Fork lift blades

Morrow

Morrow

Don't make this weird
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Apr 11, 2007
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I have access to used fork lift blades. I have no idea what kind of steel they are but it seems like extremely tough stuff. They are simply being disposed of which seems like a huge waste if they would be usable for knife making. I'm trying to find out what kind of steel they are from the manufacturer (Crown).

Anyone know?
 
They've been discussed before. My memory is that they're not likely to be good for blades but they may be quite good for homemade anvils and forge tools.
 
I drove forklifts for 27 yrs at the GM plant in OKC. I'm not sure what type of steel they're made of but we used to drag them on the concrete ALL the time and I never saw any sparks. Oh, and they will bend. Even up in the thick part. Don't ask me how I know...

monty
 
This is the analysis of the fork lift tines I got free from local forklift
shop. BF folks decided the type of steel it probably was and how to HT it.
I have made several hardie hole tools from it. They are very Tuff after
HTing. Being tapered 2 X 4 X 28" (vertical part)they are too small to make a
post anvil but I would think larger tines would be an excellant post anvil
Fork Lift Blade
C 0.331%
Mn 0.34
P 0.007
S 0.017
Si 0.28
Ni 0.09
Cr 0.33
Mo 0.051
B 0.0002
Fe 97.31
Ce 0.656
 
What steel is it similar to? Id like to know more, would it be good for axes, hammers and tomahawks?
 
i've heard that most are 4140 or something similar. I have used one that was about 8"wide x 6"thick from a huge loader as an anvil, and to this date, it has the most rebound of any anvil I've forged on. Welded to some mild steel to add enough weight, it would be great for knifemaking.

Hope that helps,
Todd
 
Todd Robbins said:
i've heard that most are 4140 or something similar. I have used one that was about 8"wide x 6"thick from a huge loader as an anvil, and to this date, it has the most rebound of any anvil I've forged on. Welded to some mild steel to add enough weight, it would be great for knifemaking.

Hope that helps,
Todd
Click to expand...

was it a good anvil? (i don't know much about rebound) I thought it would be laminated around a harder steel like 52100 but what do i know.
 
Id like to try doing something with one, would it make a good beginner's anvil guys?
 
Thanks! My cousin, who is a heavy duty mechanic, asked me if i wanted one a while back to make knives from. As far as i knew, it wouldn't be hard enough for a knife and the steel was unknown to me at the time. Some of his friends have made wrenches from it. Ill ask him if he wants to truck one up for me!
 
Fork lift blades must be tough and abrasion resistant. They will be low carbon and have some manganese in them.
Not good for knives at all.
 
Tommegow said:
<snip>
Fork Lift Blade
C 0.331%
Mn 0.34
P 0.007
S 0.017
Si 0.28
Ni 0.09
Cr 0.33
Mo 0.051
B 0.0002
Fe 97.31
Ce 0.656
Click to expand...

C 0.331%
Very low carbon, yet somewhat hardenable, using superquench or something like it.
Perhaps in the 45-50 HRc range if you are lucky. Could make decent kitchen knives

Mn 0.34
For abrasion resistance, and add some toughness as well.

P 0.007
Probably means "less than 0.007". It's the usual specification.
P is actually baneful to steel, and brings to brittle and crumbly (crappy) steel

S 0.017
Baaaad stuff in steel.
As P.
Adds some machinability in certain SS, like those used for screws, or used for gun barrels.
Sulfur stringers add also a certain degree of safety, helping a bursting barrel to open "banana like" instead of shrapnelling into shards.

Si 0.28
Good. Toughness, resilience.

Ni 0.09
Cr 0.33
These two make temper go deeper, and more even, but here there's definitely too little to have a defined effect.

Mo 0.051
Adds toughness, refines grain.

B 0.0002
Edited.
Boron? What's to do in steel? ?

Fe 97.31
Duh... yeah!

Ce 0.656
?

Seems they are made up with scrapped / recycled steel, from the medley components... ?:confused:
Anyway, hardenable to a degree with very harsh quench.
Probably, in blade-thin stock, plain water will do.
I'd experiment with plain water first, then go for superquench if plaint water isn't enough.
Doesn't sound good for actual anvil. If by anvil you mean "piece of steel you can beat on", that's ok.
But it won't be hard enough for a real anvil.
Abrasion resistance should give it some duration, though.
Probably one could make a good swage block out of it.
 
Alarion said:
...P is actually baneful to steel, and brings to brittle and crumbly (crappy) steel...

...S 0.017
Baaaad stuff in steel.
As P.
Adds some machinability in certain SS, like those used for screws, or used for gun barrels.
Sulfur stringers add also a certain degree of safety, helping a bursting barrel to open "banana like" instead of shrapnelling into shards...

Ce 0.656
?
Click to expand...

Wikipedia said:
In steels, cerium degasifies and can help reduce sulfides and oxides.
Click to expand...

This is a new one for me.
 
Perhaps is added during smelting to purify the steel. It has no effect during ht.
 
while being liquid the steel catches a lot of gas, when it is poured this way the core will be hollow which might produce cold shuts in the finished steel.

even low ammounds of boron change the hardenability from shell to through hardening. a lot of cold-forming steels like for screws and bolts are made from 19MnB4 for a better characteristic.
 
Thanks kababear.
Are the forks cast?
I always thought they were forged, or laminated...
 
Cesium is used as a deoxidizer , a very strong one at that .Boron , though in somewhat higher amounts greatly increses hardenability. ..Alarion ,he means the casting of the original ingot. The steel is then rolled becoming wrought material. The forkes are then forged to final shape. Yes you can break forks , I've seen it done !! ...The alloy mentioned has only Cr and C as significant alloying elements.
 
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