lawnmower blade chopper

J

jarodpender

Joined
Apr 27, 2014
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81
hey guys ive been wanting to do this for a while with a spare lawnmower blade and i partially straightened the blade but im gonna wait for some instruction. i know lawnmower blades dont always have steel types on the blade but this one has 1029 on the blade and does this have any significance. i dont want to go on if this is a bust so should i keep going because the steel should work or just buy some real steel. but if its good is 1029 a decent steel?:confused:
 
Many people start with a lawn mower blade. Kyle Ver Steeg of the Knife Journal Podcast made some very nice Parangs out of such blades in his early days of knife making and he still uses his.
Use what you have and what you want to use...at the very least you will gain experience and learn at little to no cost.
 
Kai Winters is correct - lawn mower blades are not an uncommon place to start making knives. So are old files. Use it to practice your knife design and grinding, and you'll still get a decent knife out of it. Make sure to post pictures as of the work in progress and finished product!
 
You'll never have to worry about getting it to hard to sharpen with a cheap file. The Chinese workers used a 1020 steel for decades for their farm tools (axes, knives, machetes). A crude chopper is what that lawn mower blade was meant to be. Go for it, it could last you years of steady use.
 
Any lawnmower blade should make a good knife. They have to be made of good steel to do what they do. I've never heard of that steel designation, but from the number alone, I'd assume it's good old carbon steel. Should make a great knife. I say go for it!

Should be lethal. Just ask Carl from slingblade.
 
Kai Winters said:
Use what you have and what you want to use...at the very least you will gain experience and learn at little to no cost.
Click to expand...

I adamantly disagree. You cannot learn to paint an oil masterpiece on canvas using a children's watercolor set from the Dollar Store on a piece of typing paper.

Using "found steel" like old lawnmower blades and leaf-springs is at best a half-vast measure and might - MIGHT - result in a "pretty good" blade if you're lucky and your standards are low. The chances of it resulting in a truly excellent blade are nearly zero.

The chances of wasting a great deal of time, money and effort are very high. That stuff is made out of who-knows-what-recycled junk. 50 years ago, it may have been true that that sort of thing was made of good mid-to-high carbon steel. Today... that's one heckuva a gamble.

There's also the sad fact that the "good" stuff from decades ago has likely been beaten into submission and is so riddled with corrosion and micro- stress-fractures that it's not even good for springs or mower blades anymore.

Practicing with known, virgin, high-quality steel provides a far, far better chance of success. Clean fresh 1084 and 1080+ are extremely affordable, and easy to forge/grind/HT with a bare minimum of equipment... and they make better knives. That's not my opinion, that's a fact.

Kai Winters said:
Kyle Ver Steeg of the Knife Journal Podcast made some very nice Parangs out of such blades in his early days of knife making and he still uses his.
Click to expand...

That's true. I've been lucky enough to meet Kyle in person and examine one of his reclaimed steel blades. He's a gentleman and a scholar, and a truly interesting, knowledgeable and basically fun guy, and I am proud to consider him a friend. I can say without hesitation that his lawnmower-blade paranagathang performed pretty well at a Beckerhead Gathering.

However, I will note that neither he nor anyone else I've ever talked to in person or online has ever been willing to accept a direct challenge of their lawnmower/file/leaf-spring blades against one of mine - or any other maker's - made from known top-quality steel.
 
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I don't like to disagree with you James but leaf springs are usually 5160, a very good and tough steel for blades.
I worked at the Rockwell Leaf Spring plant in New Castle, PA for years and a lot of guys made their knives out of it w/ great results.
The only other steel they used was 1080 and that was for helper springs on Chevys, Fords and Chryslers.

Doug
 
I adamantly disagree. You cannot learn to paint an oil masterpiece on canvas using a children's watercolor set from the Dollar Store on a piece of typing paper.

Actually an inexpensive water color set is a good way to introduce how colors work and interact with each other and on the material used. You can teach technique basics though you are correct in that there is little similarity overall but basic skills is the start.

Does not apply in detail but works a tiny bit for comparison towards my reply.
Fortunately I can speak with some knowledge in this area...award winning submissions for charcoal drawing while in high school then attended...but did not graduate...college as an art student...left college to work in the field as an artist for the next near 12 years.

We all start out doing pencil drawings on paper, generally starting with a simple still life...vase with some fruit is a basic...then basic drawings of human hand in different positions, human face...using a mirror...etc. This is to learn basic shapes, how they work and interact, how light affects the object, etc. Pencil and paper is cheap and repetition, as in so many things, affects muscle memory and the ability for the hand holding to tool to reproduce, in a greater or lesser degree depending on abilities and practice, what the eye and mind is seeing...much harder than you think like so many eye/hand skills...common quote is "it looks so easy"...
Same is true with all materials in the art field.

I also used this methodology developing my skill as a Scrimshander, which I did professionally for over 10 years. I started with small pieces of ivory and scraps to develop my abilities and skill before moving on to good quality blanks and especially before working on a beautiful sperm whale tooth.

Using a lawnmower blade, etc. are inexpensive materials that are easily had and don't bring forth tears when you realize you cut, ground, etc. wrong and have to start over or reconfigure. You can use them to develop grinding muscle memory...how your hand and fingers react and respond to the pressure when applying the material to the grinder, sander, filing, etc.

I've never tried to make a knife, or any tool of similar type, out of these materials but I've made small hand tools for engraving out of a variety or materials to do a very specific task and always started out with a simple sketch on paper then moving up materials until I make the final version out of the primary material. Seldom did what I saw/perceived in my minds eye easily translate to a workable tool, etc. without trials.
 
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