How to Make a Custom Knife Blade : Custom Knives: Steel Types

[nickpprimm]

Where do you get your steel? A couple dollars a pound sounds incredible compared to what I have seen

[vince38curious2]

@nickpprimm @Mr09jakester Do a search on Google and find a company close to you who either make springs for cars/trailers or import spring steel and call them They will be happy to sell you a length or just a couple of feet for near trade prices.

[Mr09jakester]

where can i get 5160 steel

[brandonfaris1]

were can i get w2 steel bars to forge a katana?

[MrBICKUS9]

This guy is very boring.

[SpaardaLT]

What do you think of 440A steel? what about 1095?

[kiddimeister]

@SpaardaLT 440a is very soft and considered to be an OK steel on folders and such. 1095 is good for medium and large knifes and is very easy on you. makes a great Hamon as well;)

[SpaardaLT]

@kiddimeister Thanks, I decided to go with the 1095

[IRealBored]

where could i find these kinds of knife-making steel in small quantities, leaf springs are not an option



[Slic3R1]

@IRealBored get an old file

[IRealBored]

@Slic3R1

anything else, machete sized, maybe

[Slic3R1]

@IRealBored you can get an old saw blade,if you can find a big old saw blade found in mills it is ideal for making bigger blades, it isn't the thickest but it would be really good for making a machete

[IRealBored]

@Slic3R1

thanks, the only place i can think of is the technical/shop department of the local high school & i dont think im gonna have much luck

[Slic3R1]

@IRealBored Garage sales usually yield pretty useful materials for making blades

i forged my first knife 2 days ago but too bad u used a very crappy low quality carbon steel,i was so pissed putting all that effort on a crappy steel but it still holds a good edge though

[dudeweirdo99]

How thick?

[FuzorDragon480]

Were can i buy 5160 steel?

[NinjaWulluf]

im going to do this

[Mumszzr600]

Will a leaf spring make a good knife?

[SlappieBob]

Yes.

[glock19x300]

someone has seen The Hunted :D

[jailarson]

No. It will make several good knives or one really big ass sword.

[Aqualiteking]

Some will like 5160, 6150 and so on. But I reconmened you read the book The wonder of knifemaking by Wayne Goddard to get some detailed information.

[vince38curious2]

Properly heat treated ( hardened ) then properly tempered ( softend slightly ) leaf spring steel will make an excellent kick ass knife! I have been using leaf springs for years to make knives.

[aseglkj]

@vince38curious2 too bad they rust like shit ... I mean even from just cutting an apple. the edge gets dull just from the corrosion. plus it makes the apple taste metallic.

but I guess if you just want to chop wood with it, it's ok

[vince38curious2]

@aseglkj I don't notice any tastes difference BUT IF you let any Carbon steel knife Rust That just tells me that you DO NOT CARE for your knives very well. SHAME

[aseglkj]

@vince38curious2 you don't understand, the issue is not the care. I have a knife that is made from spring steel that I can get hair popping sharp, but if I just make one cut through an apple, the blade turns black almost immediately and loses a lot of sharpness. I'm talking about a 5 second timeframe here.

[vince38curious2]

@aseglkj Then I suggest you stop using that knife for cutting apples. Question you say spring steel What grade/ carbon content are you talking about. It sounds to me like it is VERY low less than 0.5% Also the quality of polish will make it corrode faster or slower HIGH polish (LESS surface area)  Slow corrosion, Dull polish (More surface area) fast corrosion.

[aseglkj]

@vince38curious2 The steel is 5160. Custom bowie. The blade is mirror polished. It's easy to sharpen and cuts like hell. But it's annoying that you have to keep polishing, stropping and oiling it. To me that outweighs whatever advantages there might be. I have other things to worry about when I'm outdoors than babying my knife. That's why I only carry a stainless Fallkniven A1 anymore. That VG10 steel also holds an edge extremely well.

[vince38curious2]

@aseglkj OK What ever works best for you. I have never had the sorts of problems you are having So it is hard for me to get my head around I guess.. I have heard very good reveiws about VG 10 and Fallkniven knives for someone like me on a budget Who can make my own knives I prefer my knives because I know they will serve my needs.

[phylor5333]

@vince38curious2 What is a good way to cut the leaf down to size? I blow through cut off wheels and I dont have a cut off saw .. yet.. just wondering if you had a diffrent option.. thanks

[vince38curious2]

@phylor5333 It doesn't really matter if you get the steel hot (Before) you start the heat treat. I have started using the newer 1mm thick cut off wheels. They work Really well. The trick with using cutting wheels on any size grinder Is to let the wheel do the cutting Adding Pressure only wears the wheel down IT DOES NOT CUT FASTER. So anyway that works for you and your budget is worth using. A good Idea is to heat the steel to RED Hot and cool as Slowly as possible THIS SOFTENS it and easier cut

[BigRooster747]

@vince38curious2 indeed, once poperly ht-ed there is not much diff.

[vince38curious2]

@BigRooster747 I have switched over to 5160 about 6 months ago Man That is Great Steel Super edge holding abillity and polishes up really nice because of the chrome content !

[oobligah]

what kinda steel is 1045 tool steel? :P

[Aqualiteking]

A very tough steel with .45 percent carbon. Usaully used for larger knives that require a extremely high level of toughness. 1045 can't hold an edge well.

[oobligah]

thanks, i recently found that it doesnt sharpen well with a stone, so i used a file, and touched the tip uo with a stone. ive got two 15 dollar knives that use 1045, i think it works pretty well, but i havent put it under any hard use yet

[MisterBaz1]

5160/52100 spring steel is awesome for making bushcraft/camping knives.

[sc00ny]

5160 s a very tough spring steel & great for large knives. 52100 is not, it is a high carbon high chromium ball-bearing steel, it'd be ideal for smaller/medium knives.

52100 is my favourite, excellent blade steel with super edge retention.

[windowlicker1978]

where can you get good steel?

[jedirifleman]

admiral steel co

[scoutyboy8]

I wish that these were numbered in a sequence.

[hxcgrant]

tell me about it haha

[djSpinege]

@scoutyboy8 meeeeee toooooooo!!!!!!!

[Jarelk]

Hey man,

I just want to say I admire your effort to help other people by posting a lot of these videos. It's really cool of you to do this man! And maybe I'll use the information I get from these videos once, you never know!

~me

[ruurdje]

1E

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