what are old car leaf springs made of?

[legato1]

i got some for free and was wondering if they could be used to make some knives... do they have enough carbon to be useful?

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

"do they have enough carbon to be useful?"

Absolutely.

People forge knives from old leaf springs all the time. Many are made from 5160. If you heat treat your knife as if it were 5160 and then test it to confirm it reacted to the heat treat as expected, you can make a pretty good knife that way.

Conventional wisdom here tends to be you should get some O1, 1084 or 1095, that way you know what steel you're starting from and know for sure how to heat treat it. But how much fun is that...

 

[legato1]

thanks, i got em at the junk yard today, now i just gotta cut the bolt holden em together and straighten em out after a while il post some pics of my progress.

 

[Will Leavitt]

Have fun with that.... When I used to "recycle" steel I would split the leaf spring down the middle with my angle grinder so I'd have bar stock in easier to forge sizes.

 

[jim moyer]

Just look close for tiny cracks in the steel and avoid these spots when forging or grinding. Old springs have a reason why they were scraped.

 

[sunshadow]

Just look close for tiny cracks in the steel and avoid these spots when forging or grinding. Old springs have a reason why they were scraped.

the issue with mystery metal like that is, first you seldom truly know what alloy you have, and you don't know where it's been (how much hidden damage there is in the metal) so if you're willing to put all of that time and effort into something that may have been broken before you got it, play with the springs be aware of that
-Page

 

[legato1]

im just starting so im trying to get as much practice as possible, i was wondering how i was gonna forge such wide metal, but cutting it in half first seems like a good idea. any other advice will be much appreciated.

 

[J.S. Carter]

Well you'll need one of these
as well as some cobalt drill bits to drill it with.
Give it a normalizing session prior to and post forging (take it to critical (non magnetic) and then let it cool to ambiant temp) then anneal it (take to critical then cool very slowly about 50ºF per hour to 750ºF to soften the steel now you'll be able to easily file it, hack saw it, and drill it. When you've got it shaped, polish to 220 grit, Now take it back to critical and quench in vegtable oil. Now get ready to do some scale removal. hand polish to at least 400 if etching.(cheap and easy etchant is 50/50 mix of white vinegar and 100% pure Lemon Juice leave piece in for atleast 6-8 hours) 600 grit before moving to a buffer if mirroring the blade. Heres some more important but easily digestible reading to make ya really dangerous.

hope this helps

Jason

 

[legato1]

thanks, im gonna try the vegetable oil on the net one, on my rail road spike i used 40 weight motor oil.

 

[legato1]

how do i establish a good even bevel on the blade without messing up the edge angle?

 

[stefanj]

thanks, im gonna try the vegetable oil on the net one, on my rail road spike i used 40 weight motor oil.

I just quenched my RR spikes in water. They are great to learn on but not great for taking or holding an edge.

The etchant is a neat idea that I might try with some W2 I have.

 

[Juramentado]

is there a way to make blades made from these springs more rust resistant? I've seen some very well made blades from leaf springs and they rust fairly easily.

 

[Keith_H]

You could
give it a cold or hot blue, patina or an acid etch, coating, and keep it frequently oiled with mineral oil.

 

[SeabournK]

Where in Texas are you? I'm near Cleburne, just south of Ft. Worth. I'd be glad to give you any help that I can.