crane cable?

There is such a wide variety of cable used today, that it could be a number of things. Now a days, the most common material is stainless (usually 300 series), which is worthless for bladesmithing. About the only way to be sure is to test the cable by heating to critical, quenching, and then tap on it with a hammer. If it's usable for bladesmith the wires will break with only light hammer blows. If the material does not break, or bends, then don't waste your time trying to forge it.

------------------
Ed Caffrey
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.caffreyknives.com

[This message has been edited by Ed Caffrey (edited 06-14-2000).]
 
Where can we find the right stuff? What name do we ask for it by, and what are the costs? I've been looking for some to play with.
Ditto on the congrats, Ed. Now everyone knows how good your blades are.

------------------
Oz

"This is your life, and it's ending; One minute at a time."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
i did do the the spark test on it it seemed to be of the high carbon yellow sparks with short burst at the end. the cable was 1" in dia it look like it had been buried in the ground for years i cleaned it up forged it flat and folded it three times the knife i made hold an ammzing edge once i got it sharp i coped away at a 4x4 about 50 times and it would still shave the cable produced a real nice random pattern i think the core strand was stainless or may be high chome because wheni etched it there is a lot of silver in between the darker etched metal. i will post a picture later and do the rope cut test just got to get me some rope.
 
Look in the yellow pages under chain and rigging or Industrial supply houses. Plow, Improved plow, are the cable materials, the supply guys usually have no idea other than that what is in the cables. If that fails check the Thomas Register for Cable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top