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Recommendation? Norris 97 Rods - Heat Treat Suggestions?

J. Keeton

J. Keeton

Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
1,215
Hey guys, being in West Texas I have ample supply of sucker rods. Stuff seems pretty tough...
  1. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to heat treat this stuff to get the most out of it for a knife?
  2. Do yall think it could make a suitable knife? I've seen a lot of people use it for tools (drifts, hardies, etc).

Here is the spec sheet for Norris 97 rods:



Cheers,
JKeeton
 
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Those sucker rods are some tough stuff, but the carbon content is on the low side for good knifemaking. A tad more than a railroad spike. I see it's .39%. For decent knifemaking normally .60% and more is needed for full hardening. That .39% with a water quench should get your close to 50Rc hardness. Mix up some super quench: https://grauenwolf.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/super-quench-formula-for-mild-steel/ and you'll get a tad more, but still not good knifemaking stuff.
 
Ken H> said:
Those sucker rods are some tough stuff, but the carbon content is on the low side for good knifemaking. A tad more than a railroad spike. I see it's .39%. For decent knifemaking normally .60% and more is needed for full hardening. That .39% with a water quench should get your close to 50Rc hardness. Mix up some super quench: https://grauenwolf.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/super-quench-formula-for-mild-steel/ and you'll get a tad more, but still not good knifemaking stuff.
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Hey K Ken H> , thanks for the link. I'll give it a look! Maybe I'll go San Mai, with this steel..
 
I was thinking it may work if you ever want to try forging an axe but it may be a bit soft at the hrc noted above. You could add a bit though.
 
They are modified versions of 4140 and 4330, it says so right in the chart. Except one says 4138 for some reason.
 
I've thought about trying a chopper out of 4140. I'd want good temperature control for quenching. The 4140 type steels have enough alloying and low enough carbon that quenching at nonmagnetic probably won't get maximum hardness. A good medium speed oil or faster should work without having to resort to Superquench. The 41xx and 43xx steels have enough alloying that hardenability in knife sized pieces shouldn't be a concern.
 
Just to close this thread out... This is how that rod pump sucker rod knife turned out. (Please don't judge my narration skills... didn't realize I said "utilize(d)" 150 times until after the editing was done...) :confused:

... please don't judge my fastener issue either! I love corbies... but don't love these things (for thin scales) hahaha

 
J. Keeton said:
Just to close this thread out... This is how that rod pump sucker rod knife turned out. (Please don't judge my narration skills... didn't realize I said "utilize(d)" 150 times until after the editing was done...) :confused:

... please don't judge my fastener issue either! I love corbies... but don't love these things (for thin scales) hahaha

Click to expand...

the video was kick ass :)
 
Good morning, J.Keeton. Good video, thanks for sharing.

One comment, if I may...the main thing that jumped out at me was how your anvil moves around a little. Coming from a blacksmithing background, I'd spend some time and effort to try to make that a bit more stable. There's a lot hammer energy being used up moving the anvil and stump as oppose to moving hot metal.

I like your DIY surface grinder.
 
Thanks guys.

weo weo , man I noticed that too! It's way more noticeable when sped up. Do you have any ideas on how to get it more stable? I need it to still be movable like that. I was thinning I could put it on a horse stall mat to give it some "stick."
 
I also saw that it didn't seem to move much in the last 1/2 of your video at normal speed...
J. Keeton said:
Do you have any ideas on how to get it more stable?
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That's a tough one. As you are most likely aware (you are an engineer, after all) there's a trade off between stability and mobility (now that's insightful, eh? :rolleyes:).
What I found helps is to hollow out the bottom of my stumps slightly while also making sure there's only 3 points of contact with the ground. All of my stands are large tree rounds cut with a chainsaw and not milled lumber cut to size using a saw with a fence, so I'm not too sure how much this would help your set-up.
 
That's a good idea, I bet I could figure out how to make it have a 3-point base. I'll have to think on that!
 
J. Keeton said:
That's a good idea, I bet I could figure out how to make it have a 3-point base. I'll have to think on that!
Click to expand...

make a steel stand with three short legs to put the stump on? I’m re-evaluating my lousy setup as I’m coming up on forging sessions probably next week.
 
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