Mower blade for Bowie?

J

johned

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May 25, 2010
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I want to explore my options for blade material to make a Bowie. I have a beautiful antler rack for the handle. In the Philipenes the natives used to make us custom grips carved for our hands and the blade was forged from a car leaf spring. Who knows how hard it was and how long an edge would last but they were popular.

Along those lines I thought that a rotor mower blade MUST be some special steel. But is it suitable for a 10 inch bladed knife?

There is a lot of cheap stuff out there that is carbon steel. The Condor says it is "Fire Hardened". Who knows what that could possibly mean. I figure that if they had anything at all to brag about they would not hesitate.

Info, please,

John
 
I think that the leaf springs being used here in the Philippines for knives is 5160 carbon steel. i don't know about your mower blade though.
 
If you can find a real old mower blade, you might get OK steel, but not great. If you get a modern blade, they seem to run exclusively to crap, I don't think you can harden them at all. Leaf spring is pretty good, have made a few knives from them
 
I really doubt that a mower blade would be very good steel unless maybe it is from a high end industrial mower or maybe the old blades were ok. I think most of the blades you get in the newer mowers are pretty much recycled pot metal. I don't know about making choppers but you can make a nice knife out of a large metal file or saw blade.
 
I have heard of several blacksmiths using mower blades as a base stock for knives, and I've even seen one forged out into a machete. That said, I went back and looked at my trusty Junkyard Steel Chart:

jnkstee1.jpg


The chart says "mower knives" are 1085, though I suspect that depending on the manufacturer they will be anywhere between 1070 and 1085 steel. Plenty good enough for a bowie :)
 
I saw this thread yesterday and skipped over it, as I assumed you would get the same response 100 times, but you haven't yet...

Try shop talk
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=741

The chart above is commonly quoted, but it is meant to be read forwards, not backwards...
that is, mower knives can be made from 1085, but that dosent mean that 1085 is that material for all mower knives...
Further to that, the info was compiled decades ago and I suspect that it refers to the helical rotary blades for push propelled mowers and not the gas powered lawnmowers we have today.

Making a knife is alot of work and you owe it to yourself to obtain the best results from your efforts.

Use leaf springs are good material, but tend to be full of micro cracks that you will find later after your knife breaks in your hands.

The heat treatment for a knife is very specific and depends on the steel type.

You can buy carbon known spring steel easily and cheaply

Sticky of suppliers
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=699736

STEEL SUPPLY
1. alpha knife supply
http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/bladesteel.htm
2. Knife kits http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index....7699e0427039a3
3. Jantz http://www.jantzsupply.com/cartease/...ring2=Barstock
4, pops knife supply http://www.popsknifesupplies.com/
5. Niagra specialty Metals http://www.nsm-ny.com/
6. texas knife supply http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/index.php
7. admiral steel http://www.admiralsteel.com/shop/
8. usa knife maker supply- http://www.usaknifemaker.com/
9. Sheffield knife supply http://www.sheffieldsupply.com/
10. MSC industrial supply—rods,brass etc.. http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm

Did you get the idea of using a mower blade from 50 $ knife shop ?
That's just one of the ideas in that book that are just bad recommendations...in fact the new edition even mentions buying good steel.
 
Just my opinion here, but what I have done in the past is go to my local automotive spring shop and buy a piece of spring steel brand new by the pound. Then you have a nice piece of stock for a good price to start with.
 
You guys re terrific and I am greatful for al the advice and info. Truly...thank you all.

Well, this is where I was headed. I want to make a period piece Bowie for my modest collection of weapons from the late 1800's. The Bowie will go with the Kentucky Long Rifle and throwing tomahawk. My handle will be a deer horn root. I wanted the blade to be made from simple hi carbon and not stainless or Damascus. I have concluded that a "used blade" is far to crude and may be compromised structurally.

Some sage advice you gave was calling my attention to the time an effort involved and the wisdom in using quality materials. I have no facilities to beat and hammer a mower blade flat enuf to work and I have learned that I would probably mad the thing unstable with my pedistrian knowledge of thins "hammer related". In reflection it seems like such a poor idea on my part, given my circumstance, that I wonder.

So here is my current brainstorm: I bought a Marble's Bowie machete that is larger than the knife I want to make. And by "make" I mean a partial involvement due to lack of skill and facility. Plan s to de- temper the Marble's and reform it tote outline I want. I hope to rough sharpen it and send it to a smith or final finish. Then to a shop for tempering the 1095 blade material. I will fit the handle and hilt with a lot of advice, I'm sure. I am shooting for a blade like hat shown in Ryann's signature and approx 10 inches in blade. I will repeat this in a new thread as I think the nfo in this is getting buried. Attribute to how much advice my post begged due to my being uninformed.

Thankyou all,

John
 
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