I am a little confused about this steel.

Caleb M.

Caleb M.

Joined
Dec 22, 2012
Messages
157
I went down to my local hardware store, in search of 3/16" and 1/4" brass rods along with some bar stock. I didn't have problems with the rods, it was the steel. I asked the key master (the dude that makes the keys) that was back there about it and he was pretty useless. The labeling on the flat bar said " Plain Steel, heat rolled 1"x48"x1/8". So I have to ask, what in the heck is plain steel?:confused:
 
Remember this thread you started 3 days ago?

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...o-knife-making-where-is-a-good-place-to-start

Caleb M. said:
I have made one knife so far. I made it out of an old sawzall blade, and it is an ugly SOB. I don't have many tools right now. I want to make small (4-6") blades to daily chores. What some in-expensive tools and materials I can get? I have a $50 budget, so I can't be going crazy on what to buy. Any help is greatly appreciated!
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I gave you this post

12345678910 said:
Draw something and show us a photo

Lots of info here


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...n-for-new-knife-maker?p=12805770#post12805770
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With this link

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...n-for-new-knife-maker?p=12805770#post12805770

If you would have read that

Steel
The “welding steel” at Home Depot / Lowes… is useless for knives.
Forget about lawnmower blades ,files and other unknown junkyard steels.
For all the work involved, it is very cheap to buy and use a known good steel.

If you send out for heat treating, you can use
Oil quenched O1, 1095, 1084
Or air quenched A2, CM154, ATS34, CPM154, 440C, plus many others.

For heat treating yourself with minimal equipment, find some Eutectoid steel and quench in Canola oil.
1084FG sold by Aldo Bruno is formulated for Knifemaking, Cheapest & made for DIY heat-treat.
http://njsteelbaron.com/
Phone # 862-203-8160

you would have been three days ahead and much smarter



It's very lucky indeed that the hardware store guy was knowledgeable enough to tell you that steel was useless.

The labelling on the flat bar said " Plain Steel, heat rolled 1"x48"x1/8". So I have to ask, what in the heck is plain steel?
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In that specific instance Plain Steel refers to it being not galvanized -


If you are stuck on buying steel locally and will send it out for heat treating.
Find a Fastenal store near you.
The website has a store finder feature
Buy some O1, or A2 or D2 precision ground flat bar.
 
Caleb, if you don't have any tools at all then making a knife for $50 is going to be tough. If you can beg, borrow and scrounge some tools then you'll stand a better chance.

Buy some O1 flat bar from onlinemetals.com or knifemaking.com

I recommend 5/32" thick, by 1-1/2" wide for a basic outdoors knife.

Then start working on getting some basic hand tools (files, drill, sandpaper, hacksaw, etc...) for more info on what you'll need have a look at the videos on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/aaronmarkgough/videos

The video on making and using a filing jig will give you a way to do your bevels.
The video on heat-treating O1 will show you how you can get the steel hard for your knife blade (a charcoal BBQ can be substituted for the small forge)
The videos about using files and hacksaws will be useful too.
The time-lapse and infantryman videos will give you a good overview of the process start to finish.

It's a good idea to just spend a few weeks reading everything you can find about how knives are made before you start buying stuff. Watch videos, read all the forum posts that are happening. Ask questions in the threads if you don't understand. This step will save you a lot of wasted time and money!
 
I think "Key Master" is a bit of a misnomer.

These days, making a key involves little more than selecting a template, putting tab A into slot B, hitting a button, and waiting 30 seconds.
 
He just kept asking about a gate keeper....
Louis-Tully.png



Sorry, couldn't resist.
Aldo's (NJSteelBaron) 1084 is cheap and easy to work with. Shipping adds to the cost but it's really worth it.

I hadn't thought of checking fastener stores for tool steel. There's one near my work I'll have to check and see what they have.
 
I think you guys are referring to the ring master, with the "One ring to rule them all!" The key master is much less powerful, a common misunderstanding.
 
The steel is probably something like A36 or 1018. It is easy to weld and shape. I've found the retail cost of this steel to be close to the cost of 10XX higher carbon steels and O-1.
This is the steel that blacksmiths would use to make wall mounted coat hangers, barbeque tools, etc. with.
What the heck does '4chan' mean?
 
Just a quick note about availability for knifemaking steels. I had a hell of a time locally sourcing anything until a friend showed me that they sell 1095 music wire at Ace Hardware. It only goes up to about 1/4in but its more than serviceable for smaller thin blades.
 
Caleb M. said:
Yes, why?
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Caleb, when other tech people like myself see someone use the phrase 'hacker' we start thinking: "black hat or white, coding 'hacker' or intrusion 'hacker'" etc...

Most people however just think 'hacker = guy who breaks my computer and steals my credit card numbers'.

It might not be a great idea to identify yourself as such in contexts where people may not understand (or wish to understand) all the shades of meaning that word can potentially have.
 
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