Knife blade metals out of common stuff

I think the old ones had a somewhat decent steel, but the new stuff is mostly cheap chinese steel with a carbide coating on the tips. Either way you're probably better off with an old file/rasp.

Elevator cable, horseshoes, saw blades.... watching the guys at Smokey Mountain Knife works was fascinating.

I've seen drill bits used.

Leaf springs are excellent. That's how the first Bolo machetes were made.

They're talking about old buzz saw blades, many of which are made of A-2. David Boye used to use them and large two-man buck saws for his early blades, and discusses them in his book. I have made fillet knives from old power hacksaw blades.

Why use mystery steel when you can get 1095 or other high carbon steels fairly cheap ?

Older leaf springs are 5160 , bad thing is they are so thick they make better choppers than fine slicers.

Files are case hardened crap. Nobody spends good money on expensive stock when they can infuse cheap steel with enough carbon to increase surface hardness for half the cost.

Most of the scrap that was used before about 1959 might be high carbon, after that, not so much. These days, look for bearing races, washing machine basket shafts, stuff that would be necessarily high alloy for the job. Test it by grinding to examine what color sparks come off and their quality.

Most modern scrap is exactly that, cheap steel treated for the job. You can titanium nitride junk steel and make a good wood bit. Break thru the treatment and you're back to soft steel.

Chain saw chains are supposed to be showy for the forged and etched finish. Those will all go away in the next 20 years as carbide saw chain becomes the dominant choice.

As older high alloy saw blades and parts are becoming rarer, they are bid up beyond their material cost. Don't chase an old saw blade thru auction bidding against some collector or matron planning a tole painting extravaganza. New alloy stock from knifemaking outlets is easier to work and cheaper.

Sawmill blades have been used in the past, but I've never seen anyone credible suggest a skill saw blade be used as stock.

Click to expand...

I used to make throwing stars out of them in high school during metal shop...
and my shop teacher helped me, my how the times have changed

He also helped me make a knife out of a large broken file, and that knife is one of the sharpest I have ever used.

Just a thought but would not lawn mower blades make good knife blade stock?

Good metal, but soft, it's designed to be TOUGH not hard
a lawn mower needs a blade that won't break when it hits a rock etc.
not something that is sharp, and really, most blade are more 'aerodynamic' and dull than sharp, it's the speed that cuts.

7.62 Nato said:

Leaf springs are excellent. That's how the first Bolo machetes were made.

Click to expand...

Ditto to leaf springs.

When you look at it , high carbon blade steel is inexpensive enough to buy without resorting to mystery steel.

I was at a knife show , where a guy was selling some pretty inexpensive fixed blades , all under $125 , but he had no idea what steel they were made out of , and admitted he "guessed" on the HT. Sure they might hold an edge , for awhile , but he didn't sell a single one that weekend.

check out http://njsteelbaron.com/

Files are case hardened. That is true. But they are also through hardened. They are NOT crap. They are case hardened in addition to through hardening in order to keep them sharp longer, by way of an even harder surface.
Circular brush blades, as used on straight shaft weed whackers are good.
Lawn mower blades are good steel. They are hard enough for blade use, without being brittle.
The speed is not what cuts grass. Lawn mower blades are meant to be kept SHARP.
Dull mower blades tear the grass, they don't cut it. That's why dull mower blades don't mow worth a damn.
Golf cart leaf springs are thinner than than automotive or truck leaf springs.
I have some of each. The truck leaf springs(big truck, not pickup truck) springs are about .75" thick at their thickest point.
Axle shafts are normally medium carbon steel. Good for heavy choppers, but a bit soft for smaller blades that need more emphasis on edge retention than on toughness.
Yeah, you can buy blade steel blanks, if you choose. It only costs money.
If you have worn out American or European files, mower blades, brush blades, power hacksaw blades, large bandsaw blades, bush hog blades, leaf springs, coil springs, ball bearing races, chisels, punches, etc, you can make very good blades from them.

IF you have access to old forklift forks, and you can forge them down to the needed thickness, they work well.
Normally, customers don't replace them until they're worn to about half their original thickness at the heel.
Bad for the customer, it it breaks on the job. Half the original thickness gives you one quarter the original lifting capacity.
Good for you, because you don't have to forge them down as far.
They are hard and tough. Very shock resistant. They take a great edge. My right thigh got laid open like a butterflied steak by a plywood fork (thinner/wider than standard material handling forks) by one
Ya see, operators often drag the forks on the floor/ground and that is what wears them out at the heel, as well as sharpens them at the tip.
I had barely bumped into the tip of one and it bit DEEP into my leg. It felt like I'd been hit in the thigh with a baseball bat.
Didn't know I was cut, until I felt the blood running into my boot. Felt like someone was peeing down my leg.
I've use them to make chisels, and splitting wedges. I've also used the backs of class 3 forks as small anvils.
Forklifts are the very best power chisels. You should see what they do to dock levelers, roof support poles/beams, 3/4" concrete anchor bolts, service vans, racks, and other forklifts.
Class 3 fork back and a heavy urethane dead blow hammer work very well for straightening bent chainsaw bars. A cold chisel works well for reopening the chain guide gap if you accidentally hit it while straightening.

I don't foresee carbide tipped chainsaw chains taking over. Too brittle, and can't be sharpened in the field. I've used diamond chainsaw files and they suck.

Yeah, you can buy blade steel blanks, if you choose. It only costs money.

Click to expand...

buying blanks isnt knifemaking it;s knife finishing.

a bar of 1095 that is 4 foot long is less than $20 from Aldo. If you are going thru all the time of making a knife from scratch , it is best to know exactly what steel you are using , otherwise you are just taking a wild guess at how to heat treat it correctly.

And that old heat to non magnetic and quench in any oil might get someone a useable knife , but it will not make the steel all it should be.

Sorry, I meant to say bar stock, not blanks. I agree about knifemaking vs finishing(actually assembling)
Heat treating is a science, not a mystical art that only a few chosen wizards can perform.
If kamis working in pretty primitive conditions in Nepal can make the best Khukuris available anywhere, I think the rest of us stand a fair chance at learning good heat treat practice.
And the Kamis are differentially heat treating the blades, not just a quick dunk in water, brine, or oil.

BTW, the "old" heat to nonmagnetic and quench in oil method still works as well today as it did back when it was new.
It doesn't have to be the newest material and process to be good. Newer isn't always better. If it were, 1095 would have been obsolete decades ago.

I actually do have a few blade blanks, mostly in patterns/materials I don't have the time to make.
I have a couple of NOS Ontario USAF pilot's survival knife blade blanks that were given to me. Already parked, just need to have guards, grips, and pommels made, and have the edge honed. Haven't decided on materials yet for them.
I also have a blade I'm making from an expensive, exotic powdered metal, high carbide content, high speed steel alloy I'm making.
The bar stock was given to me. It's going to be a slicer, not a chopper. It's already heat treated. The hardest part is going to be handle attachment.
Not going to be able to drill holes for pins unless I can get diamond drills.
I almost cut it up to grind into parting blades for my lathe, but I don't go through parting blades fast enough to justify that.

Readily avalable materials,
Best knife I've ever made, an old Mill Bastard file. LOTS Of grinding & belt sanding, EVEN MORE QUENCHING! take your time and do NOT let it get hot.
Files I've made knives out of were so hard througout that I've had to use an EDM to put in holes to bolt on the handles
I've got one in my toolbox at work that I made over thirty years ago & it's still my go to blade in the shop.

A friend of mine makes knives for a living, and I have done so as a hobby.

1095 and 1084 are good steels for the hobby knife maker. L6 also works. They work well for the typical improvised home workshop. The above-mentioned method of heating to non-magnetic is a good place to start learning.

Heat evenly to the point a magnet won't stick. Quench in hot oil (try 30W or Olive oil at ~150F). Temper in a toaster oven at ~350F for an hour, shut off, and allow to cool down slowly to room temperature.

Junk-metal knife making can be fun just, from making something useful out of junk. But it can be frustrating when you discover that starting with crap can yield crap. But if you just want to heat-n-beat to get the hang of shaping hot metal, start by making some nails. (old fashioned square-section ones) Making a set of tongs is useful, and challenging. You can also make non-knife stuff.

Lots of books on the whole subject.

Fire does not belong in an attached garage. Use a shed or outbuilding. Grinders spark, making fire.

Furnaces and forges can smother you if you fail to keep the shop properly ventilated.

Skillful use of a 2-3 pound hammer beats flailing with a 6-8 pound hammer.

The anvil must be _hard_. A ball bearing should bounce nicely. The hammer tap rings. Skip the "dead" crap-anvils in the bargain tool shops. A chunk of scrap railroad track can be a surprisingly-useful anvil for a beginner.

Making homemade knives isn't that hard! What is , Is doing it right! Anyone who knows steel, knows if you turn it blue your screwed! Patience and time and most anyone can make a blade. Make sure you have the tools for the job, putting the temper back in the steel is the hardest part! High carbon steel is your best bet, It's the easiest to work with.

Yeah, those cast iron HF anvils are great weights for gluing wood together.
Pretty useless for forging.

On the original topic, I've known people to make knives from power hacksaw blades.

Back in the 1970's a friend told me of making knives from circle saw blades.
His basic method was to cut out the blade shape he wanted from a Skilsaw blade, then attach a handle. Also, in the early 70's I learned there's a GREAT variation in the steel of circular saw blades. We did trail contracts using the Homelite XL brushcutter which used a 10" circular blade. If the saw kissed a rock, there was lots of filing involved. If it was a standard Nicholson "Magicut" ripping blade, that wasn't too bad. If it was an extra hard Craftsman "Kromedge" you'd wear out the file by the time you were done.

I suspect there aren't too many good steel circular saws these days. There are so many cheap ones, and also many are just "carriers" for carbide teeth now. But I don't rule out the possibility of making knives from circular saws.

Check the price of a file for horseshoeing, blacksmithing, etc. Nicholson isn't Walmart, and most files are imported casehardened low carbon stock. No doubt the external temper is hard, anneal it and check the sparks it throws off. If it's important to point out that files aren't all crap, it's equally important to note most files sold at retail brick and mortar ARE.

It's the specialty tradesman file that's any good, and that means $$$.

Bearing races and shells are commonly 52100, a durable high carbon steel. Look to front drive hub bearings. D2 can be picked up from some cabinet making operations, as planer blades or molding cutters, but most shops are well aware of their initial price, and resharpen every chance they get - not replace.

The local tool and sawblade sharpening service may have worthwhile scrap, these guys are waning away as the cheap cutters get imported from China under the cost of their service.

This was a frequent topic in BLADE magazine and the KNIFE ANNUAL back ten years ago, and most of the trends in cheap imported steel were pointed out then.

If you have a friend who is a Filer or Millwright in a mill, don't forget used planer blades.