Forming a blade from a connecting rod?

[Fire_Brand]

So I have been thinking about making a knife from an engine connecting rod just for the heck of it, I know the materials aren't ideal but I wanted to get a professionals thoughts on this. In particular I'm thinking about buying a scrap 4340 connecting rod which I know is a tough steel but would it even take an edge?

I'm thinking of doing something similar to the knives people make from wrenches but thought it may be pretty cool to have the handle be a connecting rod rather than a wrench. There may not be enough material but since you can pick them up pretty cheap I figure it may be worth a shot. As an alternative since it already has pivot point built in it may be easy to make a friction folder. So what do you guys think?

 

[Bo T]

Once you anneal the rod it should be fine to do a stock removal knife. The metal forges at a fairly high temperature so that would be difficult. The heat treatment is fairly straight foreward if you have a good oven. If you do a good job the knife should be tough. Go for it and post info and pictures.