Good mystery steels

D

Delta Blades

Joined
Feb 1, 2016
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7
Does any one have mystery steels the they can recommend?
I am fairly new to the art of knife making and I am trying to find sources of cheap steel that make decent blades so I can practice on that and save my 1095 for more deserving projects. I have made a few from old circular saw blades, but those are not exactly easy to locate with out the right connections.
 
A good mystery steel is a bit of an oxymoron. Something that I would recommend is that when you are trying to make a usable knife that you don't use any mystery steels. There are too many unknowns for a beginner. If you just want to practice then any piece of scrap iron or steel will do to hone your construction skills.

Also, your 1095 isn't a steel for beginners. The H/T is too tricky and easy to get wrong. Get some 1084 or 5160 which will be much easier to get right.

Gary
 
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The steel is the cheapest cost of a knife in most cases. I second the 1084 suggestion above.
Darcy
 
"Mystery" and "steel" are two words that should not be placed next to each other.
 
The unseen costs you will experience using Mystery Steels far outweigh any cost of good quality material. As all above have stated the blade material cost is minimal esp since you are planning to use 1095 or other simple carbon steel. 1084 is a great steel to begin with. A steel that many many smiths started with that has been replaced somewhat by 1084 is 5160. It can be had for a very reasonable price. It is also very forgiving. Just bite the bullet so to speak and buy some good known material.

Now if you are planning to fill a niche using mystery steel all of the time, you will need to learn how to ID steels to at least a best guess. That is far to involved to cover here. Otherwise buy some known steel.
 
i dont get too excited by a flat bar of known steel, i like using files, drill bits, springs, whatever will harden. i mostly use known steel though, it just seems more like a totally blank page and i get writers block easily.

ive made a blade from a cheap machete and it wouldnt harden, i couldnt get an allen wrench to harden as well, some circular saw blades wont harden at all. some steels just arent fun to forge, they dont move under the hammer much and some will crack at temperatures that you can forge other steels at. a five foot bar of 1"x1/8" is less than $20, thats at least 5-10 blades.

use whatever you like, but known steel will give you a better knife. you would have to do a lot of destructive testing to "know" an unknown steel.
 
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