Need a piece of steel

rustyboy

rustyboy

Joined
Jan 7, 2005
Messages
105
Well i want to try my hand at a big knife :) But most places wont sell small amouts and my trips to the junk yard have yielded nothing. Not even leaf springs :confused: So if someone can help out with a 14" piece of 10XX or something comparable. It would be much appreciated.

Oh, an i'll pay to. I just don't want to pay $70 bucks for something i may fail miserably at :D

Forgot the size: 14"X 1 1/2" X 3/16" or 1/4"

Thanks
 
I too would be interested in purchasing a small quantity (one or two pieces, rougly 2" x 12" in size) of flat stock of some easy to HT HC steel just to give it a try - anybody happens to know where to buy that kind of stuff in Europe by any chance ? We don't have those old-style car scrap yards anymore, cars are sent to recycling plants nowadays and even if they weren't i doubt they'd allow random folks likeme to scavenge them for parts. Local companies sell other kinds of steel (nickel, etc. the 2xxx and 4xxx series and so on), not 10xx or 51xx[x] kind of stuff, to my knowledge. Yes, i know it's cheaper to buy a knife but i want to try it myself :D

BTW, by "easy to HT" i mean something that doesn't require a gazillion of cycles and isn't very picky about small timing mistakes in HT.
 
Try www.mcmaster.com they are an industrial supply company. They have O1 in 1.5 x 0.25 x 18 for about $20. They are reasonable on shipping charges too. Search their site for "tool steel"

I could offer some C1095, but all I have in that size would be 1/8 thick.

Hope that helps
 
You can contact Kelly cupples in washington. 509-728-0057 he will email you a price list. This is where I buy all of my High carbon 10xx steels. He dosen't mind small orders. If not email me.
 
1084 or 1080 are simple as can be to heat treat yourself (although, a big knife will require a forge setup of some type). Dirt cheap from any of the knife vendors...
 
I contacted one of those that Matt suggested, they apparently ship their stuff internationally (= outside US) as well. They only seem to have stainless and some higher end tool steel in stock, none of the dirt cheap stuff (although suitable bar of 44C is under $10, sounds cheap enough to me :D ). I'm awaiting their reply now, when/if I get any of their stuff and get something done with it I'll be sure to post pics here :) It's really a shame one cannot find decent small quantity supplies of materials over here across the big pond - everybody is either in big business or so damn incognito about their business to make one wonder why they're doing it in the first palce if they don't want others to know about them and bytheir stuff.

BTW, i don't own a forge but I do have access to a lab oven which goes up to 1000 deg C (~1850 deg F) at the very least, I think it should do the trick. It's extremely precise so I hope to avoid screwups in this area at least :rolleyes:
 
Which one was it?
Texas knifemakers has a mix of stuff, although it can be hard to sort out in their online catalog.
Toolandie is mostly tool steel.
I'd recommend O1 for your first try. It generally comes annealed and flat ground, which means you've got a nice flat clean bar to work with. No scale to gring off, and all the surfaces are true. Its also pretty dang easy to heat treat. Makes one hell of a cutter too :D
 
Is Kelly Cupples still selling steel? I have tried emailing him twice requesting a price list but have not received a reply. Maybe he has a new email address...that or he just doesnt like me :(:rolleyes::D Guess I will have to give him a call but was just wondering if anyone had dealed with him lately. Thanks!

Ryan
 
yes, this is great info. thanks everyone ;) Mr. Unger has been kind enough to send me a piece to get me started, but now i have a wealth of sites to choose from!
 
Hey Rustyboy, as one who is just starting out myself, I'd say to try something a little smaller. trying to make consistant blade bevels that long your first time out is likely to be disappointing. If you're interested, I have some spare 01 that is about 1" x .300" x about 9" long that I'd be happy to send you a piece of free to get you started, the only catch is you've got to post a picture of your knife when done. Just send an email to the address in my profile with your name and address and I'll get it out to you this weekend. It was precision ground to start with, but has some surface rust that you'll be sanding/grinding off anyway and the price is right:)

.250 to .300 thick stock is kind of thick for a general use knife, but should be damn strong and with enough elbow grease could be made into a quite useful knife..

Something to consider is that even though HC steels like 10XX series and 01 can be heat treated without a high temp oven like stainless needs, heating the whole thing hot enough to reach critical temp at once will be a problem with a 14" knife. The way I did my first couple was the "one brick forge" as noted in Wayne Goddards book; $50.00 knife shop. I found that for even a 5" blade it took some creative work to get the whole thing up to critical temp at once (think Mapp gas, not propane).

Once I get my grinding skills down to wher emy blades don't look so lame, it's going to be all stainless for me and I'll pay a professional to heat treat it.

Look for pics of my first trys in the next couple days.

John
 
I too have been looking for steel, the one supplier I did find that seemed more reasonable than most was www.admiralsteel.com they have a price list on their site. If you can't find it, I can send it to any that want it. I have not seen them mentioned so far since I started reading the threads here.....is that a bad thing? I also found a store on Ebay called Speedy Metals, they list alot of their cut scrap and the prices for O-1, A-2, and D-2 are REALLY good (ex..1/4" x 2" x 36" Decarb free A-2 = $35 + $6 shipping anywhere in US) they also have grades of the 10XX steels and 4140.
 
10xx stock is usually easy to get. ...Although it sort of depends how often your neighbors mow their lawn.
Maybe they wouldn't miss just one blade?
 
Matt, it is Texas one, I'm still awaiting their reply. Do any European makers frequent this forum (haven't seen any myself yet I believe) ? Where do they get their supplies I wonder ... c'mon, speak up guys :D
 
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