonesy
 
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