Would steel from a truck spring make a decent knife? I just got into knife making and blacksmithing and the spring supply by me is cheap and plentiful. I will get good known steel for test knives but is spring steel good enough to just hammer out the basics?
Hello Stanley. Let me say yes and no. Yes you can learn about forging with this steel, but unless you know what it is for sure, your heat treating will be a series of experiments. Plus if it is used spring steel it can have stress fractures that you may not see that can cause real issues. You do not know for sure what you are dealing with. You have probably seen and heard this before, but it is better to use a known steel, like 1084. It is inexpensive and available from the New Jersey Steel Baron, www.newjerseysteelbaron.com. You know what you are dealing with, easy to forge and heat treat, and makes a good blade. Aldo will treat you right. Plus he knows what we bladesmiths need, because he is one. Just my two cents worth.
Good luck.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
I'd agree with Brion. Around my house money is very tight and I spent the first six months forging with whatever steel I could find laying around my property. I wound up with a couple decent knives, but many more that didn't work out. A piece of .25" by 1.5" by 48" 1084 is $28.52 from Aldo. That comes out to $7-9 a blade (assuming you get 3-4 blades). If you figure in the cost of your time the steel is the cheapest part.
Thanks to both of you for the info. I priced out some 1084 and looked up heat treating it and I will get some soon. This is so cool to have this font of knowledge available to me.
