Making knifes from spring leaf steel

[DgrantD]

Anybodyu have any tips, is it a problem to cut the steel into pices with a torch? If not then what should I cut it with cause it is really long and wide. thanks for the help.

 

[Greg Covington]

I use a chop saw....but a torch would work as well. Just make sure that you grind away a bit of the area near the cut because you will have burnt out carbon there.

 

[Reg ELLERY]

If it is heat treated spring go ahead with the torch. If it is annealed stock the torch will tend to harden the cut line.

So if it is annealed and you don't have a band saw, I used to mark out the profile and drill a sieries of holes along side each other almost touching, then used a rod saw or chisel to cut the joining bits.

I used to start at the opposite ends of the profile so that the steel was not getting too hot. after a lot of drilling I sometimes had the steel start to harden. I was obviously not driling with coolant or for that matter probably not the right speed. But it worked and I got some big bowies. Gave them away like a mug.

 

[kevtan]

Suggest getting some that are thinner then 1/3". If you are forging then I have seen the blacksmiths heat the spring to look for fault line. If it is OK then they just use a large cold chisel to cut the still red spring. They also straighten it at the same time.