5160 STEEL

R

ragnoor

Joined
Apr 22, 2001
Messages
311
I HAVE ONLY BEEN ABLE TO FIND THIS STEEL IN 1/4 THICKNESS. THIS IS FINE FOR LARGE BOWIES AND COMBAT KNIVES. I NEED 3/16 AND 1/8 FOR SMALL HUNTERS AND WORKING KNIVES. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST STEELS FOR FORGING. IS THERE ANY SPECIAL DOS AND DON'TS ABOUT THIS STEEL. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THIS IS A TRIPLE QUENCH AND TRIPLE DRAW STEEL. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY INFO AND RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THIS STEEL.

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KandS KNIVES
 
Hey Ken, go to Ed Caffrey's workshop at CKD. He has lots of info on 5160. Seems like it's his favorite steel for forging.

As for the thinner stock you need, try drawing it out from your thicker stock and you can get your distal taper done at the same time. That's the way I do it with leaf springs anyway.

I'm going to try the triple quench and triple temper trick myself. Working on a survival knife that needs all the help it can get.
 
I get 5168, which is a spring steel like 5160 in one eighth thick pieces from
Stanley Spring
Harrisburg, PA Phone number 717-257-5050
 
THANK YOU KINDLY FELLAS, YOUR COURTESY IS MUCH APPRECIATED.
KEN

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KandS KNIVES
 
Sorry to be so late reading this thread and posting. But, am fresh from reading Ed Fowler's new book and watching his video. 5160 is his 2nd favorite steel, and the book has lots of info in it on normalizing, annealing, hardening and quenching it.

He also has interesting things to say about the appropriate thickness of steel for working knives, that might make you decide to just stick with the 1/4" stock. Until I read his book, I never gave much thought to the spine of a blade, but to Ed, it is real important, and he makes good points on how much more flexible the knife can be for a variety of grips and applying pressure during cuts.

Am not trying to hold him up too high, but I almost never see anything on the forums that goes as deep into design and utility as he does in his book.

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Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
Unless you don't have a forge, your best bet will probably be to forge it out yourself. Otherwise, check Admiral Steel, they might have it. I ordered some from them years back. For forging, make sure you have it hot enough, in the 1900 degree range. Follow with thermocycling, and then heat treat.
For any of you that are not familiar with thermocycling, it is heating the steel to its austenitic phase, then quenching, and repeating the process at slightly lower temperatures each time. Example, if your steel is austenitic at 1450 F, then start a thermocycle at 1600, then quench. Second thermocycle at 1550, quench. Third at 1500, and quench, then anneal. Finish the blade, and heat treat as normal. This will give you dramatic grain refinement, regardless of how crappy the grain structure was to begin with. There is no need to draw the blade back between cycles, since the carbide structures formed by tempering are destroyed during the next cycle. I think this is the basis for the triple quench and draw theory. After seeing the difference, I never let a blade leave the shop unless it has been thermocycled.
Happy hammering
 
Tips for 5160.
When forging always hold the dark end of the bar,never the red end.
Seriously,Thermal cycling;annealing;forge or grind ;normalize;quench three times;temper three times;finish knife. - Sounds like a bunch of work but it doesn't take more than a few extra minutes (except the tempering).Produces a very tough blade.Stick with 1/4 inch in 5160.If you want 1/8" try 1095.
 
that seems like kind of a waste of a belt to grind 1/4" steel for every application, although I am very intregued. Exactly what are the benefits of this?

- Chris
 
Chris, I dont think the comments about 1/4"tock are aimed at stock-removal blade grinders, but at Blade Smiths. If one is doing stock removal, then it makes a great deal of sense to start with the final thickness stock. It would be very inefficient to grind 1/4" down to 1/8" , but makes sense to forge 1/4" down to a tapered blade running from 3/16" to 1/8".
 
If you want 5160 in thinner strips look in the yellow pages under Spring suppliers.Spring strip cones in almost any size.I still prefer 1095 for thinner blades.5160 for thicker ones.I forge them.
 
I was about to say Hey Max!!! Till I looked at the dates. Somebody was digging in the archives I see.
 
I'm finding out that the sawmill business is like any other business Mark. It goes in cycles. And when I have a big bunch of sawn and stacked lumber, nobody needs any! Besides, right now, no one seems to be buying much of anything besides bread, eggs and milk. However, with the slow-down in the sawmill work, I've re-developed a long lost talent of mine. Homebrewing! There's nothing quite as satisfying as coming in from cutting and hauling firewood and sitting down to a nice cold homebrew. Especially when you can drink it without making a face! Heeeeeeee haaaaaaaaawwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm serious, I think I've stumbled onto another business opportunity here. I've got an old rock barn I'm seriously thinking about converting into an old styled Irish Pub. And I'll be brewing and serving it all myself with the help of my family. Big dreams, I know. But that's the way it's always been for me. That little sawmill will allow me to do the renovating and re-building on the barn for pennies on the dollar. And I've already got all the stainless steel brewing and aging vats located and am working out a deal for them now. Anyway....

I'm quite sure my blacksmithing/bladesmithing skills will come into play outfitting the pub and that just brings things around full circle if you know what I mean. I'm thinking Irish Stout will be my best seller and it goes along with my roots. I'm drinking my way through a batch of banana malt stout right now and it's out of this world. But the beauty of it is I can brew whatever my taste and talent will allow. I have about 5 different kinds of beer bottled and aging right now. Wheat, ginger honey ale, plain old hopped beer and the banana stout. Ok, that's only four but who's counting? And am I saving any money? Hotdamn! My normal brand of commercial beer (Red Dog) was costing me about $12/case. I can make a much better tasting beer for about $3/case. You do the math!!! He he.

Well, now what do you have to say for yourself Mark? Would you like to come help me drink up some of this beer? I need to make room for more of the same. Knowing you to be a fine fellow, I'm sure you'll oblige. :D
 
Max...do you ever cut any well figured Maple. If so, I may be able to find you some business, also looking for Walnut with some grain and if you run across any Chestnut, yell real loud!
 
I'd love to come sample some homebrews . I tryed my hand at it a few years ago. I really enjoyed it. Got away from it when I moved into an apartment for a bit.
The pub sounds like a great opportunity Max. I could imagine how nice a place a fellow could produce with a sawmill and being a blacksmith also. Nice rustic fixtures and REAL wood. Sounds like that little venture could turn out well. Keep us up to date evry now and then.
 
Max, Everytime I read something that has got you excited this is something that comes to mind: AMERICAN DREAM ....... My best friend growing up I had met playing Little League. Believe the next time we got together was in high school. I remember the best and cheepest high we would get is when we would steel a quart of his dad's home brew and split it while walking to a dance. It was the worst tasting beer I ever had, sure alot of it had to do with it being out in the garage and it was hot. Never did have any that was cold. Guess we didn't have the nerve to steel it out of the fridge since his dad knew what was in there....
 
Well, the Pub idea is just and idea for now Mark. I have my plate full with other plans that have to be done first. Sometime this coming spring I intend to start building my wife a house from my sawmill lumber. Probably all cedar since that's what I have the most of. I sawed on that stuff all summer and never even put a dent in what's still standing. It's amazing.

I built a small cabin out of cedar the first week in September. A good friend of mine drove down from Michigan to help me and to video the process as an instructional type video he'll sell on his website. It's a funny video as well as instructional and it highlites peckerwood building techniques never witnessed on film! He he. We fought like cats and dogs the whole time! Anyway, it's good for a laugh. The house will probably take me a year or more to get in the dry because it takes so long for me to saw up that cedar lumber. White pine is a breeze but that cedar is a real royal pain in the hind end. The thing that slows me down the most is that I'm a one man show. I'm not complaining really. You get used to the pace and doing it all yourself. But it's slow, tedious work.

Peter, I don't have much maple on the place and none of it is the right kind for knife handles or gun stocks etc... And what little walnut I have is growing right here around the house. If I ever saw up that big stump out by the sawmill I'm really hoping for some nice burled stuff from it. But it has rocks all through the roots and I've already ruined more than a few chainsaw chains trying to section it up. Once I get my old gnarly McCullogh 610 fired up again I'll have another go and see what I can do. Heck, by this time it might be a bit on the spalted side. Ever seen any spalted walnut? I might just have some later on if it pans out. Or it might just rot down to the ground. He he. That's about my speed. I'd love to get some business sawing handle blanks for knifemakers but the wood would have to be shipped back and forth and that would get expensive. I just don't have any good knife handle wood on my place that most makers would be interested in. And there hasn't been any chestnut here for a long time. The blight took it all many years ago.
 
Bugs3x said:
Sorry to be so late reading this thread and posting. But, am fresh from reading Ed Fowler's new book and watching his video. 5160 is his 2nd favorite steel, and the book has lots of info in it on normalizing, annealing, hardening and quenching it.

He also has interesting things to say about the appropriate thickness of steel for working knives, that might make you decide to just stick with the 1/4" stock. Until I read his book, I never gave much thought to the spine of a blade, but to Ed, it is real important, and he makes good points on how much more flexible the knife can be for a variety of grips and applying pressure during cuts.

Am not trying to hold him up too high, but I almost never see anything on the forums that goes as deep into design and utility as he does in his book.

------------------
Asi es la vida

Bugs
Click to expand...

http://www.knivesby.com/Ed-Fowlers-heat-treat.html :)
 
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