Hand Made Knife Metal

[addicted]

So I'm down here doing my thing and one of the local haj shops sells hand made knives of varying sizes and prices.

He says he uses car springs for the metal 

Will this metal hold a good edge?

 it may be a fancy knife, but it can't be a shelf queen for me to buy it, its gotta be functional and work the game like the rest of them. 

[kbyers]

I am going to go out on a limb and say it is crap, like the rest of the garbage they sell.  The 180 dollar dre beats head phones they sell for 20 bucks break in 2 weeks.  Half of the movies they sell dont work.  Oh well.  If I buy 10 movies for 8 bucks and only 5 work I still feel like I came out ahead.

[rtspring]

I have heard about people using those, But I know the old timers like my granfather made knives out of old metal files.
They must of been right cause I am still using one he made back in the 50's out of a file....

[gasman]

I have heard of them being made from old saw blades, but not springs 

The metal that is used for springs is strong, but for what I pic. in my head, that would be thick and heavy 

[Huntbear]

The knives I know of that were made from car springs, were more machete, (cutting brush knives)  not good for much and would flat wear your arm out.  We have a couple of custom knife makers on here, contact one of them for a good knife.

[addicted]

they are in all shapes and sizes from rambo to fine skinning knife. other than the cheaper wood grip, some of them even look like some of the knives the guys on here sell.

dollar movies rock. 

[Swannytheswan]

Car springs are made out a 1095 which is a common steel for knives. It will hold a decent edge if it is heat treated correctly but not a awesome edge.. 1095 is good for knives that will be used for chopping or splitting wood. It would make a good all around utility knife but not a super sharp skinner. it is tough but not as hard as say a D2. Honestly it all depends on the heat treat and what you want to do with the knife. 

[addicted]

I doubt they do much for heat treating but i'll ask next tim i'm over there. hopefully they can give me a straight half english answer.

thanks swanny.

[Swannytheswan]

yeah if its not heat treated and tempered it is useless... files do make knives that will hold a good edge but it has to be heat treated as well. otherwise you might as well make it out of mild steel and put it on a shelf

[sebek556]

also ask him how he is cutting them, if the metal gets to hot it will pull the temper out of the steel, most that I have seen use a torch on the springs to heat them up and hammer them flat, which unless he retempers them after makes the usless. I am trying to make a set right now and have learned alot from my buddy who is a metal worker, lots of running water when doing my cuts and grinds to keep it cool and hold the temper in the d2.

[Swannytheswan]

sebeck you can reheat treat after cutting if it does get hot just heat it with a torch till it is no longer magnetic then quench it quickly in used motor oil keep moving it around so it can't get the oil next to the blade too warm. This will take it to its full hard state which it is as hard as it gets but its pretty brittle and the metal has quite a bit of stress if you leave it in this state often it will crack. Then temper it at a lower temp usually around 400 degrees for around 4hrs. (depends on steel and thickness look at a heat treat chart for the steel) and then quench again in oil. Again all this varies depending on the steel but this will get you started if you have to heat treat. Google the steel properties of the steel you have and you can usually find the heat treat information. a rule of thumb is 1hr per inch at the thickest part. Make sure when you are heating it the first time that all of it is hot enough that is isn't magnetic that is the point where the grain structure changes and it will be hard when quenched. Don't use water to quench unless it is a water or air quenching steel (check the steel properties) if cooled to fast it may crack from the stress. if you have more questions or want me to check out the steel you use send me a PM and I can find out what you need. I am a machinist and I know a couple of bladesmiths

[sebek556]

  thanks for the heads up  my buddy gave me a good size chuck of d2 flat stock 3/16 a inch thick that he had left over from a job he had done, stuff is hard to cut lol, been using a skiny wheel with the garden hose running on it so far to get it done, next step grinder probly with the hose running again, so far it has not gotten over 90 when I've been cutting it.

[Swannytheswan]

your fine then it won't lose anything till a couple hundred degrees.if you want to see about how hard it is see if you can file it. I file is roughly around 60 rockwell so if you can file it is under that if you can't it is 60 and up. I doubt it is much higher than 60 just don't push hard with your file if it is higher it will ruin the file you will be able to tell roughly how close it is to the files hardness. Knife blades are usually 58-62 rockwell.

[bloodhound]

i know there no good in reality but me and my buddy's get together and collect old rail road stakes, build a really hot fire and throw them in the bottom in the coals. then we pull them out when they are red hot and hammer them out into knifes. they are not pretty but its fun to do. and you end up with a nice memory item.