Used lawn mower blades

Status
Not open for further replies.
kyturkey

kyturkey

Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
1,121
I'm wondering if I could make a decent knife out of a lawn mower blade. This would be my first attempt at making a knife, so nothing too complicated and using mostly hand tools. I looked at the sticky Absolute Cheapskate Way to Start Making Knives and I want to try that- just wondering if I could use a old lawn mower blade. I've tried finding the answer online but everything I've found talks of using an old saw blade or buying a piece of steel and going from there. Thanks
 
Please, just use known steel. Simple carbon steels are pretty cheap. Try some 5160 it is nearly fool proof. No one talks about using lawn mower blades, because no one knows exactly what they are, so no one can tell you how to heat treat them properly.
 
If you want to make a decent blade from something scrap, old files work good if they aren't just case hardened. Nicholsons and Simmons are recommended brands. You can simply grind your knife out, making sure not to let the steel get too hot (dunk it in cold water while you work on it) and then temper it in the kitchen oven at 400F for one hour, two times, if you don't want to anneal it, grind, then re-HT it. If your using hand files for the bevels and stuff, I'd suggest working with annealed steel though. Admiral steel sells 1080 pretty cheap if you want to buy some known steel.
 
I would have to agree with Dustin. If you must use recycled steel,then nicholson files are the way to go. I have a friend who works in a factory that has a nearly unlimited supply. They throw away about 5-10 nicholson files a day. He talked to the Nicholson supplier to ask about the steel and the supplier told him it was W1. I have made knives out of Nicholson files using a W1 heat treat process with great results. I actually just finished up one yesterday.
 
Bailey Knives said:
I would have to agree with Dustin. If you must use recycled steel,then nicholson files are the way to go. I have a friend who works in a factory that has a nearly unlimited supply. They throw away about 5-10 nicholson files a day. He talked to the Nicholson supplier to ask about the steel and the supplier told him it was W1. I have made knives out of Nicholson files using a W1 heat treat process with great results. I actually just finished up one yesterday.
Click to expand...

I've heard nicholson files can also be 1095.
 
lawn mower blades--when i started-(before i even read up on the craft)-I used a lawn mower blade. after multiple hours and belts on my little 1x42 grinder, i had enough. first it wasnt annealed meaning it was hard as sh**.Second i had no idea what kind of steel it was. Yes a file does sound like a better first step.--marekz
 
Be it lawn mower blades, saw blades, Nicholson files, or whatever unknown steel you may use........ There is a long, long road between the original steel and a finished piece of steel that will be known as a knife.

It is what happens between start and finish that makes a good knife.

It seems that many new makers have a tendancy to start with "mystery" steels, THEN move on to KNOWN steels.

Should someone ask me for a road-map, my response would be...... "Start with a "KNOWN" steel, and learn the proper heat treat for that particular steel............. THEN learn to play around with unknown steels.

I'm doing a little rambling here, but I thought I would offer my economic stimulis' $.02 worth.

Robert
 
Robert Dark said:
Be it lawn mower blades, saw blades, Nicholson files, or whatever unknown steel you may use........ There is a long, long road between the original steel and a finished piece of steel that will be known as a knife.

It is what happens between start and finish that makes a good knife.

It seems that many new makers have a tendancy to start with "mystery" steels, THEN move on to KNOWN steels.

Should someone ask me for a road-map, my response would be...... "Start with a "KNOWN" steel, and learn the proper heat treat for that particular steel............. THEN learn to play around with unknown steels.

I'm doing a little rambling here, but I thought I would offer my economic stimulis' $.02 worth.

Robert
Click to expand...

When I made my first "knife" it was to be a throwing knife, out of mild steel from lowe's. Never really finished it, because I couldn't harden it. Also made an unfinished out of A2. Then got some O1 and went to town! (two knives.)
 
I talked with the president (he is a knife type of guy) of a company that makes millions of lawnmower blades about the steel they use and he said that they don't have edge holding in mind when they spec out blade materials. They are more focused on toughness so they don't sling a broken piece of blade through something that is better off without it. His comment was it was not something he would want a knife made out of.
That being said, you are going to spend a lot of time working on knife blade. Why would you want to do that and possibly end up with questionable steel when known steel is so economical? Your time and effort is worth the extra cost.
 
I have to agree with Mr.Dark and others - use a known steel. I remember switching from lawnmower blades and railroad spikes to known steels, and having to learn how to do a few things all over again - mainly the heat treat stuff - and it was a real P.I.T.A! Those are great steels to fool around with, because they are usually free, or at least cheap. They can be a great way to learn to control a hammer when forging, and you can make some pretty cool stuff out of railroad spikes and lawnmower blades. But their real usefulness as "knifemaking steel" pretty much ends there... Learn how to make knives using real blade steel first, and then start experimenting with mystery steel - you'll save yourself some real headaches and disappointments!
 
In Wayne Goddard's book "The $50 knife shop" he makes a small utility knife out of a piece of lawnmower blade. I see nothing wrong with it, especially if you are just making a knife for yourself. You do not have to fully make a knife out of it to determine if it could be a suitable blade steel. Grind a rough bevel, quench at non magnetic, play around with your tempering heats, starting on the low (350 F) end, edge flexing and cutting until you either find a good balance or determine that the steel is poor. Either way, it will be good inexpensive practice in heat treating and performance evaluation.
There are some very good bladesmiths that still use recycled steels. If you have no way of knowing the alloy content, experiment with HT. Although, I do ultimately agree with what has been previously said about known steels as well. It gives one a sense of purpose and validity when buying and using good blade stock.
 
Hi turkey welcome you found alot of good people here listen to them and youll make knives that are kick ass to say the least . Lots of blood and sweat and probably in that order. Make sure your wearing saftey gear eye ear and respirator or your lungs wont last long. Seel dust causes silicosous ,I KNOW I SPELT IT WRONG have fun and read lots. kellyw
 
To add to what the others have said about files, I go to the local swap meet about once a month and buy up about 20 rustly files that I can make out the USA stamp on. I usually get them for a buck each. I have like 50 files and have only made 5 knives though :p
 
I read the title and was like o no not again. Making a knife for the first time is hard enough why make it harder by using some unknown mower or file steel. now a file can make an ok knife but really think it over. if you say well its just for practices then pick of some cheep mild steel from home depot and grind away. but if you want to make a knife use some cheep good known steel and save your self the stress and problems that unknown steel can bring. some times i use unknown steel but i play around with it till i ether get an idea of what it is or how to deal with it to get good results. but that's only possible if you have enough to make it worth the hassle of all the testing. and if you do have a bunch of the steel just have it tested then you know for sure. I wish some one would have came up to me when i started making knives (15 years ago) and slapped me up side the head and gave me this advice, Really i do. go to www.flatground.com and get some of there 1/8" or 3/16" thick O1 and make a good knife. the steel is not that expensive and you will have a knife you can use. plus by knowing what the steel is if you have a hard time heat treating it you can send it to anyone of us as most of us would be more then likely willing to do it for some one if thy where having problems. but good luck getting some one else to try and heat treat a blade you made out of some random chunk of steel you found. 5160 is a great steel and is amazingly simple to heat treat, it will harden in just about any oil and is very forgiving. if you need any help don't hesitate to ask. but do your home work before just shooting random questions out there, it increases you chances of getting great feed back on what your asking.
 
I've made a number of knives with lawn mower blade steel and have had great results. I have been test quenching small pieces of each blade before I spend too much time on it to ensure it can be hardened.
I've started a blog about my finding and such:
www.jasonprom.wordpress.com
It may help a bit.
 
Jason,
First off, this thread is four months old. Second, if you read the posts, you will see that overwhelmingly the consensus is to not use lawn mower blades.
Lawn mower blades are not made to be hard....they are made to bend.

I'm glad you have had pleasant results with your blades, but please don't suggest to new makers ( I don't know how long you have been making knives) that they are good steel.....they aren't.
 
Steel is relatively inexpensive, I believe its cost is almost negligible when compared to the amount of time and effort that goes into making a knife. Why spend lots of time and effort trying to make a knife, and then have it perform less than adequately? Buy some 1095, O-1, etc.

Mike LoGiudice
 
Actually this thread is A YEAR AND 4 MONTHS OLD. It's amazing how dumb ideas keep getting necroposted. Do not waste your time with lawnmower blades as Stacy said they are made to be soft so they do not shatter when your lawnmower hits a rock. Get some known steel (start with 1080, 1084, or 5160) and leave the blades in your mower

-Page
 
Thanks Page. I only glanced at the month. I thought this was older, but the topic pops up every month,anyway.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top