Can anyone tell me what kind of steel this is?

S

Suprtek

Joined
Jan 18, 2021
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Below is a link to a photo. It is a tailstock piece from a commercial lathe of some type. I'm thinking about attempting to forge a knife from it. I assume its good steel because of its intended use and it seems to spark well. Wondering if some kind of annealing process would be needed to make it easier to work with. I'm also new to forging and I'm made of questions so any advice would be appreciated. I lucked into several of these things for free. if they are worth using I have a lot of hammering in my future.

https://icedrive.net/0/e5uaAbAWu2
 
Without knowing the manufacturer of the piece, and possibly more info it's really hard to say what it's made from.
 
A.McPherson said:
Without knowing the manufacturer of the piece, and possibly more info it's really hard to say what it's made from.
Click to expand...
Thanks for trying. I was hoping maybe someone might be familiar with what lathe tailstocks were usually made from.
 
If you want to test to see if it can be hardened, it's fairly simple to do so...

Cut several slices off of the end, about 1/4".
Heat till just a bit above non-magnetic then quench in water.

Then do the next one in oil, then the next in air.

After each, check and see if they are hard by running a file along the edge.

If it hardens by letting it cool in air, then you know it's an air hardening steel, if it hardens in oil, but not air, then it's oil hardening, and if it only hardens in water then it's a water hardening steel.

If it doesn't harden in water, then it's probably mild steel, or something that isn't harden able in most home shops.

Obviously this isn't the best way to make a knife, but it'll work!
 
A.McPherson said:
If you want to test to see if it can be hardened, it's fairly simple to do so...

Cut several slices off of the end, about 1/4".
Heat till just a bit above non-magnetic then quench in water.

Then do the next one in oil, then the next in air.

After each, check and see if they are hard by running a file along the edge.

If it hardens by letting it cool in air, then you know it's an air hardening steel, if it hardens in oil, but not air, then it's oil hardening, and if it only hardens in water then it's a water hardening steel.

If it doesn't harden in water, then it's probably mild steel, or something that isn't harden able in most home shops.

Obviously this isn't the best way to make a knife, but it'll work!
Click to expand...
Great advice. I'd also be interested in putting those pieces in a vice and hitting them with a hammer test their strength. I'm still hoping to get lucky and get a response from someone familiar with these. Might be hard to find that info though.
 
Hmmm...just did a bit of reading. If these are 52100, I may want to put them away for a while. I need a lot more experience.
 
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