Steel question

[osage outlaw]

A while back during a weekend camping trip the couple camped across the road from us came to check out my camper.  We spent some time talking and knife making was brought up.  I just so happened to have a knife that I made.  The guy said he worked at a place that sold high quality cutting blades for machinery.  He offered to send me some scrap pieces.  He ended up shipping me 2 boxes of steel.  Does anyone know what type this is and if it will work for forging?  Some of it is the perfect thickness for stock removal.   Most of it is pretty thick.  I didn't measure but it's at least 1/4" maybe 3/8".  I'll have to work around the holes.

[Sidmand]

if it's stainless then I'd wager 420HC, if not then I'd say 1070 or better, just based on some internet research about 'Soligen Steel'.  Looks like Krug and Priester makes guillotine and stack cutter blades, which would mean a lot of pretty high pressure cuts through lots of paper, some of them very thick stacks.  I'd bet you could get a good knife out of them for sure - I know I'd try it.

If you have enough to play around with, take a smaller knife sized piece, normalize it a couple times, then heat it and quench it (even water quench would work for the test).  Then stick it in a vice and smack it and see if it breaks or bends.  I'm betting it will break, and that the grain will be nice and tight if the normalization worked well.

[Rick Marchand]

Hello... new here but allow me to give you my thoughts...

Many planer blades are made of D2 or High Speed Steel (HSS... very close to D2). D2 is an air hardening steel with some stainless properties. Simply heating and quenching will harden stainless but it is not a good identifier... simple carbon steel will also harden. A better test for stainless is to heat it bright orange(D2 hardens in the 1800-1850F range) and let it air cool. Then, put it in a vice and whack it. If it breaks easily, you have a stainless steel... which is not good for home made knives unless you have proper heat treat equipment for stainless.

If it bends after air cooling from bright orange, you most likely have tool steel. Tool steel is easier to work with, forge and heat treat. Heat it up to red and quench in warm oil(canola will do). Now try your snap test, again. if it won't harden during an air quench but hardens with an oil quench you MIGHT be in luck.... but it is still unknown steel.

I don't know if that helped or confused you more.

There are a few other tests you could conduct but that is a lot of typing already... let me know if you want more.

[osage outlaw]

Thanks for the help Rick.  I already took a piece of that steel to red hot and quenched it in water.  I put it in a vice and it snapped right off.  I went ahead and made a knife out of it.  It would skate a file after the heat treat.  Here is the finished knife.

[Hawkdancer]

That’s a nice blade!  Looks like you hit the jackpot!
Hawkdancer

[Rick Marchand]

Looks great. I like the flow and proportions. It's a real user.

It is still important to find out what steel you have there, though. I am not saying your knife will fail. You could very well(and most likely do) have a good tool steel... but... there are always buts... lol

Stainless will harden from red hot, in a water quench but it isn't the right kind of hard, if that makes sense. Unknown steel is always a gamble and often times it can fool you into thinking you've done everything right. They appear to have the same properties but that isn't the reality. Depending on how you use the knife, it might never show its true colors. Think of it like having a sports car with a rusted out chassis but no obvious way of knowing it. You could drive it conservatively for many more years without issue... or you could take it around a bend that pushes it past the limits of a compromised frame... not good. You aren't normally putting your life at risk with a knife, obviously... just making a point.

What sort of tests did you do to the edge? What did you quench the knife in?

[Hawkdancer]

Even with the holes, it should make a nice draw knife or scraper set.
Hawkdancer

[JW_Halverson]

Oh, Clint, THAT'S my fave design!  I have several in my stable with those lines and I love 'em all.

[Danzn Bar]

Saw that one in person yesterday...….. and it "will cut"
I would be proud to own that one.
DBar

[burchett.donald]

  Dam fine looking blade Clint...
                                                 Don