A Few Tons of 6150

[bumbino]

Hi All,
I have recently acquired a large supply of 6150 spring steel. Most of this steel is in pristine condition, the rest is in great condition. Thickness from 0.122 thru 0.250. Widths from 1" to 4.1". Being sold in 48" lengths. The reviews are in! Blade6150.com/reviews

**edit* Wanted to make sure everyone was updated. Heat 1550 to 1600 for 20 minutes, oil quench between 300 and 400. Adjust as needed. Expect 55 to 58 hrc, but 60 is possible. Great steel!*

Thank You,
John

[jimmontg]

Try to get a material analysis sheet from the manufacturer's web site and look at other steel suppliers. It isn't an expensive steel and it is sheared, but at least it looks cold rolled, worth a little more. Also you have the numbers turned around, 5160 is the proper designation.
It runs about0.60% carbon, hence the 60 designation and 0.80 chrome and 0.80-90 manganese plus some trace elements.
You can call admiral steel who sells it.
https://www.admiralsteel.com/

[TexasJack]

5160 and 6150 are both spring steels. 6150 has some vanadium. The two steels are very different when it comes to heat treating, so make sure you have the right designation posted.

[bumbino]

Hi Guys. Thanks for the feedback. It's definitely 6150. I have a few tags from the manufacturer.

[jimmontg]

Sorry, I guess I've never heard of it in knife making.

The 0,50% carbon is on the edge of hardening for knives (0.40-45%) although it would work for tough EDC knives. It is more of an ax or machete steel. I do not know who would want it in quantity, but it would make excellent axes, tomahawks, machetes and throwing knives as its metallurgy leans more towards shock absorbing.

Also do not be mislead by some steel sellers hype about the 6150's Vanadium. At 0.15% minimum vanadium tends to restrict grain growth more than creating Vanadium carbides.

[TexasJack]

An older discussion on 6150: 6150 anyone?

[bumbino]

So i'm finding that the steel i have here has been heat treated, but it's not very hard. I can file easily and can also scratch easily with a run of the mill hacksaw blade. Is there anything i can do aside from making a blade with it to know if it can produce a good blade? Any other testing I can do? I would really like to ship some to someone who has a lot of experience in blade making. Then they can let me know what we're dealing with here.

Thank You,
John

[jimmontg]

I doubt if its been heat treated, it is probably just springy in that cold roll condition. A hacksaw blade wouldn't cut it easily either. Just because it's a slight blue doesn't mean it has a HT. Remember it is a spring steel and that stuff has been cut from plate and I've seen lots of thicker steels with that blue color that were not high carbon. I seem to remember that when rolling some steels they heat them to prevent work hardening though not enough to call hot roll, I'm not sure though memory isn't what it used to be.
Is it simply marked 6150 with no paperwork of where it came from?

You could contact several steel suppliers to see who makes 6150 as I'm sure there can't be many.
Also you can have it Laser Spectro-analyzed by Peters Heat Treat in Meadville, PA, 814-333-1782. I do not know how much they charge though, they did it to some Files I sent with some O1 tool steel knives to be HT and it was part of the service.
BTW old Nicholson files are almost exactly the same as W2.

[bumbino]

the pallets came with tags. i know the manufacturer. they have three sections where they list 6150. each are cold rolled but two get heat treated. they also have a heat batch number on each tag.

They are indeed sheered from much wider plates. they are then run through chamfering type machines, stamping, more cutting and finally some rolling at times. I just can't imagine they do this with pre-hardened material. So the heat batch number is a mystery then.

What I do know for sure is that it's 6150 in great condition. I can file with a random garage file and can carve into it with a hacksaw blade. not sure how hard those are, but that's what i've got for testing. I don't have a large hard steel ball to drop on it so that's out. I found a way to bounce test with a steel ball. i have no ball.

[jimmontg]

The heat treat may merely be an anneal or maybe just to stiffen it up a little as they don't appear to be HT too much as they'd look like hot roll unless HT in a vacuum furnace. I'd call the manufacturer and ask them what the deal is.

[bumbino]

It's cold rolled and annealed. Still working on an MSDS or any other recommendations on heat treat from the shop. They're a bit tight lipped, but i'm working on it. I have started a website so folks can purchase. It took about two weeks to figure out, but it's up and running. I've been cutting and shipping steel like it's a full time job. Funny thing is I came into this steel while trying to pick up a really cool knife making hobby.

[bumbino]

Hey Guys,
So I've been selling this steel off at my website blade6150.com. I took average pricing for 5160 and applied to my 6150 then cut the price in half. Grade A blade steel. Half the cost. I've been getting orders cut and shipped within 24 hours. Let me know if you have any questions. Message me here or contact me through the website. Thanks!

Best,
John