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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 07-19-2017, 03:12 PM
Treven Treven is offline
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I'm a noob

I am just starting out in knifemaking, aka I just got some files, sandpaper, hacksaw, clamps, and torch. But my question is, I just bougut a 1-1/2in x 1/8 in x 36 in flatbar plain steel from home Depot and I'm wondering how I can find out what type it is? If possible, they didn't seem to know and I can't find any info searching online. I bought it just to play around with and test. I will buy some 0-1 steel eventually. What other types are good for beginners? Thank you for your time.
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  #2  
Old 07-19-2017, 07:45 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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What you have is A6, aka mild steel or weld steel. In short, worthless for knives. You can practice on it but if you should happen to make something nice you'll be kicking yourself for not using good steel. Good blade steel hardly costs any more than what you have.

O1 is great knife steel but you can't treat it with a torch and get anywhere near its potential. O1 costs more than 1080 or 1084 which is what you should be working on. See the Sticky thread at the top of this forum for a list of places where you might find 1084.

Next step would be to toss the torch and build a small heat treating forge. It isn't expensive and you'll get much better results than with a torch ...


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  #3  
Old 07-19-2017, 08:16 PM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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Ray, A36 is mild steel A6 is actually a tool steel.

Good advice on the steels to use though. Also a good piece of advice is to beware of mystery steels. There are many steels out there that some makers use like old Black Diamond Nicholson files, a fave of mine btw and I have several earmarked for knives. BUT, there are leaf springs, mower blades and saw blades, etc. that many new makers try to make knives from. My brother called me last night asking about some 1968 chevy truck leaf springs and all I could tell him was to experiment, plus he knows better. Maybe 5160 steel, maybe not. Better to forge O1 than mystery steel. I do forge O1, but I cannot say I am squeezing the best out of it in a forge. Temperature in a forge isn't a known factor, just a guessed factor, but I can make a pretty nice knife out of a file in one as well as O1.

Practice with small squares of the steel you are going to use Treven and see what the hardness and flexibility you can get out of them is with some simple tests you can do. We call them coupons, as that is what they look like. First though is to study the heat treat requirements of the steel you settle with. Then follow them as close as you can with a forge. Many Youtube videos, but I recommend you buy Ray's DVDs on forging and how to build a good forge.
Start right with all the knowledge you can get and Ray's videos everybody I hear rave about how good they are. There is also Ed Caffrey's videos and school too. Spend your money wisely up front and that is to acquire the best knowledge available to you. Just saying.
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Old 07-19-2017, 10:34 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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QUOTE: Ray, A36 is mild steel A6 is actually a tool steel.

I don't understand what you're saying there. A36 is, in fact, mild steel designed for structural use. It definitely is not a tool steel. A36 is similar to 1018 which can't make a good cutting tool except maybe an axe. Tool steel by definition has the characteristics necessary for good cutting tools....


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Old 07-20-2017, 01:45 AM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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Ray you said A6 not A36 or is my c'pooter seeing the wrong thing?

It is why I put the LOL emoji out as you made a typo. I just thought it was funny.
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  #6  
Old 07-20-2017, 07:37 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Dang, you're right, I did a typo. Probably due to my incredibly fast four finger typing. Better yet, I didn't see it even in the subsequent posts . To tell you the kind of day I'm having, I just put a bowl of rice in the microwave and cooked it for 10 minutes but forgot to put water in it. Turned into a black ball of lava and ate through the bottom of the bowl. Smelled like burnt popcorn ...


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Last edited by Ray Rogers; 07-20-2017 at 07:39 AM.
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Old 07-23-2017, 05:59 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Ray Ray is showing his age......
(I've never done anything like that)


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  #8  
Old 07-23-2017, 08:52 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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HAHA Great!!! I think I may have said on another thread recently that I have been trying to catch ray in a mistake for years and couldn't do it ......Jim I think you just caught something very rarely seen you should go play the lotto! A typo might be the biggest slip up ray ever lets any of us catch!
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Old 07-23-2017, 10:15 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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A typo is hardly a real mistake. I actually did make a mistake once. It happened when I thought I had made a mistake but turned out I hadn't ....


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Old 07-23-2017, 11:37 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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haha....I have been here for a while now and haven't caught anything else so a typo will have to do
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