Hello, my name is Juris and I Am still fairly new to blacksmithing, One of my friends from highschool has seen and played with a few of the farm knifes that I have made for utilitarian purposes and his younger brother has now requested me to make the older brother a sword for his birthday.. He then handed me a 4', by 2", by 3/16" piece of mild steel and asked that I make the sword out of this.. I told him that I will TRY and see what I can do, now I have little Knowledge of heat treating, especially on big stuff.. thankfully he will probably just be hacking at old trees in the woods with it so it doesn't have to be "pretty" just somewhat useable.. and he said something akin to the sword in "Braveheart", the large one carried by William Wallace, for the style of blade..
I would like to know if I can harden the mild steel enough to obtain an edge that is decent, to hold an sharp edge for a few sessions in the woods before resharpening, also I will probably use old motor oil for a quench, or a mixture of lard,cooking oil, and paraffin mixed for a "goop" type edge quench, the main thing I am worried about is that while he is using it, the blade will bend and not return to the previous shape, will heat treating and quenching imbue enough "spring" to it to overcome this? idk where he got the steel but it looks like flat stock that you can get from a fleet supply store and I don't think it has a lot of Carbon content to it,
Now I have some old stainless steel that is about the same dimensions and also a few leaf springs from an old truck, would it just be easier to use either of these or stay the course with the mild steel? I've heard stainless can get tricky..
and he wants it asap haha.
any input is appreciated..
Juris