need advice on finding steel

Whats most important to you and what do you want it to do? Stain resistance? Edge retention? Their are too many steel types without knowing more about what u are looking for.
 
Go find some old files. Cheap, good tool steel that forgives improper heat treats and turns out great.
 
thanks ive been trying them and I actually have one right next to me
what other stuff can I repurpose as knives
would rail track work
 
also I recently bought this sw990 and it hasn't arrived yet
are they any good
331508889387
 
Rail track? Cool... No clue as to what steel they use for those. I would guess a "softer" more forgiving steel, rather than a good hard spring steel.
I would say pick up some old leaf springs from your local junkyard, they make great source material.
 
PiercedBill said:
Rail track? Cool... No clue as to what steel they use for those. I would guess a "softer" more forgiving steel, rather than a good hard spring steel.
I would say pick up some old leaf springs from your local junkyard, they make great source material.
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Yep, leaf spring steel. Also ball bearings and ball bearings races. Older make ball bearing races are especially desired here because they are mostly 52100 steel.
 
Bearing races are a beast to work from what I've heard, but they make great blades :thumbup:
 
PiercedBill said:
Bearing races are a beast to work from what I've heard, but they make great blades :thumbup:
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They do. I have a few knives in them. And local smiths here use primitive heat treat techniques. Someday I'll have a 52100 knife with modern heat treat. :)
 
I've seen knives forged from railroad spikes, but have never owned one so I can't say how good they might be.
 
The Nepal Kukris were made from rail tracks, but you can't be sure what you are getting. It might be 5160 or something else. I am guessing about the composition.
Ruana was reported to make his knives from old Chevy springs.
 
treytheknifeguy said:
edge retention definitely
and I like my knives to be really tough
and withstand a lot of punishment
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Unfortunately, these two qualities don't mix well. Generally speaking the tougher you make a steel the less edge retention it will have, but it will be easier to sharpen.

Steels for edge retention include CPM S110V in stainless and CPM 10V if you don't mind carbon steels.

For toughness stainless is rarely the way to go, but if you must nitrogen based steels are often quite tough because they contain less carbon in their formula. If you prefer carbon steels keep an eye out for z-wear, pd-1, or CPM 3v. S7 if you're making a long blade.

All in all there are too many nuances to steel for us to give you helpful advice. So read all you can. Learn about metallurgy. And have fun! :)
 
RR track can be used as knife steel. It is anywhere between 1060 and 1084. The track used in curves has the higher carbon. Today with CWR ( welded rail), the track is generally around 1084. Reducing it to a knife thickness generally wastes more energy and time than it is worth.

Rail road spikes are too low to make a good knife. The best are between 1020 and 1040. The HC does not mean High Carbon in any sense that refers to knifemaking steel. They are:
Standard Grade 1 - no marking approx. .12 to .20% carbon
Grade 2 - Marked HC.....20 to .40% carbon
Grade 2 copper bearing - Marked HCC....same as #2 with copper added.

Other reliable "found" steels for knives are :
Leaf springs from cars and trucks - No telling exactly what they are, but 5160/9260 is a good guess and if forged and HTed as such will generally make a good knife.
Old farm equipment - Harrow rakes, buggy springs, buggy axles, and disc harrow blades usually forge and HT OK for knives. Most folks consider them 1080-1090 steel.
Large coil springs - Coil springs from trains, trucks and old cars are usually a high 10XX steel. Work and HT like 1095.
Old files - Old files are generally similar to 1095 or W2. They can make great knives if forged out and HTed well. Newer files and farrier rasps may be case hardened of lesser grade carbon steel.
 
Go to your local auto spring shop, and ask for the end cuts. Most places end up with 8"-24" cuts of unused spring stock-if it still has the "american" or "eagle" sticker and it's not a tapered spring, it's 5160. (I called the service rep for the company-I'm not looking at the sticker right now but I'll take a pic when I get down to the shop.
It's spring tempered, but with a bimetal bandsaw blade you can split it down to narrower widths (I forge it out to the size I need)
Edit: just saw OP's location-so probably no dice on this company's steel, but I bet you could still talk to your spring shop and get some unused end cuts, possibly also the info for the maker off the sticker.
 
Foreign car suspension springs are often made of 9260 which has similar properties to 5160.It's a high silicon steel [be careful of decarb ] and there is a modified high strength version with vanadium added .
 
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