Bronze blade

B

bronzeage

Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
5
I want to manufacture an all-round utility bronze blade boat knife. I am having a difficult time trying to determin what type bronze to use. It should be able to hold an edge and be somewhat flexible. Does any one know of any company that may or would produce a blade like this?
 
Hmmm---haven't a clue, but I'm guessing you'd be more likely to get answers in the the "Makers" section up top, probably in the Shop Talk forum. Good luck:)
 
Welcome to Bladeforums! Why do you think bronze would make a better knife than stainless steel?

moving-van.jpg
 
#1 Any stainless I've ever worked with on a boat either won't take or hold an edge. #2 Aesthetics..boat people are proud of their tools..Thanks
 
I wouldn't expect bronze to hold much of an edge in modern terms of edge holding (hey, there's a reason that the iron age came AFTER the bronze age right?), but if you want a bronze blade, so be it :) You probably want a silicon bronze if I recall correctly. Bronze IS forgeable (my shop keychain is a bronze leaf I forged a while back). You want it heated to a red heat to work it.

Here's a couple of links about forging bronze alloys:

http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/bra_faq_index.htm

http://www.newenglandblacksmiths.org/tips_&_tricks.htm

-d
 
fitzo said:
Be patient about getting a response on the bronze. Most everyone here works steel, so few will be able to answer you.
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I believe some others that frequent Shop Talk were born during the Bronze Age so maybe he'll get more replies than anticipated! :D

If you don't want something that corrodes (even "stainless" will rust), may I suggest you go with something like Stellite or Talonite that is a cobalt and not a steel based alloy. It holds an OK edge but doesn't rust. It is also very expensive.

As mentioned, there are some good cutlery grade stain resistant steels out there.

You never mentioned what use you are looking for? That would help with what is best suited for the application.

Craig
 
Deker, one of the common mistakes is to compare bronze with STEEL rather than the early IRON !! Bronze [typically 10% Sn ] and iron were similar in properties .Both often had their edges hammered to increase strength and harness of the edge. BeCu would be interesting to make a blade of but Be is toxic. Silicon bronze or phosphorous bronze would probably be the best choices.
 
mete- I work a good bit with silicon bronze and have wondered about this myself. I always thought that nickel or phosphorous bronze would make a much better blade than silicon. I have access to quite a bit of silicon bronze though and am curious to know more about this.

I just assumed that nickel would add more hardness and wear resistance over the silicon. Would it be too brittle as a result? Could you give any tips on making a blade from silicon bronze?

Thank you. :)
 
You want phosphor bronze. Silicon bronze really sucks. I've made several bronze blades and phosphor bronze is the closest I have been able to find to good old tin bronze.
For the rest of you guys, Yes bronze is inferior to PROPERLY HEAT-TREATED STEEL I have had a few steel knives that would be outcut by a good bronze blade.
Thanks,
Del
 
The only bronze blade I made is a miniature reproduction of an ancient leaf blade . It was done by hammmer and anneal sequences .No I didn't harden the edges .My expertese is in steel not bronze . I have a piece of phosphor bronze but haven't used it yet .This bronze of coarse is often used for springs and electrical contacts.
 
Bronzeage,
You say boat people are proud of thier tools...why not use a high carbon blade and just keep it cleaned and oiled? I say this but I also agree that a bronze boat knife would be pretty cool to have and show off.:D
Mace
 
Everyone has steel knives, no one has bronze knife...
If I had the chance to own a real hand made bronze knife I would go for it!
 
You could always take a steel knife and have it bronzed. ;)

Personally, I'd like to see a bronze blade too. It's my absolute favorite material for guards and pommels--too bad it takes so much arm twisting to get many makers to use it. :D
 
mete said:
Deker, one of the common mistakes is to compare bronze with STEEL rather than the early IRON !! Bronze [typically 10% Sn ] and iron were similar in properties .Both often had their edges hammered to increase strength and harness of the edge. BeCu would be interesting to make a blade of but Be is toxic. Silicon bronze or phosphorous bronze would probably be the best choices.
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If early iron and bronze were so similar in properties, why all the fuss about iron age tools whooping up on their bronze counterparts? Obviously, once we got to steel there was a big difference, but....Has all that History Channel I watch been failing me? :D

I'd never touch BeCu near any heat source, that's for sure. The guy who taught the class I took on forging non-ferrous metals uses it for some things, but only machined cold.

-d
 
BeCu dust is toxic too ! ...Not too long ago there was an interesting discussion about bronze vs iron on swordforum .There were various tests etc, and the two metals were similar. Choice of material depends on many things , availability ,cost,ease of manufacture etc. Iron at one time was probably the "unobtainium" of the period with all the hype !!! Remember also that making of steel [though in limited amounts] goes back a long time ,it's not just the steel of the last 300 years.
 
Quite some years ago in a small foundry I owned we were melting silicon bronze and one of the workers dropped a small 1020 spru into the induction melting furnace and it melted before we could fish it out. We were pouring some Lion feet for tables so we poured the molds anyway. I don't know what kind of alloy we ended up with but it was so hard it would destroy a good hacksaw blade cutting through a 1/2" dia. No we didn"t save any of it.
 
mete said:
BeCu dust is toxic too !
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If I'm not mistaken, BeCu was what almost killed Tony Mock (ysforge) a year ago.

BAD STUFF.

Make sure what you're getting is what you wanted, as I think Tony originally wanted something that looks identical and got Beryllium Copper, and the fumes from forging literally almost killed him!
 
I am trully overwelmed by the responses to my bronze knive inquiries. Thank you all....This looks like the place I'll find my answers. What is a 1020 spru anyway ? I'm also aware of the berrylium hazards and wll stay away from that entirely. Thanks Again
 
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