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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 07-23-2013, 12:34 PM
Duvie91 Duvie91 is offline
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Scrap Steel

Hello newbie here and I was messing around the shop earlier and noticed some steel tucked away in the corner of the shop. It has a steel works number on it and I wondered if it would be suitable to make a knife out of? I found it online:

http://www.sears.com/steelworks-bolt...SPM6166672405P

I just wondered if it would make a decent blade or would I be better using something else?
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Old 07-24-2013, 08:13 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Mystery steel is never a good idea for a first time knife maker. The steel you have there is just mild steel like you'd get at any hardware store. Don't waste your time and money, get the real deal. Buy some blade steel from any of the knife supply places. Get 1084 if you plan to do your own heat treating. If you can't find 1084 then get some 1095. If you want to send your blade out for heat treatment then get 440C. These steels are inexpensive, easy to heat treat, and will produce excellent blades....


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Old 07-24-2013, 09:39 AM
Imakethings Imakethings is offline
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That stuff you linked is analogous to 1020 to 1040. Close to useless when trying to make a knife.
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Old 07-24-2013, 01:21 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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As a general rule those things that make a steel alloy good for structural purposes make it bad for making blades and the things that make an alloy good for blades make it bad for structural purposes. In short, don't go looking for blade steel at a tool-in-a-box store.

Even when you have an alloy that will make good blades you will need to know what you are starting out with and by that I do not mean a drive shaft off a 1968 whats-it. I mean you at least what the alloy is and it would be better if you knew the the actual assay for the steel. Some tool steels, such as the W series, can have a wide range of carbon content which will make a world of difference when it comes to heat treating.

Doug


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Old 07-24-2013, 01:54 PM
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WynnKnives WynnKnives is offline
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I'll follow in suit and beat the dead horse

As Doug said "As a general rule"- Scrap steel is just that... scrap
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Old 07-24-2013, 05:35 PM
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Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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To give you a little explaination as to why most of us will give the advice against using scrap......
Years ago, manufactuers would specify specific steel types for their products to be made from. About 20 years ago, all that changed. In order to save money and increase profits, most types of manufacturing went to a model where engineers designed items/parts to perform a given number of specific functions, and give that information to suppliers, along with a statement such as "Meet requirements with the least expensive material possible".

Hence, in the past 20 years, more and more have gone to that model, and today it's impossible to know what type of steel a given item is made of (with a few rare exceptions). Even the same item, from the same manufactuer differs from run to run.

It's sad, but in the pursuit of the dollar, that's what's happen.


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1084, 1095, 440c, advice, blade, blades, easy, hardware, heat, knife, knife supply, made, make, making, material, newbie, products, steel, store, supply


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