Off Topic Bail spear steel ?

N

Neil smith

Joined
May 21, 2021
Messages
2
Hi fellow blade makers.
Has anyone tried using hay bail spears (the type on tractors) for knife and sword making.
ive got about half a dozen mixed ones that I’ve collected from scrap piles.
info on the steels used is hard to find and range from drop forged to manganese.
farmers I know say they bend well and normally come true after so they seem fairly tough stuff.
 
They are usually forged and hardened, so I suspect they will work for knives and swords.
 
Thanks for the reply. I will investigate further maybe get the wife to film some slow motion video of a spark test to really study the pattern.
I’m just making things for the fun of it and learning as I go.
 
The best thing would be to send a sample off for testing.
Next best is to make a test knife and see how it holds up to rough testing. File test the blade after hardening to see if it got hard enough. If a nearby machine shop or another smith has a hardness tester, have them test a hardened blade.
Do a brass rod test to see if the edge will hold up. Then, chop up some 2X4s, slice some rope and cardboard, hack at an old trash can. Then examine the edge for how well it cuts and survives.
 
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