knife making - what steel?

[KieranBroadfield]

What steel should I be getting hold of? Where can I get it?

[jus_young]

Open ended question that one Kieran. Different knives with different steels with differing characteristics. Your best bet is to search the forum as there are many posts on the subject.

[Rasputin]

Car springs leaf or coil are a great source of high carbon steel, you have to heat them to take the temper out of them. with the coil springs you have to forge the metal whereas the leaf spring of course you can just grind / file to shape. For SS I say 01 and you could check steel stockholders where you live. There are plenty of vids on the youtube to watch,Ken ps, you have to temper the blade when finished, again watch you tube

[midas]

People make knifes out of old files too,Rail Road spikes.Horse shoes.But I think the car spring is your best source
PS you have SVORD the maker of the famous Peasants knife n many others.This could be a good source of blanks grips,etc.

[Rasputin]

People make knifes out of old files too,Rail Road spikes.Horse shoes.But I think the car spring is your best source.

How could I forget to put files on the list 'der' also lawnmower blades, circular saw blades the list is quite endless but youve got plenty to be going on with fella

[SteveW]

You need to think about what you want at the end, and what tools and experience you have at the start, then when we know, someone can talk you through your options..... so what do you have tool wise?

[KieranBroadfield]

You need to think about what you want at the end, and what tools and experience you have at the start, then when we know, someone can talk you through your options..... so what do you have tool wise?

I want just a basic 1 piece full tang knife, ive got files, disc cutter, & I can get other tools from work, I have no experience making knives but I have f0worked with metal often, fabricating bike parts, custom
Thanks for the advice guys

[Midge_Fodder]

I've not had much experience making knives. I used leaf spring to make a couple of Puukos and a Sgian Dubh. To be honest recycling is the way to go, especially as you can get so much scrap cheaply.

[SteveW]

Right then....

have a look online and do a search for knife templates or draw one that you like yourself. It will need to be full size and you will need to stick it to some fairly thick card then cut it out.

Steel, you can either buy tool steel. O1 is often suggested and can be bought from Cromwells and ebay making sure you get a bit large enough to take your template, or you can use recycled steel from a saw blade, file etc.

method...
take a look here. There are plenty of others, but these are mostly made with the simple tools that you have or can get.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM1Bnpxipb8H4GJoITnJ0XQ

make your blade....lots of pictures and feel free to ask any questions. Once you are happy, we can sort out some heat treating.

[midas]

Thanks Steve,Good lead to those videos.Trollskyy.Has some good tips !Only watch a couple,but have Bookmarked it for later.
Now if only I had a belt sander like his.!