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Hello! I am new to the knife making world and am trying my hand at some new steel. I came across a plow wear blade I had laying around that I'd love to turn into a few knifes maybe a hatchet or two. I reached out to the company that makes the blade (unfortunately they don't make the specific one anymore) but they told me that the steel used is 7 Gauge HRPO steel Grade 50. They didn't specify what type of steel other that what I already stated. I feel dumb asking if this is potentially good steel to work with for a blade or not, but I cannot seem to find any answers online anywhere else. If this steel won't hold a good edge or won't harden as much as it should to hold an edge my plan is to make a set of tongs or two.

Hi all, So I'm opening this topic up for debate... I'm starting to make kitchen knives (chefs knives) and was told 1060 was a great steel to make them. I'm also thinking of making them Damascus so I was thinking 1060/15n20. What are your thoughts on this steel for forging chefs knives and what other type do you think is better and why! We need to keep in mind availability, price and difficulty in forging tempering etc.

Hi Everyone. I recently stumbled upon an online bladesmith's version of Dr John Verhoeven's Book Metallurgy of Steel for Bladesmiths & Others who Heat Treat and Forge Steel In the preface he has kindly given permission for non-financial-gain download and printing of this amazingly instructive book: "My professional career has been supported by publicly funded institutions. Therefore, I grant any user copyright permission to download and print a copy of this book for personal use or any teacher to do the same for their students. I do not grant rights to the text for commercial uses. The copyrights to all figures with citations belong to the original publishers. Copyright permissions were obtained for inclusion of these figures." The book can be found in PDF format here. Our thanks to Dr Verhoeven for this amazing gift. Hope you all find it as useful and interesting as I have.

Hi all I was trying to do a spark test but got pretty similar results and was hoping I could get some help from the masters in the forum... So I found what I believe to be a piec of spring steel from a truck's suspension in the highway and brought it back to the shop and performed a spark test on it only to be more confused it. I've attached a video where you can see me performing the test. The first is 5160 steel The second is the steel I found on the highway The third is a piece of rebar. I would love to read your comments. Thanks! 20191207_130917.mp4

I finally finished the seax knife using the first puck of high carbon hearth steel I had made: It's a very simple shape using a brass bolster and curely maple handle. Here is a close up look of the blade to bolster transition: To be honest, I am not a really good knife maker as fit and finish is not something I pay a lot of attention to. There will be a video on my Youtube channel tomorrow that goes through all the steps with occasional quirk comments on my knife making philosophy. Let me know what you think Niels.

Hi all, So I've been making knives with 1095 steel and I'm wondering if you recommend I use another type of steel or To stick to this type to get more experience on forging, normalizing, quenching, tempering, sharpening, and once I get better change steel types?

Greetings! I am looking at offering Bloom Steel for sale on a consistent basis. The results I have been getting are very consistent, and I am really dialing in on being able to offer a consistent material for use in your projects. I currently have two pieces of raw bloom for sale. Both weigh 11.6 pounds, and I am offering them for sale at $232 each plus shipping. Almost all the areas from the inside cross section spark with carbon, most areas are high but not cast, and they should forge out nicely! My offering needs two major upgrades, First is switching to a consistent ore source. I am currently driving 3 hours north one way for half my mix, and 2 hours south one way for the other half of my mix. Pretty sure there is a way to streamline that inefficiency! Second, I would like to offer bloom that has been flattened, surfaces cleaned, and cut into strips. I have enough ore for two more smelts, I plan on setting up my preliminary forging station this week, and will be shooting a video to launch a gofundme campaign to determine interest, as well as run through the process twice to get a better idea of how to price processed bloom. If there are any parts of the smelt that you would like me to try to capture, please let me know and I can plan to try to have it captured.

So I was planning on turning an old, rusty, cheap camp axe into a shiny Viking style axe with a modified handle. All was going well but then I noticed that around the beard of the axe the steel got way too soft, like almost play-dough like soft, every strike would send it back super far and I got a lot of folds and the steel ultimately started deteriorating. When it cooled down it looked almost powder-y and I don't know why. Could it have gotten to that point because it was too hot? Or maybe it was just really cheap steel? Also, when I tried grinding it to shape (and failed), it produced a lot of sparks so it was definitely very high in carbon. My three guesses are it was either too hot and I overheated the steel or it was a very low quality steel that deteriorated over time

I'm hoping this is the correct subforum- Anyway, I've mostly used to coal, but recently I built an insulating brick propane forge. I've noticed that my steel looks a bit burned on the outer, thinner parts after repeated heats. It crinkly like it's being oxidized (I guess it is). The thing is, I'v got it dialed to the point where there are dragon flames just starting to come out the opening. Shouldn't this indicate a reducing atmosphere in the forge, and thus the steel shouldn't be oxidizing? Perhaps? The forge is built with a single forced air burner that is in the center of the forged and aimed directly down at the silicon carbide floor. Is excess oxygen simply hitting the steel in the "hot spot"? Any thoughts? do other people experience this? Thanks,

Curious if anyone knows of a vendor or supply house in the Nashville area that carry's bar stock for knife blanks. Yes, can order on line, but thought there may be a local supplier or metals company that has stock. Understand NJ Steel Baron is preferred vendor, but just starting out and looking for materials locally before ordering any volume of materials. thanks JC

I am in the process of starting a new project (because I don't have enough unfinished things lying around). I'm sort of a Trekkie, but not your typical "Kirk is my hero [swoon]" type. In fact, I think the Federation rather blows, and the Enterprise has the annoying habit of breaking down EXACTLY at the moment they need it (side note, for a master engineer, Scotty seems to suck at preventative maintenance). No, I'm a Klingon fan. After all, why talk out your problems when destroying someone is much more efficient, and prevents the enemy from annoying you in the future? (It's a true fact: Annihilation= 0% recidivism) Long ago I watched a Deep Space Nine episode featuring the "Sword of Khaless," which was an unusual shaped bat'leth (that curvy Klingon thing for those of you who live in the real world ). I designed my own based off that. First I made a prototype out of foamcore to make sure I had the dimensions right (I ended up making it a foot wider than I'd planned), and then I cut one out of plywood to see how it felt with some weight. I liked it so much I finished it and use it as a practice tool, like a bokken. Rather than attempt to cut this out myself, I decided to "cheat," and have it cut at a local steel shop where they have a computer-driven plasma cutter. I'd prefer water jet cutting for a smoother finish, but there isn't a water jet in my hometown. I took the design to the steel shop and got some estimates. Here's the email they sent back: This is the the file I created in autocad [KLINGON ARTIFACT.pdf], look over the dimensions to make sure this will work for you. I have made some quotes based on this size. For 3/16: A36 Steel (yield strength of 36,000psi) will be $66.10. With A572 Grade 50 (yield strength of 50,000 psi) will be $71.26. With AR400 (yield strength of 155,000 psi) $88.84 The weight between all the different types are the same. I'm not familiar with either type of steel. I should actually know which would work better, but most of the things I make are from recycled steel (files, leaf springs, and so forth). As for edges, the inner edges of the outer blades and the edges of the axe-like projections in the center will be sharpened. The center spike will be blunt. The grip will most likely be hardwood scales wrapped in braided rawhide (my brother is a rawhide braider, so I'm going to engage in a little nepotism at that point). What would people who've made larger swords recommend? KLINGON ARTIFACT.pdf is the file the steel company sent back. I'm really pleased with their rendition, since all I gave them was an Illustrator file and a jpeg like this:

Hi! I am planning to forge my first sword soon. I have never tried it before, and i have some questions about a good steel composition. We are going to make our own steel from pig iron, and i was wondering if anybody had a good recommendation for a beginner steel composition? I have read that 5160 steel is often being used. Will a 0.6% C be a good starting point, or are there any pitfalls i should worry about? And is the manganese and chrome that necessary, since its main objective is to make the steel stainless?

This is my second knife and my first one that doesn't look like a third-grader's art project. I bandsawed the rough profile, drilled the holes, cleaned it up with a Dremel, and made the bevels with a belt sander. After heat treatment (edge quench in hot oil, followed by oven temper), I finished it to 200 grit, attached the handle scales with JB Weld and put the pins in. I then sanded the blade to 800 grit and dropped back to 600 for a satin finish, and sanded the handle to 800 grit. After 5 coats of tung oil, I cleaned the handle and applied a coat of MinWax paste wax. Comments and critiques are welcome! Thanks, Minh-Anh Day

I found this on Wiki while researching more things... I don't know if it's been posted before, I couldn't find it after looking through many pages... I thought I'd share it to help people looking for steels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_blade_materials I also had a question on one of the steels listed... Has anyone had any work experience with 440C or 420 HC stainless? If so; Does sit forge well under a reducing atmo? Does it through or case harden? What is the edge retention like? Thanks for any time taken to help answer what may be very silly questions.

Dear All, I am considering buying some 15N20 and 20C from Nordell knives (www.nordellknives.com). I have tried Aldo, emailing and using the website but for some reason it will not let me select a length for the bundles.... so I can't order any. Furthermore, the postage is cost prohibitive to the UK... My question is, has anyone ordered from Nordell before and such? Just doing a quick check before I part with any well earned cash... Thank you as always for your help and guidance, James

My Dad is also a beginning bladesmith, and was up to visit this weekend. He asked me what D2 steel is. What is it?

Probably should have looked to do this a while back, but haven't gotten around to it as I have quite a bit of leaf spring. I'm looking to buy some steel, something I can practice welding with and maybe give a bit of a hamon. After looking around a bit, I'm considering getting a bit of 1084. Is this my best option? Is there another steel that would bring out a good pattern with it? From what I've seen, NJ steel baron seems to be the best place to get it, and I'm astonished by the price. http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/shop/1084/ Thoughts and advice? Thank you all so much, Caleb.

I'd like to try my hand at forge welding (possibly in the form of a hawk) but I'm not sure my forge will get up to heat. The forge I have I built off a tutorial by Chris Anderson and it does get to a bright yellow hot. Thing is, from what I've heard (please correct me if I'm wrong) welding temperature is about 1800 Fahrenheit or so, and I have no idea how to convert color to number. I've seen a couple heat charts, but they seem to vary a bit and I'm not sure which is best. So are there any reliable charts that I can compare to temporarily (that is until I get used to knowing right off the bat what color = what temperature)?

I have started making my first knife today and I am done forging. it is made from an unknown steel that was coated in copper. when It eas quenched it became so hard my file barely scratches it and 120 grit sandpaper won't scratch it. what temperature should I temper it(max 550 F) and will it be easier to file after I temper it?

Greetings, everyone. This is my first post here. I joined because I'm a history major with a fascination with metalwork and because I plan on trying my hand at bladesmithing beginning around December/January. I'm also a little bit of a fanboy when it comes to some of the members here. I was inspired by a few of them. So I'm quite happy that I finally decided to join the forums. However, because I'm not even a beginner smith yet, I'll probably mostly be reading what the rest of you have to say and learning what I can for the time being. That said, I do have some questions on some of the historical aspects of bladesmithing. I did a number of searches on the forum to make sure this subject hasn't been covered too extensively. I only wanted to make a new thread as a last resort, but I feel it's necessary if I want my questions answered. My questions deal primarily with the quality of the iron and steel used in blades during the Viking Age as opposed to the later Middle Ages. I was considering covering this subject for senior seminar, as this is my last semester of college. But the few sources I was able to find in my university's library and online databases that mentioned the subject at all were written during a time in which the historical narrative was not quite as objective as it is today (though it's still not perfect or even consistent by any means). So I probably won't be covering that topic for my class, but it still interests me enough that I hope some of the members here who are knowledgeable on the subject might chime in with whatever information they can provide. So, something that piqued my curiosity was one of the constants I found in the aforementioned books as well as various places online that discuss older forms of weaponry. It was the idea that the iron and steel from blooms in the Viking Age, as well as construction methods, were somehow overwhelmingly inferior to those in the later Middle Ages. I think it's natural to assume that metallurgical knowledge would progress as time goes on, but I don't know if it really increased so greatly between these two time periods. As I currently understand it, smiths of the Viking Age were aware of the benefits of quench hardening and perhaps even tempering. If I'm correct, weapons in the later Viking Age also began to be made less from pattern-welded steel and more from a single type that would allow for more consistent and controllable production of weapons. This is where the whole "Superior/Inferior" thing starts to come into play. The ideas presented in those books and websites noted that a single type of steel yielded better weapons in the later Middle Ages as this type of weapon production replaced pattern-welding altogether. However, that doesn't seem to me like it would yield better weapons as much as something of a more consistent quality. I understand that swords of the Viking Age had a wide range of quality where construction and material was concerned. That makes it difficult to make any sort of generalization about them in that regard. But with one type of steel being used, it does seem that more control could be had over the production processes which could lead to a better understanding about that one type of steel. With that said, would I be somewhere MAYBE close to correct in saying that the quality of steel and iron used for weapons wasn't necessarily "better" in the later Middle Ages, but rather more consistent? I understand that what makes a quality sword or spear is more complicated than just the steel that goes into it. And I hope I don't come off as one of those people who argue that one type of sword is better than another for whatever reason. It's just something I'm very interested in. I apologize for the rather lengthy first post. This is just something I've been trying to get a better understanding of and I think many of the members here could chime in and help me understand this a little better. Especially those who have handled older weapons or have studied older methods of smelting ore and crafting weapons. I would also like to leave out too much discussion of Ulfberht blades and the Wootz that was used to create them if at all possible. I'm more concerned with the more common steels and irons used. I look forward to your posts and to a long, enjoyable experience here on the forums.

Hello all it has been a busy few months since I last posted and I thought I would make a post to show what I've been up to over the summer months. Most of my time was taken up with teaching summer programs and opening the blacksmithing school, but in between the sixty hour weeks I found some time to make things and even injure myself :/ Unfortunately earlier this summer while working on a carving my chisel slipped and went through (yes as in all the way through) my left index finger severing some nerves, but thankfully it wasn't too serious and I have been able to get back to work making things. But onto the projects... This summer I received my first railing commission from the church my sister belongs to...Overall it was a fun and interesting project that I'd like to do more of in the future. It was all hand forged for both railings each one measuring 5 3/4 feet long and each structural upright is 1 inch square. I also found time to make this medium sized forester's axe. Mild steel body with a 1084 bit. The head is 8.5 inches long and the edge is 4 3/4 wide, the handle is 24 inches long. And last but not least I was able to finish up this pattern welded puukko today with birch bark handle. The blade is 1084, 1095, and 15N20 at about 500 layers and 1 inch wide and 4 1/2 inches long. Unfortunately when I took the picture I didn't notice the smudge of grease but it has since been cleaned off. Thank you all for looking...I'm looking forward to getting back to actually making some neat projects; I have a couple of ideas that have been gestating for the past four months...I'll keep you all posted.

Hello Everyone, I'm James and new here, I have never forged anything before and I am really keen to build my own coal open-air forge. I have been trawling the internet for a while now and have read 'The Complete Blacksmith - Forging Your Way to Perfection' by Jim Hrisoulas before bed a few times (though I am very aware I know absolutely nothing). I was wondering if anyone could possibly give me a few tips as to the thickness of the steel I should use for the pit of my forge to survive the heat? Also the image below is the plan I aim to follow, is there anyone perchance who has one of these/made one who could give me a few tips please? Sorry to write a manuscript for my first post! Thank you very much, James

Hello everyone! I recently found out about the Steel Baron as a metal supplier. The problem is that it's all the way in the US while I live in The Netherlands, so ordering it from Steel Baron will take quite some time until my order has arrived here. I was wondering if any of you know a site or a shop where I can get steeltypes like 10XX and other smithing metals in The Netherlands. Thanks! Jasper