Throwing knife making

Q

Quasimorte

Joined
Oct 26, 2005
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14
I am planning on making throwing knives out of 0-1 steel. my main question is weather or not i need to heat treat or temper, or both for a tough good thrower. Am planning on lengths from 6" to 1'-6". any opinions are appreciated.
 
Yes they will have to be heat treated (which includes tempering, it all goes together). If you leave them annealed (soft), they will bend and and get dinged up too easily.
For a throwing knife they need to be heat treated to a spring temper. O1 will work fine if heat treated properly, but 5160 or one of the shock steels might be a better choice.
 
Without HT and temper,they are pointed pieces of metal,not knives.To make them tough,HT then temper a bit on the high side,425-450 (for O-1).I would use 5160 because it is a very tough steel,but O-1 is good ,too.Other choices would be 52100,1070,and A-2. For throwers you don't need a lot of carbon content,the toughness is what will count.
 
would i be good ordering tempered 1074/1075? whould this proclude me from heat treating or atleast minimize my time?
 
I don't know where you're going to find heat treated 1075. Most steel is either annealed, or left in whatever work hardened condition it ended up from manufacturing. There are some steels that come pre-heat treated but they are generally soft stuff that can be machined easily afterwards (this is done to prevent any warping from heat treat after machining to final dimensions).

Anyhow.....getting the stuff already hardened would make your job difficult, because the stuff can't be cut with normal tools. Drilling would require carbide, and cutting would require something other than a hacksaw or bandsaw. Files won't do too much either.
Heat treating it really isn't that difficult for wht you want to do, providing you have something to heat it with. It would just be a simple full quench and then throwing the thing in the oven for a few hours to temper. Really is the best way to go.
 
Ok so what do i need? I have a spring shop i can contact on getting steel and i can get 0-1 from online. I was thinking a one brick forge. got the basic design for that already. what other tools/accessories would i need? what can i use to hold and heat the quenchant (porobably vegitable oil)? My work space if a 4000 sqr foot warehouse that houses furniture. I have a large section i can use but must be able to move and store all my equipment out of the way during work. got tools to shape and work the steel just need info on HT. Any help on a brick forge that can handle 10-12 even 18". can i string 3 or 4 one brick ovens together? what can i use to seal and stick them together? thanks for the help
 
Maybe the spring shop could take care of your heat treatment for you. Ask them to give you annealed spring stock. Then you cut it and mostly grind it. Then have them give it a normal spring heat treatment. After that you finish your edges.
 
I agree with Jeff, see if the spring shop would be willing to do your heat treatment on these. A one brick forge will not let you heat treat a very large knife. Maybe 3-4" long blade and 1/8" thick stock, more if you've got a good torch.
Ask them for annealed steel, they should be able to supply you with 5160, or maybe 6150 if they are making leaf springs. Either one will work fine. They probably have scrap cut offs about the sie of what you want to use anyhow.

If that doesn't pan out, then you need to do a search and read up here on basic heat treating. And then go check out http://refractory.elliscustomknifeworks.com/ and take a look at his forge building section. It will give you some ideas on what set up you might like to make for heat treating :D
 
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