Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 38,499
This has been thrashed about many times, and has occasionally become a big argument. If you want to see the past pleasant discussions ( and I use that word lightheartedly), search the topic.
My answer is this:
It is as likely to say that one particular type of second use steel is going to make a good knife as it is to say that a certain type of girl/woman is going to make a good wife. They both can be not what they appear to be. ( Thankfully, I have been lucky...twice).
In years past, steel was simpler and alloys were much more unified. Steel in the USA was made in the USA. The difference between one truck spring and the next was most likely very little. Today the spring could be made anywhere in the world ...and from as many as twenty alloys. Lists on the internet, even those posted by great people like Egnath, are not accurate or reliable anymore.
If you have a large and dependable source of a steel, get a sample tested, and go from there. If it is a piece or two, and you are an inexperienced maker, either set it aside until you have the skills to determine how to work it ( and you still may end up with nothing) or use it for a non-knife project. Using a known steel does not mean that you have to purchased the steel. It is a 95% good bet that any car/truck leaf spring can make a fair knife. It can be heat treated as if it was 5160, and the HT will almost surely work.......Why?, because these steels are all shallow hardening hypo-eutectoid. It is hard to mess up such steels. On the other hand, a file can be many things. The standard HT is that of 1095, but with hyper-eutectoid steels a lot can change with very little difference in the steel. Such steels need to be qualified before making a knife from them. Other steels , like bed frames, and roadside finds, need to be left alone.
In your early forays into knife making, use a known steel, preferably a purchased steel....with an assay report. You might pay as much as $10 per knife for this, but you will gain a lot more in good results.
My answer is this:
It is as likely to say that one particular type of second use steel is going to make a good knife as it is to say that a certain type of girl/woman is going to make a good wife. They both can be not what they appear to be. ( Thankfully, I have been lucky...twice).
In years past, steel was simpler and alloys were much more unified. Steel in the USA was made in the USA. The difference between one truck spring and the next was most likely very little. Today the spring could be made anywhere in the world ...and from as many as twenty alloys. Lists on the internet, even those posted by great people like Egnath, are not accurate or reliable anymore.
If you have a large and dependable source of a steel, get a sample tested, and go from there. If it is a piece or two, and you are an inexperienced maker, either set it aside until you have the skills to determine how to work it ( and you still may end up with nothing) or use it for a non-knife project. Using a known steel does not mean that you have to purchased the steel. It is a 95% good bet that any car/truck leaf spring can make a fair knife. It can be heat treated as if it was 5160, and the HT will almost surely work.......Why?, because these steels are all shallow hardening hypo-eutectoid. It is hard to mess up such steels. On the other hand, a file can be many things. The standard HT is that of 1095, but with hyper-eutectoid steels a lot can change with very little difference in the steel. Such steels need to be qualified before making a knife from them. Other steels , like bed frames, and roadside finds, need to be left alone.
In your early forays into knife making, use a known steel, preferably a purchased steel....with an assay report. You might pay as much as $10 per knife for this, but you will gain a lot more in good results.
