Maybe Some Of You Can Help

S

sasha

Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
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I finaly have the corvette leaf spring in the hand today. What is the most easy way to get the spring streight?? I never made a knife of my own and i dont know how well i can do it. So before i spend the money to buy the metal and build a forge. Basicly spend lots of money i want to try and make a knife and see how i like it. My first problem is how to make the spring flat. I sort of got an idea of what i want my knife to look like. I dont have an envil so thats one of my problems lol. Any help any one can offer would be great.
thanks in advance.

Sasha
 
sasha said:
I finaly have the corvette leaf spring in the hand today. What is the most easy way to get the spring streight?? I never made a knife of my own and i dont know how well i can do it. So before i spend the money to buy the metal and build a forge. Basicly spend lots of money i want to try and make a knife and see how i like it. My first problem is how to make the spring flat. I sort of got an idea of what i want my knife to look like. I dont have an envil so thats one of my problems lol. Any help any one can offer would be great.
thanks in advance.

Sasha
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Sasha, but I can't help you to straighten the spring, but if you don't get any help, what about using it as a crossbow?

Doc
 
Thats a good idea for use in a X-bow i might be the first one to go car hunting:D . Wait if i use all the springs togher i might get me a helicopter :eek: .. Got to keep those options open.

Sasha
 
In all honesty, if you want to just get your feet wet with knifemaking, and you don't plan to forge, a leaf spring could be a poor choice of starter material. It needs to be straightened and it's generally very thick which means a LOT of grinding/filing. If you value your time at all, spend a few bucks on a piece of steel and try your hand there. I guarantee that it will be a more pleasant experience for you.

Take a look here for 1084 from Aldo Bruno. I'm sure he'd sell you a single bar, or also check Darren's site in the "steel for knifemaking and damascus" section for info on steel available from Kelly Cupples. Also, try your local machine shops. You can generally find a piece of O-1 flat bar through your local machinist. It also gives you a good excuse to chat with your local machine shop owner, and they can be very valuable people to know.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

-d
 
Sasha,
You would be better off to set that spring in the garage and spend $5-10 on a piece of O-1 flat bar. You can then make a knife with only a hacksaw, file and sandpaper. The spring will require much more work, equipment, time, and skill. Read the getting started stickies on the top of this forum page. Another way to get started is to purchase a knife kit from someone like Darrel Ralph at www.knifekits.com .
Stacy
 
My first knife was with a piece of leaf spring, made by forging in a wood fire.

It's damn frustrating to start from scratch and see what goes wrong, but at the end you'll have made enough mistakes to have learned a lot from :D the advice to get a flat bar is good, but if you want to get into the fun bit, you'll need some way to get a fire HOT, which isn't as simple as it sounds.

What sort of equipment do you have?
 
Thanks guys from what is said on here im going to look for a flat piece of steal. I think i would rather use a file to remove stock then use the fire for hardaning. Kiwi i run an auto shop so the tool i got is mostly what we use for auto repair. I got some files and grinders just right for lazy people like me lol. I sure would show what i make but give me time please. I would be back with lots of Qs as i know its not as simple as some might think including me lol.

Sasha
 
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