Junk yard style knives

[dvinesco]

I'm new to this forum and a novice at knife making (as you can see). I started playing around with using planer blades and turning them into knives. Here are some I have done. My intention is to create junk yard style knives. Old school if you will, that look like a farmer might have made them 100 years ago.

I have used a Bowie style blade shape and use copper for the hilt and handle pins brass if I can find it. The blades are 7 inches and I make the sheaths also by hand, hand sown and sometimes decorated. I use an angle grinder to shape the blades. I like to use Elk for handles.

I have some questions, however. I know that the blades are very brittle because they are so hard. I am unemployed and don't have access to a torch. All I have is a MAPP gas torch. If I heat the spine of the blade to orange hot, will that make it less brittle? I hate to sell any of these knowing they are so brittle.

Also, any suggestions as what would be a fair price to sell them for at a street fair or something like that? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Getting hard to pay the bills if you know what I mean.

[Charlotte]

I hate to advise you without knowing exactly what the composition is. Depending on the manufacturer there can be one of several alloy systems used.
I don't think that heating the spine to orange with a torch will be the answer.
Planner blades are made to be as hard as possible and be wear resistant as well.

If you still have a piece left. Put it in your household oven at 500 degrees for and hour and let it cool over night. Test it and see what you think. If it seems less brittle test it for edge holding. If it is ok then there you are. Your material is already heat treated and I'm assuming that you just ground out the blades.

[dablacksmith]

well.... planer blades are made from a variety of alloys so hard to know what you can do to temper them. i would change junkyard blade materials .. go with spring steel or some other known steel ...with a spring steel you can get into a ballpark on hardness/temper. as far as priceing that is a tough one ... depends on your coustomers and what they will buy/pay for your knife ... i know thats not much help but with knifes its real tough .... you got everything from 5.99 made in china to 5000.00 +custom mosaic damascus! I notice tho that for my coustomers anything over 75.00 is harder to sell... but knives are so much a indivigual thing ... hard to know what people are willing to pay...

[easilyconfused]

You have an eye for design, now to get the performance out of the blade. I'm no knifemaker so I can't help with that but I do know that, even without access to a torch which is not effective at even heat anyways, all you need is a hole in the ground and some wood to burn down to embers and possibly an airsource depending on how hot you need to go.

[Charlotte]

On pricing: Custom knives are sold mostly on presentation and rep. Unless you are in market where are know for doing good work else where, or known as a member of the community knives are a hardsell item. Street Fairs are also one of the low priced venues.
A lot of the crafts people I know participate to get orders for High priced goods while selling less expensive stuff just to cover over head.

Craft marketing is a whole special subject and has a lot of factors to think about.
Dablacksmith has given you you his experiece for the area where he works.
I know my self that a knife and gun show I wouldn't even look at knife priced under $150.
I would ignore someone sell custom bowies and sheath knives at any other venue.
On the other hand decorative iron and kitchen knives always gets my attenion where ever they are. But that is just me.

[ThomasPowers]

High quality planer blades may be made of HSS which heating to orange and letting cool may very well make it harder and more brittle. Lower quality blades may just be a high carbon steel and so normalize OK. What you have---Who Knows?

[dvinesco]

Great advice from all of you! Thanks. I'm thinking finding other metal sources would be the way to go. Grinding that hard steal is a chore anyway. I will try the oven thing (before my wife gets home) and let you know what that does.

[jimmy seale]

if you live around farming, there is a lot of high carbon steels in plows and such. plow disc are around 1080, i think rake tines are around 1095- there is a list of junk yard steels here, that will give you a ball park figure on some items, good luck, jimmy,

[markb]

I like your style.

[Rich Hale]

I would not sell any of your knives as you say they are brittle. Hang on to them as a testimony to your design and hard work abilities. If someone breaks a blade and gets hurt you may be considered responsible. I believe the longer the blade the more that is likely to happen. Just my thoughts. Keep at it.

[Ed Steinkirchner]

the way that i temper my blades is to harden and draw temper with a torch for an odd shape (any curve in the back), or heat a bar red and lay the spine on it and hold until proper color runs to the edge. my carrying.. careing....UTILITY knife is a 5 inch seax, and tempered this way it has cut through can lids, pryed off sterno can lids, and was still sharp enough to graft our apple trees with. it seems to me that it is already hardened and you may.. May just be able to get it to work if its the right steel.
that is what works for me with my steel hope it helps