Found steel: Is it suitable for knifemaking?

[tbow]

I found these old implement parts and was wondering if they are worth forging into blades?

 

[A.McPherson]

Cut a chunk, try out a HT on it and see if it hardens. If nothing else, it’d be good forging practice...

 

[Willie71]

View attachment 852193 I found these old implement parts and was wondering if they are worth forging into blades?

Those are rototilker tines. I’ve got a bunch of them. They’re made from medium carbon steel, about 1050.

 

[tbow]

So you're saying they are on par with railroad spikes?

 

[Willie71]

So you're saying they are on par with railroad spikes?

A bit better. Might make an ok chopper. Good for a hammer, or an axe.

 

[golfer1]

All steel is suitable for knifemaking, just some is much better than the other. By todays standards they may not make a great knife, but by your standards they might be great to practice with or more.

 

[bike4fun919 OpbunchKnives]

Do a spark test. There are videos and comments on how to do this. If you have a piece of high carbon steel you can compare the sparks.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I have made knives from rototiller tines. It makes a so-so blade as far as edge holding. It is something like low carbon 5150.
It is good for forging practice, but I wouldn't bother for a stock removal blade.

 

[RedFury]

Hi Stacy, As always you are ahead of us all. I have a whole set of blades off my tractor tiller hoarded away in a box. When I started this knife journey I thought they they would be a real treasure. I have hit so many stumps with that tiller and have never broken a blade. The whole tiller must weigh well over 1000 pounds and it will bounce 2 feet up when it hits a lighter pine stump. That says the blade is some kind of tough. The supplier says the blades are "boron steel." However that info has not lead to any useful heat treat recipe. I've forged one blade and my impression was that it was a hard steel to get to move under the hammer. I have come around to the position of buying a known steel from a reputable supplier. Much as I like use whatever is lying around I no longer have time to waste working with an unknown steel. If somebody else wants to fool with "Boron Steel" I would be happy to ship them a couple of old blades.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Remember, rubber is tough and glass is hard. neither makes good knives.

Tough is great for lawn mowers and rototillers, but it doesn't mean sharp or edge retention in a knife. Tough is rarely a good parameter to base most knives on. Few knife steels are not tough enough already. Hard is also a misconstrued parameter. While Rc 63 is nice, Rc 53 works fine. I use Rc 58-59 on most field use blades.

 

[Willie71]

A lot of farm implements use boron in their steel now. I’ve seen it referenced 8n a number of catalogs. I have no idea how it affects the steel.

 

[Larrin]

Boron increases hardenability (reduces the quench rate required for full hardness) primarily for low-carbon steels. It doesn't work as well for high carbon steels so it being labeled "boron steel" is probably a bad sign in terms of carbon content.

 

[12345678910]

Railroad spikes are completely useless.

Ten cents a pound, scrap them and buy real steel

So you're saying they are on par with railroad spikes?

 

[tbow]

Thanks for all the info. If i was to forge one into a blade, which I am very green at, will an oil quench work or should I do something different?

 

[Willie71]

Thanks for all the info. If i was to forge one into a blade, which I am very green at, will an oil quench work or should I do something different?

If it’s 1050 or similar, a water or brine quench would work better than oil. It it’s 5150, then oil should work fine. The ones I have did best in brine, but that was several years ago now. I think I had to heat treat at 1600f or 1650f iirc. If 1050, you will get a nice hamon too. I never finished a knife from them, I just did some coupons.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I disagree. there is a,lot more to picking a quenchant than just the carbon content. .50% carbon steel will harden properly depending on the alloying, not the carbon only. I would use a regular oil. Water quenching lower carbon steels to get them hard shocks the steel and may introduce many micro-cracks.

 

[JTknives]

Railroad spikes are completely useless.

Ten cents a pound, scrap them and buy real steel

I disagree with your statement. Thy work really good to pop in the oven and use tongs to pull them out and heat your quench oil with. In winter I use spikes to bring the temp of my parks 50 up to temp. But other then that yes thy are not good for knives lol.

 

[12345678910]

I disagree with your statement. Thy work really good to pop in the oven and use tongs to pull them out and heat your quench oil with. In winter I use spikes to bring the temp of my parks 50 up to temp. But other then that yes thy are not good for knives lol.

I've seen some nice coat hooks with them too.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I make all sorts of decorative items and blacksmith sculpture with RR spikes. I sell 20-30 Fredrick's Crosses a year. Coat hooks, door pulls, letter openers ( they twist nicely), etc. Let your imagination be your guide.

For found farm steel to use for forging knives, hay rake tines, hoop harrow blades, and buggy springs work well.