Recommendation? Welding 5160 stock

1/4X1" will still make a knife. If you are forging it can be a decent size hunter or similar. If you just want to make a large Bowie AKS sells smaller pieces that you can probably get delivered for not much more than $20
 
Chris Gore said:
If there were a nearby smith that I knew, I'd gladly do that, it's just I don't. Maybe there's one I can find here?
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Is there a Utah Blacksmith Association? I'd start there. When I joined the NWBA, I found out there were 5 smiths within 30 miles. Many power hammers, forges and presses to try out.....
 
Chris Gore said:
Yes, that's the plan otherwise. I'd like to avoid it as I can't afford that much propane, and my forge just eats it up.
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You need a different hobby then. Not trying to be a dick, but steel is the cheapest part of knifemaking, if you can’t afford steel or propane, you can’t afford abrasives or epoxy either. You basically can’t afford to make a knife,
 
If it’s 1” tall and 1/4” thick then can’t you forge it to roughly 2” tall and 1/8” thick? I have very little forging experience as I mainly do stock removal but It sounds like you can make plenty of different styles of knives from it as is.
 
Matt Rochester said:
If it’s 1” tall and 1/4” thick then can’t you forge it to roughly 2” tall and 1/8” thick? I have very little forging experience as I mainly do stock removal but It sounds like you can make plenty of different styles of knives from it as is.
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+1 you can do plenty of kitchen knives from that, although the hardness might be a little low depending on what you like.

Or just make 40ft of stilettos :P
 
Seriously... Unless you are making knives that are a quarter inch thick (why?), then you should be able to make just about any type of knife... Even a 3in tall chef's knife would be possible depending on how thin and how well you forge in the bevels. Spend enough time at shows and around master bladesmiths, you'll quickly realize that not many makers go for a thickness above 3/16, unless it's for a specific reason. The only time when this is an issue is if you do purely stock removal. Then your billet needs to be as tall or taller than your end design. But it sounds like you have a forge....
 
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