Used Leaf Springs From my Jeep

sulsaMatt

sulsaMatt

Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
199
Hey guys,
I lifted my Jeep early this year and have a full set of leaf springs left over. I'm looking to do a Tom Brown style Tracker knife. Will this steel fit the bill? Can I use my buddies forge to normalize and straighten the bars? Or is this just a myth? I've done one of these a long time ago out of 1095 never heat treated it though.... Made it for a martial arts camp and now am so sentimentally attatched to it, I would just die if it warped or cracked in the quench. Any feedback appreciated!
 
OK

Can you use the steel to make a knife? absoloutely.

How good of a knife will it make? your guess is as good as anyone else's.

The problem with sourcing your steel from something like leaf springs is the best you could possibly do is make an educated guess as to what kind of steel it is. Often, leaf springs are commonly made from 5160, which has the potential to make quite a good knife.

However, the words often and commonly are quite the operative words in that statement. It could also quite easily be any one of a dozen or so other steels. Some of which also could make a very nice knife, and some of which are best relegated to other tasks...

I would work it fairly hot (not sparkler hot) when forging, and normalize at least three times before going for a quench. Use the decalesence (I probably spelled that wrong) as an indicator of the state of the heat for quenching, as opposed to a magnet. Quench in a very fast oil. Water is too irregular a quenching medium to be trusted if you are so deeply attached to the one or two peices you may make, as it has a high likelihood of causing cracks. If you're not even a hobbyist scale knifemaker, the expense of a real quench oil may make you blanch, but there's no shortage of people willing to offer advise on home available alternatives.
 
Awesome Project, Here's a sawless WSK I made out of OCS (Old Chevy Spring) :p It has a reverse distall taper from 3/16" at the butt to 5/16" at the head. Convex grind on the front, Hollow grind on the draw knife. Used my forge to straighten the intial blank and heat treating. Stock removal for the actual shaping. any way have fun and post pics when your done! :thumbup::D

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Nice looking blade. I hope my drawknife transition comes out that crisp. All in all my favorite design for a bushknife I also left the serrations out on this one. I carry a wire saw and with this heavy a chopper, not a whole lot I can't cut down.
 
Dan, thanks for the heads up. we decided to use ATF as a medium, forge to straigten, normalize, and heat treat, and kitchen oven to temper. my buddy already treated his with positive results. A little warpage, but he did a peened finish on all flat surfaces. definetely correctable. I, obviously, have a lot more material to experiment with, so any more advice is definetly welcome.
 
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