Spring temper

I

IUBI

Joined
Jan 3, 2000
Messages
170
How well does an edge hold on spring tempered piece of 5160?

is it better to make bigger knives from 5160?if so what is the ideal lenght?


thanks
 
5160 is a good steel for any size blade including sword size blades and will hold an edge very well if heat treated properly.
Hope this helps,
Ravenclaw
 
Spring temper, may be a little soft, for a good edge holding knife, try 450F to start and go up the temp scale untill you get what you want. I temper mine at about 475F for one hour, I do this three times.
 
Spring temper works great for swords,great for the back edge of a big Bowie,But lousy for edge holding.I have found that a draw for two hours at 350 deg. to 375 deg. done twice makes a very serviceable cutting edge.Just my finding's hope that this helps.
oop's my fault ,said tht wrong about a differentialy heat treated Blade,I had just come from the forge and wasnt speaking what I was thinking.For a better view of how I do things I have a section on my web site also http://bladesmithing.isfun.net sorry about the rambles from a tired forger...
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[This message has been edited by beknives (edited 02-01-2000).]
 
You definitely don't want a spring temper. You may be thinking of a differential temper where you have a hard cutting edge, but a spring tempered spine. This gives exceptional strength without sacrificing cutting ability. If you want to see an example of this, look at the following link where I'm testing one of my blades forged from 5160.
http://www.shreve.net/~primos/bendtest.htm
 
primos, nice knives!

i have an old leafspring that i filed down with a bastard file . needless to say it took for ever but now i have a knife and was wondering if i had to retemper it so it is harder or if the old spring temper will hold an edge.

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And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold the great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads...And His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
 
Thank you for the compliment. I salute you for having the patience and determination to create a knife using only hand tools. That's the way I started out many years ago, so I know how much work it was for you. Anyway, to answer your question, the blade really should be hardened and tempered in order to have a good working knife.
 
Nice knife? I am impressed by the beautiful flat grind on the picture of the blade in the edge testing picture!

(Does the other side look just as good? Just kidding!)

Nice work, Primos!

C Wilkins
 
Thanks. Yep, the other side looks pretty much the same. That's not as silly of a question as you might think. Like most folks I have a weak side. My week side is the left because I'm right handed. So it is more difficult for me to grind the reverse side than it is to grind the obverse side. Some days it gets a little frustrating trying to maintain control and keep things matched up.
 
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