CJ jeep leaf spring

[deltablade]

I have a cj jeep leaf spring and wonder if it would be suitable for a blade steel?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

No, CJ springs are junk. The only ones any good are the old Willys springs. The 1946-1954 M38 models were the best for big knives. The Jeepster model is good for drop point hunters and camp utility knives. Jeep springs do not work well for fillet and kitchen knives, as they tend to give the taste of cosmolene to the food.



Just kidding. You may not know the exact steel alloy, but I have never heard of a vehicle spring that wouldn't make a blade. Most are some alloy similar to 5160/9260. In some foreign places where steel is hard to get it is the major source of knife steel.

That said, the concern in using a vehicle spring is they may have micro-cracks. These won't be visible, and may not cause any problem ... until HT and the blade cracks or breaks later on in use. The older the vehicle and the rougher the abuse of the springs the worse the problem is likely to be.

The other issue is they are usually pretty thick. By the time you have cut those beasts down, forged them straight, and drawn them into usable thickness, you could have bought good new steel and been well on the way to finishing the knife.

New 5160 steel is so cheap it isn't smart to use a car spring unless the car was sentimental. Aldo has lots of it, as do most all knife suppliers.

 

[Folsoml]

No, CJ springs are junk. The only ones any good are the old Willys springs. The 1946-1954 M38 models were the best for big knives. The Jeepster model is good for drop point hunters and camp utility knives. Jeep springs do not work well for fillet and kitchen knives, as they tend to give the taste of cosmolene to the food.

You had me going there. :chargrined:

 

[CWendling]

Actually, Aldo is out of 5160 and not planning on getting more anytime soon I was told when I called Friday. Tried to talk me into 80CRV2 instead, but I think im going to order some 5160 from Admiral as Im more familiar with it

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

If you liked 5160, you will love 80CrV. It is very similar to 5160 in workability and HT. It is eutectoid, so there is no carbide issue to deal with. It has about .5% Cr and .15% V, so it makes fine grain and tough blades. Its popularity is why Aldo isn't rushing to re-stock 5160.

 

[jmcdaniel0]

If you liked 5160, you will love 80CrV. It is very similar to 5160 in workability and HT. It is eutectoid, so there is no carbide issue to deal with. It has about .5% Cr and .15% V, so it makes fine grain and tough blades. Its popularity is why Aldo isn't rushing to re-stock 5160.

Aldo talked me into a few lengths of 80Crv. Havent used it yet, but I have heard nothing but good things.


Oh yea, Stacy you had me going for a minute, I was scratching my head, going, I have never heard of that.... I was about to pull out the google lol.