Prybars as blade material?

R

Return of the J.D.

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I've long wondered how a prybar would do as blade material. I've gone so far as to heat up a few and water-quench them, with the result that I've found some that will indeed get quite hard, and others that will not harden at all. I'm curious, though: surely someone out there must have some experience using this metal for blades. What have you found out? What works, what doesn't, and how?

It seems to me that the prybar's original use suggests that a knife could be made from one that would really resist lateral stress quite well. A little differential hardening for edge-retention and you could conceivably end up with quite a good blade. What say ye?
 
The problem is...as you have dicsovered...you don't know what they may be made out of. Anything from 1095 to 9260 to mild steel.You are correct that it MIGHT make a good blade, but wouldn't you rather use a material that you can say WILL make a good blade. The amount of carbon steel you save would be only a couple of bucks.Pick a specific steel, study its characteristics,learn its HT,and experiment until you have it mastered. Then you will be able to get the max that any one steel can give you.

BTW,I have always found pry bars very useful for prying on things. (just kidding)
Stacy
 
Rebar is also horribly inconsistent from bar to bar, I once tried to forge an old piece I had laying around, heated it to cherry/orange and gave it a few solid whacks with my hammer, barely moved the rebar, and when I looked at my hammer it had indentations in it from the rebar texture.(and no, it's not some cheap chinese hammer either;) )
 
I have just finished one made from a Prybar I think I managed to pick the bar up at a clearance store and made a Nessmuk of it as a gift to a friemd i rarely charge for my forge work. Here are some ppics it holds and amazing edge but I haven't got a clue of what it is made from and the heat treat I did in the forge was by eye using colors only.

Abe

img1669arh1.jpg


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sharpenedprybarnessmuk1aq0.jpg


Not the prettiest thing but it works.
 
One can always get a little more specificity by brand, I suppose. For example, the Harbor Freight bar I tried would not harden in a water quench; a Vaughan Superbar, by contrast, hardened up quite nicely. I picked up a large Stanley prybar that was about 75% off at a hardware store I happened to be in today; may try that next. Canranger, that blade you've built looks like it does the job quite nicely; any recollection of what kind of bar you used?
 
Sorry Return of the jedi it was a long time ago and I bought it at a place called Canada Salvage IIRC and they are a clearance joint so the stock changes from time to time. I am eiger to try another project out of a pry bar I tend to enjoy converting things while forging I use a lot of files and old leaf springs right now over bar stock. I don't know it makes it that much more fun to hammer discarded stuff into a knife I suppose.

Abe
 
yoda4561 said:
Rebar is also horribly inconsistent from bar to bar, I once tried to forge an old piece I had laying around, heated it to cherry/orange and gave it a few solid whacks with my hammer, barely moved the rebar, and when I looked at my hammer it had indentations in it from the rebar texture.(and no, it's not some cheap chinese hammer either;) )
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With you living in Florida there's a chance the piece of rebar you tried was stainless steel. Its used more often where there is a salty enviorment. Try checking it with a magnet. If it is stainless thats why it didn't move.
 
Has anyone ever had a prybar snap on them?

I have had the nail-hooks break off from them, but I don't remember any prybar I have ever used snap in two.

I think I used a prybar a few years ago in the shop on a truck part and it did bend after two guys stood on it in an attempt to pop something up, but it could have snapped with all the weight I had on it, yet it only came away with a slight bend on it.

Do they ever break?
 
Raymond Richard said:
I worked 30 years as a carpenter and I remember breaking one pry bar. Can't remember what brand it was.
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That speaks to how well that steel they use to make them things lasts and can really take a beating.

Thats like the time a guy asked me of all the "blades" i own, what blade is the strongest and can take the greatest hits?

My answer was,,"My lawnmower blade"

I mean, think of the rocks and old cans I run over with the lawnmower and dont even think about...
 
Raymond Richard said:
I worked 30 years as a carpenter and I remember breaking one pry bar. Can't remember what brand it was.
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After 34 years as a carpenter, I broke two pry bars in 5 minutes of each other recently. These were bars I'de had for 10 years plus. Looking at the grain structure; one was silky smooth and the other was silky smooth only 1/3 into the steel. They were not flat bars but had 8 sides. (don't recall what make) they served me well for years.
I've broken many of the true flat bars over the years, so I wouldn't expect them to make good blades. I'm going to forge up the two recent casualties into blades. There's probably enough between the two to make several good size blades.But still, I uasually work with known steels.
 
RUJOCO said:
After 34 years as a carpenter, I broke two pry bars in 5 minutes of each other recently. These were bars I'de had for 10 years plus. Looking at the grain structure; one was silky smooth and the other was silky smooth only 1/3 into the steel. They were not flat bars but had 8 sides. (don't recall what make) they served me well for years.
I've broken many of the true flat bars over the years, so I wouldn't expect them to make good blades. I'm going to forge up the two recent casualties into blades. There's probably enough between the two to make several good size blades.But still, I uasually work with known steels.
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Rudy, Maybe your just getting to strong. I made the little hawk in the photo plus several others out of a pry bar I got at a second hand store. They could be just about anything but alot are made out of 10 serries steel. The blade on the knife was made out of an old lumbermill saw blade that was in a load of sand fill on a job I was working on.

PDRM1211.JPG
 
I spent 16 years as a mechanic in steel mills and bearing factories, and I've never broken a pry bar. I've bent the daylights out of them though. I still have a few of them in my tool box from my former life. I just might forge one of them out into something.

Thanks for the inspiration!
 
tire irons are great for blades, you know jack handles. good steel and easy to find at salvage yards.
also leaf springs or what is sometimes called "ocs" old chevy springs.
ed fowler uses John Deere control shaft steel. he used to use ball bearings.
sssssoooooooooooooo.
go for it. recycle is my motto.
buzz:D
 
your post reminded me of something. i recently found a bunch of old worn mower blades in a dumpster at the local street shed.
someone told me these are good for knives because they take one-hell-of-a-beating.
i have not ground any of these yet so i can't say what steel /
i will take a look in the morning. thanks for the reminder.
buzz
 
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