Question on material for knife

[R. Nelson SoDak]

Hey guys, I am new to this forum and really don't have much knowledge on steel, forging, tempering, etc. I do not have my own forge although I really enjoy making knives out of files and other hard steel I find laying around. I do a decent amount of sharpening and consider myself to be pretty good at it and so I really don't mind a softer steel than some knives out there. I actually prefer a steel that's super quick to sharpen over a really hard steel.

Which leads me to my question...

I've ground out a nice drop point knife shape that I really like out of a large Stud guard from work. I'm talking a 16 gauge plate of steel used to cover plumbing waterlines and drain from being hit by nails and screws. I believe these are usually hardened. It is somewhat flexible but always goes back to its original straightness.. I mean, you cannot bend it unless you're really trying to but it goes back to straight.

I've noticed that other harder metal can scratch it somewhat. I'd like to make this a gift for a friend, and I'm just wondering what you actual knife guys think about this one. I really know nothing about metals or knife making.

I usually temper a file in my oven til straw colored then grind my life away and it's always been fine except files are always super hard and super tough to get the blade thickness down. All I own is a grinder and a bench grinder. I think I do pretty good with what I have.


Thanks fellas,
Nelson.

 

[Hengelo_77]

If you are going to put in all the effort, use known steel. It is not that expensive and your time is worth it

 

[Forrest Taylor]

In my opinion there are knives, and there are "knife like objects". It's the steel that determines which is which.
Can you make something that will cut from a tuna can lid, sure, but it's not a knife.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Welcome R. Nelson. Fill out your profile so we know a bit about you and where you live (South Dakoda?)

It is unlikely the plate is a hardenable material (in the knife sense). Keep it as a template and get a bar of known steel, like 1084. It will need heat treatment once you are done shaping it, but that can be sent out if you can't do it yourself.