Large billets

[ballo]

Anyone know where I can get high carbon steel 1/4 inch thick by 5 inches wide and 18 inches and longer lengths? Can only find ASTM-A-36 low carbon steel, .25% carbon. No good for knife making.

 

[navman]

where are you located?

USAKnifemaker has billets of 8670 at .25 x 4"

New Jersey steel Baron can also accommodate larger pieces of various carbon steels.

 

[Shorttime]

Well, this is probably better answered by the knifemaker's subforum.

As a starter, we should make sure you're aware that there are different "flavors" of "high carbon steel". If you're looking for O1, 1084, 1095, those are somewhat easy to find from industrial steel suppliers. There are two here in the States, one has the name of a New York City borough in it, and the other should show up further down the search results. I was fairly easily able to filter down to a 0.25"x6"x24" piece of 1095.

52100 should also be pretty easy to find, you just may have to do a lot of cutting to get a billet down to the size you need.

5160, strangely enough, seems harder to find.

The "high speed" and "tool steels", M4, A2, D2, etc. Are going to give your search skills a test, at least at those kinds of sizes. They're going to give your wallet a test, too!

I've only dabbled in knife making, and nothing as ambitious as the kind of monster blade you seem to be contemplating. Good luck, and please come back and show us pictures of the finished product!

 

[knarfeng]

Well, this is probably better answered by the knifemaker's subforum.

Moving the thread there now.

 

[VorpelSword]

UMmmm . . .A n auto shop for old leaf springs?

Plenty of YouTube videos on leaf springs for knife making.

And I do know that there reasons why this is sub-optimal, but a leaf spring will get you there.

 

[Shorttime]

UMmmm . . .A n auto shop for old leaf springs?

Plenty of YouTube videos on leaf springs for knife making.

And I do know that there reasons why this is sub-optimal, but a leaf spring will get you there.

If you have access to forging temperatures, leaf springs are a great option. But then, plenty of other things become great options, too.

When the OP asked for actual dimensions for a billet, I assumed they intend to do stock removal. I could easily be wrong, too.

And, I should have just tagged knarfeng in the first place.

I'm still interested to see where this goes. The size of the billet gives me hope that the result will be a big, dumb, fun, knife.

 

[DevinT]

Alpha knife supply

Hoss

 

[VorpelSword]

If you have access to forging temperatures, leaf springs are a great option. But then, plenty of other things become great options, too.

When the OP asked for actual dimensions for a billet, I assumed they intend to do stock removal. I could easily be wrong, too.

And, I should have just tagged knarfeng in the first place.

I'm still interested to see where this goes. The size of the billet gives me hope that the result will be a big, dumb, fun, knife.

All good points.


I am not a knife maker. I have very little experience and less genuine knowledge of steels, forging or any of it.

However, back in the early 1980s I worked on oil rigs in the middle east, offshore and in their worst deserts. Often I had time on my hands and access to industrial grade power tools. I did make a couple of knives. The materials were all salvaged or declared to be scrap. A casing centralizer has two clamps that are fastened to a pipe that are connected by three spring steel bows. I managed to salvage several of these bowls and created a couple of knives from them. No forging was involved. I didn't even draw there temper r anneal . . .whatever the proper term is. What I did do was use bench grinders and an angle grinder and a wide selection of files over a month o cut away everything that did not look like a knife to me. The welder helped my do the heat treat with sa torch till the steel looked cherry red in the sun light, then put it into a tub of discarded dirty gear oil. The handle slabs were tropical hard wood cut from a packing crate for a drill bit.The pins were grass brazing rod and so on.

They turned out nice . . . . even had a feint Hamon line about 1/4 inch from the edge.

And so, that is why I suggested a leaf spring as a possible source for a large piece of stock that might cover the dimensions looked for by the OP.

I am sure that there is a better way to get out a large life . . .this is what I did forty years ago.