mystery galvanised steel

A

ajcz

Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
661
im making a knife oyt of some scrap my neighbor gave me and its maybe 1/4 inch thick was kinda flexible came in a 1and1/4 inch wide bar was galvanised and fairly easy to cut/file and i have a question abut HTing and Tempering it any bases to start on with it? im gonna make a 11.5 inch long knife and gonna do a combo of stock removal and hammering the blade the thickness i want how would i quech it?
 
if you heat it i would be woried abou it being galvanised. galvanised steel gives off toxic fumes if its heated to high temp.
 
do a search on galvanized,,, it can hurt you bad,,, dont even bother,,, steel is so cheap or use some other "known" junk steel like leaf springs,,
jm
 
has anyo0ne ehard about the crud that comes off old glavanised srews and nails? I was wondering if that can hurt you to if inhaled?
Any ideas?
 
I would be dubious that this 'scrap' galvanized steel is even hardenable. I think it's safe to say that most galvanized steel you're likely to encounter is NOT hardenable "mild steel."
 
well even if i dont harden it it still is a good long thrower that will stick but i used so much time doing everything by hand i even drilled guide holes with a hand drill so im gonna grind/file the gavanization off and try t heat it up good

godd night all im cold and tired
 
You will be MUCH smarter to put that piece of steel in the refuse bin and go get a piece of 5160 or O-1 from a supply shop.The dustand fumes from galvanized metal can kill you.If you are hell bent on making a KSO (knife shaped object) go to Home Depot ,Lowes,or the corner hardware and buy a bar of mild steel.It won't get hard either,but at least it won't make you sick. You do NOT want to make a knife from galvanized metal....period.
You need to do some reading on knife making. Get some of the books that are recommended in the getting started stickies at the top of this thread page.
Stacy
 
if you have a hard time finding good steel than goto a pawn shop and get some used files. heat them red hot and then let them cool down slow. but ya stay away from the galvanized stuff, i rember when we had to weld the stuff we had to do it out side and with are backs to the wind. I must say good job thugh on making a knife even if the steel is not good, post some pictures.
 
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