Jump to content
I Forge Iron

where to find 5160 spring steel?


Guiltyspark

Recommended Posts

If you want leaf and coil springs call up your local repair shops. They often times have to pay to have their scrap disposed of. Show up dressed to get dirty, and bring a forged trinket. You can probably get all the scrap spring you want.

Buying new however makes production of an item easier because it is a "known" material vs "mystery metal" It also saves your time processing out scrap so you can use it.

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dinking around with a variety of unknown steels in various shapes and sizes is frustrating, and a waste of your time. You will find out that your time is your most precious commodity. One day of a fast food worker's wages will buy enough known steel in a convenient size to last a professional knifemaker a month.

If you are going with scrapyard springs, get the whole bundle from one side, or both bundles from one axle if you can. One leaf will be the sacrifice to the heat treat gods, as you figure out what works and what does not. When you succeed, write it down in detail. You will thank yourself later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



If you are going with scrapyard springs, get the whole bundle from one side, or both bundles from one axle if you can. One leaf will be the sacrifice to the heat treat gods, as you figure out what works and what does not. When you succeed, write it down in detail. You will thank yourself later.


Write down the failures too. Good to know both what works and what doesn't
Phil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Local suspension repair shops are probably the best. Just about all they have is 5160 in used leaf srpings in the scrap bins, and yes it is a chore and dangerous to cut already tempered steel as when it gets hot it graps the cutting wheel and can rip it out of your hands, not to mention all the rust and pitting removal as well as looking for fractures in the metal. I think most of my common utility knife sales come from this stock, it is more work than new stock if you intened to forge & fold the scrap steel , you might also need a way to add carbon to the folding. If you have a plasma cutter all the better it works great on cutting leaf springs just remember to leave at least 1/4" spacing around your blank tracing.

Try to get the best pieces out of the scrap bin. The wider and slightly thinner transport leaf springs are generally of better quality steel. Thicker leaf springs are fine for folding but too much trouble for a straightened piece as a knife blade. I've picked up 4,6,and 8" wide leaf springs and thicknesses upto almost 1/2" .

When removing the rust with an angle grinder you first grind off the top rust orangish colour rust then rince with water. Then angle the grinder a little more to get the carbon like black pitting deposits. No need to get rid of all the pitting, standard cutting and belt sanding will take care of the small stuff. Wash off between grindings, let dry then coat the metal with 2 stroke engine mixing oil and let sit for a few hours.

Clean and start either flatening the steel or what ever process you want to try.

Safe Journey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The last price quote I got for a .200" x 2" x 20' bar of 5160 was $75.00
Scrap price for old coil and leaf spring steel for me is $.35 PER lb. or less, More money and a known HT cycle, or less money
and experiment with HT. I'm a thrifty dude who likes to experiment and learn stuff. Some guys have bucks and an attitude that sucks when others ask questions, this is supposed to be a helpfull info site aint it Steve ???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I stated a fact. There is much more into making a blade than just buying steel, and to use scraps and risk the loss of your time/labor and injury from micro fractures to the end user is not fiscally or morally responsible, there is nothing known about metals in a the scrap yard. If you wish to insult, its your choice, one can just make blades and have fun. I deal with people that wish to have a quality end product to sell, so I gave then solid truth. I paid less than 75 last time I got a full bar, but even at that price that is only $3.75 a foot. That is less than $2 for a hunting blade.

If a person feels that $2 or even $4 is "really expensive" then that person can not really afford to get into this yet.

If you feel warning a person about expenses is not helpful when a sanding belt can cost much more than that, I am sorry. Trying to save $2 or less per knife by using scraps rather than a known quality steel, is not doing anything to promote the craft. I do not have a lot of money, so I invest it wisely. I share information here, some of which were made into sticky's for easy location, as well as participate in the knife chats and classes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just throwing this out there i just bought a piece of 5160 from new jersey steel baron .25inx1.5inx4ft was 20 bucks tipped off the ups another 15 bucks and had it at my door within a week when u throw in the time u woud have put in looking for leaf springs and drawing them out to the right thickness 35 bucks for a piece of steel the right length is a good deal!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard that leaf springs for trucks are a good source.
does anyone know where i can find these online for cheap?
All of the specialty forging stock is really expensive.
what about other alternatives?


The original post was for cheap materials for making a knife.

The practice of making knives is important, it improves both your technique and confidence and allows you to make better knives. But with all the time and labor involved in making a knife, the cost of materials is the least expensive part of the knife. Minimum wage is less than $8 an hour in the US and the cost of NEW steel (from above) is $2-4.00 That is 30 minutes or less of your time using NEW materials.

IF you want to practice the junk yard has many different mystery metals to choose from, including coil spring, leaf spring and other metals that are inexpensive ($0.35 per pound from above). It is still mystery metal with no certs or documentation on the exact chemistry of the metal, or how to heat treat that metal. There is the possibility of micro-fractures that may not show up until you have invested many hours into the knife only to have it fail. There is also an issue of selling or giving the knife to someone and then having it fail, possibly injuring that person or others.

I am not saying not to use junk yard materials. You have to decide if the cost of mystery metal with unknown chemistry and only a best guess at heat treating, is worth the 1/2 hour of wages for new material with a known chemistry and a known heat treating technique.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With scrap material you can get the basics down of how the metal moves under the hammer, as well as developing your smithing style without breaking the bank. I would suspect that many new bladesmiths toss several knives before they get one that they like.

I don't know, maybe it is a regional thing for brokem leafsprings. In my decades of scrounging wrecking yards, and just being a gearhead I may have seen 1, possibly 2 broken leafsprings. I know the East coast has this stuff they talk about called rust. Out West we don't see much of that malady.

Talk to a body shop, or gearheads in your area for some smaller coil springs,smaller sway bars, or car leafsprings. I built up a big pile in a short time back in CA for free. Ols files can make a good knife too. Get hammerin', try some things out, see what works for you, and when you want to make a really nice knife spring for some new material. McMaster Carr , and other industrial suppliers will sell you less than 20' at a time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made a list of 5 places to call, then had a girl do the asking on the phone. They were more than eager to give her whatever she asked for! I showed up with her “just to lift heavy stuff” lol.

Bang hot metal and have fun doing it!


If you want leaf and coil springs call up your local repair shops. They often times have to pay to have their scrap disposed of. Show up dressed to get dirty, and bring a forged trinket. You can probably get all the scrap spring you want.

Buying new however makes production of an item easier because it is a "known" material vs "mystery metal" It also saves your time processing out scrap so you can use it.

Phil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are cases where "old metal" is the way to go. If I make a high accuracy historical blade I like to use metal as close to the original as possible; so old Cast Steel, Shear Steel, Blister Steel, etc, is looked for and cherished.

Such blades go for a *massive* premium *BECAUSE* there is a much more likely chance of total failure somewhere in the process and me having to re-do it from the ground up. eg: I was making a knife from a buggy spring for my SiL who does SAS. It wasn't quite as hard as I would like after a warm oil quench and so I rolled the dice and tried brine. The three pieces stay in my show and tell kit and I'm a Christmas late as I need to pick up some Parks 50 to quench the next one in...

I have a piece of documented 1828 steel just sitting and waiting for the person to appear and start yelling "shut up and take my money!" (It's the last tiny corner of the face left on a William Foster anvil, they date stamped them. Someday I want to try refacing it the traditional way and will have to remove the little bit of original face left.)

However if you are learning isn't it nice to know if *you* made the mistake forging rather than guessing if the stock had an flaw in it when you sourced it? I know many beginners that will waste hundreds of dollars of time to save US$5 and many of them don't learn what they are trying to as they have problems innate to how they are going about things. (I know folks who practiced on mild steel and then threw out five or six blades in HC because they kept trying to treat it like mild steel and so they trashed the HC.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I made a list of 5 places to call, then had a girl do the asking on the phone. They were more than eager to give her whatever she asked for! I showed up with her “just to lift heavy stuff” lol.

Bang hot metal and have fun doing it!


Showing up in person with a forged trinket seems to work better for me. The trinket is "payment" for the materials.

Phil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imho, forget the scrap and search out spring manufacturers in/close to your area. In Portland,Or., Benz Srring sells their rems for a fraction of new steel. Scrap steel prices have dropped dramatically from a year ago, so rems are readily available. I've found that a pointed gift or two works wonders in greasing the skids, so to speak. That applies to all things metal. :)
John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...