File steel - what is what?

B

Bart student

Joined
Nov 17, 1999
Messages
676
Hello Folks,

As a beginning knife maker, I was playing around with a few files, to practice some forging and hardening. I forged a knife from a "Nicholson", a "Sandvik", a "groberg" and a cheap 1$ file with the mark grinded off. All oil quenched and such.
What steel(s) have I been using? Is there any way to see which steel is in which file? Are there better steels in this file as compared to the other file?

greetz & thanks. Bart.
 
bart,

I have been told the better files such as nicholson are W-2. I have not forged any, but have had good success with annealing and doing stock removal.
sashcord
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Be alert...the world needs more lerts.
 
Some files are case hardened. This will not do for knifemaking unless they are case hardened after grinding.
Some are 1095 ,w2 and other material. I would contact the manufacturer and ask what they are before putting time into them.

The old fellows say that Diamond brand are good. I have forged a few . They worked ok


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Web Site At www.darrelralph.com
 
Standard Nicholson files are 1095. At least that what the factory told me when I called to ask several years ago. The Black Diamond (which is Nicholson's priemium brand) that Darrel mentioned are a simple carbon steel (10XX) with 1.27% carbon. Most all the other brands that I have had tested seem to vary. Sometimes 1095, sometimes case hardened. Grinding off teeth is a good idea, especially the edges. A few years ago I made a lot of blades for the Buckskinner crowd out of nicholson horseshoer rasps, I quickly learned that I could get away with leaving most of the teeth on the flats (those folks liked the look) but if the teeth where left on the edges, things went south very fast. I also had the unpleasent experience of forging a couple of files that were case hardened, and never realized it until I got to the finish grinding, what a waste of time and effort.

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Ed Caffrey "The Montana Bladesmith"
ABS Mastersmith
www.caffreyknives.com
 
Thanks for the reply folks,

But it raises a few new questions.
1. how do I know if something was case-hardened? The cheap file was such a bent file for flat surfaces, so it has only one cutting side. But still, both sides were as hard as a file. And it had a factory mark, it is just grinded off.
2. If Nicholson files are 1095 or W-2 or something like that, what are the sandvik files? They are the same size and all, they just have a much more matte grey colour, like titanium when it is sandblasted. And they rust much less in air, but they do rust much faster when in contact with water.
3. Anyone have any expirience with "Holland" files?

greetz and thanks.
 
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