For A Forged Blade What Would Be A Good Steel.

If you are interested in forging knives, there is a very good resource on iforgeiron.com. There is a bladesmith named Steve Sells, and he has posted some excellent notes that cover the basics up to some advanced details. Good knife steels tend to have a fairly narrow forging range. Work them too hot and they will crumble; work them too cold and they will crack. There is an old curmudgeon who recommends only working with high carbon steel so you will know the restrictions from the very beginning. I would not recommend this, but I do see his point. He says if you work mild steel, you will develop bad habits. I agree that this is a good point, but there is a huge world out there, and mild steel (as well as wrought iron) are a large part of it, even if not for making knives. Old beat up garage sale files work well if they are solid high carbon steel. Some are case hardened, which you can spot easily with a spark test. Or, if you are an expert blacksmith, they will feel different under the hammer. I once gave a beginner an old file to make a knife out of. He ruined the whole thing. He said, hit it red and it cracks, one spark and it's done. That's about right.
 
If I can offer my opinion, consider purchasing some 1084 high carbon steel from a seller such as the New Jersey Steel Baron, or Kelly Cupples. For a beginning bladesmith, there is no better steel. It works easily under the hammer, makes a fine blade, and is VERY easy to heat treat properly, with little or no proper heat control (read: heat treating with a forge). Steels such as O1 and W1 can make great knives, but require quite a bit more control over heat or require insanely fast quenchants to make a good knife.

This, of course, is assuming you're interested in the quality of the end product. Lots of guys simply hammer it out, get it hot and quench it, and they're satisfied with the end result.

Good luck, and hope you have fun!
 
markknx said:
I have built a forge and will be just playing with some projects. as far as for knife making I have heard o1 used a lot when machining knives, but would it be good for forging? I have also hear old files but what would I order if I ordered the steel on line. would 4140 work? does not need to be top shelf but usable.
Mark
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If you live near a farming area, try to get some "spring tooth, teeth" They make awesome knives. They are made to cut through miles of dirt so they will hold a great edge.
 
I had always wondered about something really hard like tap steel as a blade edge. Now I tried once to forge a busted tap I had and that went all bad. But what about an O-1 steel blade body with a tap steel cutting edge, or even taking it further, taking a carbide end mill and slicing it down and brazing it to the blade body... Sorry to hijack the thread, just an idea for discussion.
 
Keith Foor said:
I had always wondered about something really hard like tap steel as a blade edge. Now I tried once to forge a busted tap I had and that went all bad. But what about an O-1 steel blade body with a tap steel cutting edge, or even taking it further, taking a carbide end mill and slicing it down and brazing it to the blade body... Sorry to hijack the thread, just an idea for discussion.
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I don't know if you live in a farming community or not but if yu do, try to get a springtooth harrow tooth. They are made to be pulled through the ground for miles and will make a fine knife that will hold a great edge.
 
How do you think a disk harrow would hold up? it is a disk harrow right? I ask because I happen to have part of one left from the one I cut to make the coal forge I never finished.
Mark
 
Spring harrow teeth are likely made of "improved plow steel" or "extra improved plow steel", both of which have varying carbon content in a range from .60-70 carbon up to as high as .86 carbon, give or take. A great portion of its wear resistance in this use are due to the geometry, and not necessarily its chemical makeup, although it's obviously better than mild steel. Higher grades of more wear resistant steels aren't used for the application because it just isn't necessary, and would likely be cost prohibitive for marginal gain.
Will it work? Sure. You can have a heck of a lot of fun whacking the snot out of it and fooling with heat treating it, too. Just be aware that you can reduce your learning curve and improve your results by using known steel - no guesswork, known chemical composition, tighter control over the composition, too.

Carbide, oddly, doesn't make a great knife, as in order to get it's geometry right for a knife, it gives up a lot of strength and is too brittle. High speed steels, like many taps, are designed to be 'hot hard', and have alloys in them that reduce their deformation at high temps, so not a good choice for forging unless you just want to wreck your hammers and anvil...
 
Yeah, I know it would be far to hard for a full blade and forging it just breaks it up in little pieces. Thought was to slice it down and create a n 1/8 or slightly larger piece and braze it to a piece of o-1 or similar. I know that Kershaw is doing something like that with a couple knives with some exotic steel that is just to expensive to use for a full blade. I also realize it would be brittle and not good for beating around, but how wel would it hold an edge over time. Would it hold up as a cutting tool that was razor sharp or would the fact that it would be so thin and brittle the edge would just break off when you tried to use it for anything?
 
Tooling grade carbide depends upon dense, heavy pieces. Thin edge would fracture before you got it really sharp. Its too brittle. Far more brittle than RC 65 Steel. If you really want sharp, made it from good steel, get it to shape and truly sharp and have it TiN coated. but then you can't sharpen it.
 
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