JDM5160 questions

D

Dan Calvin

Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
9
I am just getting started with forge and hammer and I was wondering if I could get some input about forging from John Deere load control shafts . Since I am a tech at a deere dealer , I r&r between 25-50 of these every year , this steel is cheap for me to acquire . Right now the less expense the better .
Any potential problems , to look for ?
I have been grinding from some 5160 combine straw chopper blades , and had great luck working and heat treating it . I didn't really want to screw up too bad on my first forged blade .

Thanks ,
Dan
 
Dan, that JD load control shaft material is some of the best 5160 you can acquire today.
I would be thrilled to "help" you play with some!
There are no real problems to look for - only successes.
Learn to treat this like any other 5160, only know that when doing so, you are using some of the best 5160 to be found.
I live across east of you in Illinois. (UPS shipping would be pretty cheap!)
 
I am sure you can get a few from the local John Deere dealer , also straw chopper impeller blades are an option that would be easier to find these days . Though they are a lot smaller
 
Dan Calvin said:
I am sure you can get a few from the local John Deere dealer , also straw chopper impeller blades are an option that would be easier to find these days . Though they are a lot smaller
Click to expand...

Uhhh, Maybee you should read his post.
 
Guess I should have elaborated a bit . But I got interrupted . Just a bit of info on how to get free or nearly free 5160 .
I will have a decent stockpile of shafts by summer to take with me to hammer-ins .
 
Guess I should have elaborated a bit . But I got interrupted . Just a bit of info on how to get free or nearly free 5160 .
I will have a decent stockpile of shafts by summer to take with me to hammer-ins .
 
Can somebody give me a part number, and a photo?

and maybe an explanation of where this shaft is and what it does?
 
It's called a hitch load control shaft . I is used in John Deere 10,20,30,40 and the smaller 50 series tractors . The shaft will flex when a loaf is on the hitch and move a lever to adjust hydraulic pressure to the hitch valve . Over time the seals and bushings wear and the seal will leak. The shaft is replaced also , and usually saved by the pack rats at the shop , like me . Some are used for improvised tools at the shop .
Usually the techs in the shop can give you a couple , maybe more . Just ask nicely , as always.
The shaft is about 1" in diameter and 24-30" long .
From this I hope to make my first few blades .
 
i am not sure if those thing are the same like the 5160 for truck springs. over here the export spring steel production usually is 60CrMn for trucks spring. and the load control shaft is vaccum ESR 60Si2CrV. its rather closer to sock resistance S5 than normal 5160.

i think you might need to double check the alloy's chemical contant before heat treat the blade.
 
Engineering at deere gave me the specs and confirmed it is 5160 . That was all the info I could get .

It should work the same as any other 5160 right ?
 
I used these shafts for the first 100 or so knives that I made. I never found any kind of flaw in any of them. These are also what students forg at Ed Fowlers high performance knife making school in Riverton WY. At one of these classes I forged a demo knife and heat treated it along with the class and then ground and polished it. this knife made something like 12 edge flexes on a brass rod then was resharpened and then made 600 cuts on one lay out of a piece of inch and a half hemp rope and then was bent 90 and then back and forth in a 180 degree arc 18 times without breaking or cracking. this was witnessed and can be verified by our own Karl Andersen.
 
The last student at our Willow Bow Ranch Seminar the first of this month is a senior majoring in metallurgical engineering. He related to me that his father told him that the JD 5160 was not only of ultimate quality, but that there are other special aspects involved in the development of the steel.

Having worked with it off and on for over 30 years, I believe what he said, but have never been able to find out what is so special, but it is there. Every bit of nurture you give it will be returned in performance.
 
The " other special aspects " explains why the engineer I spike to had no idea how they heat treated the shaft .
Thanks for the posts guys . Good info .
Now if the weather and the homemade equipment will cooperate maybe I can get some work done tomorrow.
 
I have been trying to figure why the steel is what it is. John Deer has guarded its methods well. I recently had a conversation with a Metallurgist who is a PhD. He explained to me that the chemistry of a piece of steel was only one part of the properties of that steel.

Like grandmothers old cake recipe, many in the family have may have the exact contents and methods written down and try to follow it, but few can make it taste look or have the texture of those she made.

One nice thing, you will have few unknown variables to haunt you - other than those you add to the finished knife.
 
aside from the alloy chemical component, it also depends on technology and technique invoved in during the smelting process, hot/cold work process and later heat treatment.

since the alloy located at 5160, the technology and technique of the smelting procress should be the most important factor i think. it helps product better quality alloy with less inclusion and better dispersion. thus guarantee better benifits from later hot/cold work and heat treatment.

what are the exactly component of the US 5160? i know some ESR spring steel with different component all called 5160 here.
 
I have had some experience with this " other special aspects " with my favorite batch of steel.
Hard to explain, but it is real. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top