What are Harley Connecting rods made of?

[Harleyd2900]

I have about a milk crate full of old Harley Connecting rods and was wondering if anyone has used them to make a knife before, or if anyone knows what they are made of.

 

[indian george]

Have you done a spark test?????

 

[burke531]

I don't know about Harley rods in particular but connecting rods in general are cast from maleable[sp] steel. so they won't have enough carbon to make a knife but could most likely be welded into Damascus.

 

[Harleyd2900]

Ok, Thanks for the information.

I haven't done a spark test though. (what is a spark test)

 

[ysforge]

In my experience, most connesting rods are cast from Malleable CAST IRON, and wouldn't be suitable for knives at all. there are some made from steel, but mostly those are either racing rods or import rods, though I have no experience with Harley parts.

Your mileage may vary

The spark test is hitting something on the grinder and seeling what kind of sparks it produces. Lower carbon steels generally produce a long straight spark, while as carbon content increases, the sparks get shorter and feathery, branching out.

Tony

 

[Harleyd2900]

ok, thanks for your information.

Is there any difference on the color of the sparks?

 

[burke531]

ther is a slight difference in color but you will learn the most by having some known samples of different kinds of steel there for comparison.