Steel type?

G

GaryPogueCustomKnife

Joined
Oct 8, 2013
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188
While I was at my grandpas house, he asked me about my knives and wanted to see one. I showed him and he asked what I made it out of. Of course I use saw blades and files for most of my blades. He went out to the garage, and came back with a warn edger blade. He told me I can have it to make a knife out of. Does anyone know what type of steel those are made of or at least something it's similar to?

Thanks,
Gary
 
Mystery steel.

There is no standard formulation for edger or lawn mower blades.

It is far cheaper and easier to simply buy a piece of know quality steel.
 
Gary, I am impressed with how far you have come for your young age. I certainly wish you would start using known steel though. This affinity for saw blades and the like is certainly not putting out the best you are certainly capable of. You will start to get buyers/recipients/onlookers that will want to know what kind of steel you used. Anyone serious about knives knows that this is one of the most important things about a blade. Hence, they will want to know what it is capable of, and how it was made. For now at least, all you can say is "I don't know."

Known steel is cheap. One of the cheapest component materials in a knife in most cases as a matter of fact. You certainly cannot be sure of your HT process, or that you are following the correct schedule with the steel unless you know what kind of steel you have. You are at a great age to start learning metallurgy. When you develop the knowledge base needed, then you will be able to narrow down the type of steel in saw blades and the like to some degree.

Pile up all the free mystery steel that you have scrounged and put it in a bin. Take that off to the scrapper and use the $$ for a nice big stick of 10xx steel. It is so much nicer to be able to tell someone "I used 1084 steel, tempered to an approximate hardness of 59RC in this nice big blade I made for you, etc." It adds to a consumers perception of your knowledge and abilities, whether real or imagined, and will get you just that much further with the true aficionados, or those that think they are... :)

Unless you are just shooting for a knife that looks like it was made from a file. Which some people dig. Then, in that case, use a file...


Cheers!
-Eric
 
I have to agree with lucycustomknives here. I would suggest skipping the edger blade as well since it's not known steel. I'm not trying to be harsh at all but I feel that since you are supposed to be featured in an upcoming blade magazine issue, it's high time to toss the mystery steels, saw blades, and files and move to quality known steels. Some people like a knife that looks like it was a file or other tool, but for the most part knife buyers and users want a knife in known steel with verified properties that they can depend on. At this stage I also feel that it's important to put out a knife with the best possible quality, and this starts with proper steel and heat treat.
 
I have been meaning to buy some known steel, but just haven't got around to it. I want to get some 1095 or 01 to try out. But so far, all the knives I've made from saw bade have turned out pretty good. They take a good edge, but just don't hold it as long as a factory knife. I have a large surplus of sawblades I've gotten from my late grandfather, a sawmill blade from a guy who just wanted to get rid of it, and almost every used file I've seen at a flea market. Files make much better blades than sawblades do in most cases. But if I could be able to get ahold of known steel, I would definitely get some. It's just that I have so much scrap steel for next to nothing that I just didn't find the need to get known steel yet.

Gary
 
That's the main issue I'm talking about with the edge holding. Depending whether a factory knife means a 40 dollar knife or a 300 dollar knife, edges will vary, but a custom should hold an edge just as well or better in comparable steels. If you are noticing edge holding issues I would guess that it's one of two things, either the steel isn't good for knives, or more likely it's a less than optimum heat treat. In the big picture, unless you know the exact steel type, optimum heat treat is virtually impossible. If you have lots of scrap and want to use it, use it for jigs, anvil tools, or just forging practice. Just my suggestion.
 
Gary, you may find it hard to believe, but purchasing known steel is cheaper than using "free" unknown. I am still new to this myself and started out with the affinity towards scrap steels. I have however found out that the money spent on extra belts for grinding more than make up the cost of the steel. I was doing well to put the bevels in 1 knife with a 50 grit belt (craftsman 2x42) when I used mystery steel. When I actually ordered some steel, I started with a belt I already considered trash and ground the bevels in 3 blades out of 1080. That 1 belt cost me more than the steel did for 3 blades and that includes shipping. I know that it is counterintuitive but it is cheaper to buy steel.

I will also add that the reason your blades don't hold the edge as long is likely due to either a poor heat treat or steel that isn't of knife quality. It's mystery steel, can you tell me which reason it is?

Keep at it. We're all on your side.

Chris
 
Once you get some decent steel (I'm really liking this 1084) you could use the old mystery steel to practice with.

I have a number of swap meet files from back when I'd buy every worn out Nicholson I could find. I didn't know better back then, but I plan to anneal them and use them for plunge practice.
 
While I wouldn't recommend using it, I'd expect the blade is probably plain 1060 or lower.

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