Could I make a knife with this?

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TheEdge01

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I found this piece of steel at work and was told that it could be a planer blade. If so, would it be worth the time to make a knife out of it? What kind of steel is it and what steps do I need to take? Thanks
 
Just grind away all of it that doesn't look like a knife and there it is, a knife.:)--
Sorry,I couldn't resist that. --Do a search on here. there are a lot of posts answering your question.
Try the general knifemakers discussion subforum.--KV
 
kvaughn said:
Just grind away all of it that doesn't look like a knife and there it is, a knife.:)--
Sorry,I couldn't resist that. --Do a search on here. there are a lot of posts answering your question.
Try the general knifemakers discussion subforum.--KV
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True!!! Lol!!!! I was just curious if it would make a decent knife blade.
 
check into the general knifemakers section for some deeper info.
if it is in fact a planer blade, pretty good chance that it has the potential to make a knife
 
David Boye wrote a book on how to make knives out of material like that back in the 1970's. It's still valid, and shows everything you need to know. There are a couple other books on the same subject, but that one is the best I've found.
 
eisman said:
David Boye wrote a book on how to make knives out of material like that back in the 1970's. It's still valid, and shows everything you need to know. There are a couple other books on the same subject, but that one is the best I've found.
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Thanks, I’ll see if I can pull it up online.
 
There are basic tests you can do to see if a steel can be hardened.

I make knives occasionally out of whatever I can find and have a preferred test method.

Heat a small piece of it till non magnetic and quench it, then see if it's become hard and brittle enough to break when you hit it with a hammer. Might have to try once with an oil quench and again with a water quench.
 
Hickory n steel said:
There are basic tests you can do to see if a steel can be hardened.

I make knives occasionally out of whatever I can find and have a preferred test method.

Heat a small piece of it till non magnetic and quench it, then see if it's become hard and brittle enough to break when you hit it with a hammer. Might have to try once with an oil quench and again with a water quench.
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You can test a Steel for carbon content by grinding it and looking at the sparks. Buy David Boyd’s book. How to make custom knives. That’s the book I started with about 24 years ago
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
You can test a Steel for carbon content by grinding it and looking at the sparks. Buy David Boyd’s book. How to make custom knives. That’s the book I started with about 24 years ago
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I've tried it, but am not an expert on the kind of Sparks to look for.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I've tried it, but am not an expert on the kind of Sparks to look for.
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Really bright ones that throw a even brighter secondary spark. Start with grinding a know non harden-able steel. A please of Fence post or brackets etc Watch the sparks. Grind the teeth on an old circular saw blade or known old file that is harden, Watch those Sparks.Also buy the book and read David Boyd’s description. If you want to hunt for harden-able Steels . It won’t take long to know what to look for..
 
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You can try. You'll definitely want to clean it up first and get down to some shiny metal. You'll want some kind of a powered abrasive as it's probably already hardened. Your goal is to remove material without overheating it. If the edge starts turning blue/purple, you'll need to re-heat treat. If you need to drill any holes in it, you'll probably want to use a carbide bit. Carbide tipped masonry bits work, though they're not overly precise.

In short, it's possible, but it won't be terribly easy, and you may be better off to start off with a known steel that's already annealed and easier to machine before heat treat.
 
I've made plenty of 6(ish)" long neck knives/pocket fixed blades before. 3.5/2.5 or 3.25/2.75 handle to blade ratios aren't terrible, depending on shape.
 
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