Stainless steel knife handle material from junkyard - better not?

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Whatsup

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Aug 25, 2023
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Hi all,
I am looking for cheap stainless steel for a Japanese knife handle. I could score some from the junkyard and test it for corrosiveness - with acid and water. I could also test if I can drill through it. So let's say the outcome of the tests were in favor of utilizing the scrap steel . Would there still be any reasons to better not bother with an unknown steel? I rather find out now then afterwards... I am thinking about work hardening and not knowing how to anneal an unknown steel? I would like your opinion and experiences with this kind of thing..
I appreciate your advice!
 
Sounds like you have a lot of time on your hands. Go forward and learn. As my Dad used to say 'Grab the bull by the horns, F around, find out!'

I stopped grabbing the bull by the horns 40 years ago.

Why risk the money and time, IOW?
 
Whatsup said:
Hi all,
I am looking for cheap stainless steel for a Japanese knife handle. I could score some from the junkyard and test it for corrosiveness - with acid and water. I could also test if I can drill through it. So let's say the outcome of the tests were in favor of utilizing the scrap steel . Would there still be any reasons to better not bother with an unknown steel?
Click to expand...

If it's for a handle, no. Probably not. I can't think of any reason other than galvanic corrosion, but that shouldn't be an issue as long as the the steel handle is only contacting other steel. It shouldn't cause any issues. The problem would be with different metals contacting each other such as aluminum or titanium contacting steel, or if carbon fiber was involved. That would cause issues if moisture were to be introduced where the different materials are touching one another. One common thing to do is put grease or some type of compound between the different parts to act as barrier between them, but I don't think I've ever seen this done on a knife before.

Short answer, no. Long answer, yeah if you have different materials involved other than just steel and you get them wet where they touch each other, then maybe you'd run into problems with galvanic corrosion. I guess.
 
I'd think most 'cheap' stainless steels, and definitely those not originally developed for edge-holding in cutlery, won't likely have much carbon content in them. Stainless steels low in carbon are the ones that will usually be more corrosion resistant - it's one of the means by which steels are made more stainless, by limiting the carbon content. Increased carbon content in any steel is what generally increases the possibility for corrosion. And in cutlery steel, higher carbon content is also what makes it hardenable by heat treat, which in turn is what makes it possible to hold a fine, keen, durable sharpened edge. So, if it really is a true & cheap stainless steel with low chromium content, it probably won't be hardened either.

Some old, inexpensive 'stainless' kitchen cutlery and utensils made for kitchen use were essentially carbon steels that were chrome-plated for their 'stainless' characterization. We have some old knives like that in our kitchen. But that sort of 'stainless' will usually show rusting after some time and exposure to moisture or anything else corrosive, as moisture gets underneath the chromium plating. So, with that sort of 'cheap' stainless anyway, it should be obvious if it's going to present a vulnerability to corrosion, with the chrome plating bubbling up or flaking off and rust showing from underneath.

I'd say, if it isn't showing any signs of corrosion when it's picked up from the junkyard (and presumably exposed to all sorts of things there, for who knows how long), it probably won't be a risk for corrosion in a knife handle.
 
Whatsup said:
I am looking for cheap stainless steel for a Japanese knife handle.
Click to expand...
Do I understand correctly? You want to make knife handles out of stainless steel?
If that's the deal I would use 18/10 steel used for pots, pans, forks, spoons and butter knives. This steel is very corrosion resistant.
The only thing is it only has about 0.1% of carbon so it can't be heat threated. You can only harden it to some extent with plastic deformation but for knife handles I guess it doesn't have to be super hard. As it is it would still be much harder then wooden or plastic handles.
 
I'm talking about a 5 mm slice of stainless steel sandwiched in a octagonal handle so it will contact wood and epoxy. I might just try it as we have a junk yard just out of town.
T TheOne45 : the softer the better; need to drill a hole in it for a pin. My main worry is work hardening and not knowing the steels specifics for annealing it if it happens.. Had some bad experiences with drilling stainless (even though I know how to do it now)
 
Wow thanks, that's genius! I'l have to find something comparable here in Europe, but that shouldn't be a problem at all; I know what it is now!

Finding relatively small quantities of steel plate, in general, is pretty hard out here. Or ridiculously expensive because of handling costs. So good solution!

What I was calling a junkyard, is a "general" metal recycling company, we call that a junkyard here. They certainly do have what I am looking for. But nothing beats knowing what type of steel you exactly you get, so again; a top tip!
Cheers!
 
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