does any steel cable work?

any "over head" type cable. such as crane cable, elevator cable, and i believe cable chokers (i don't recall the composition of cable chokers right off hand) pretty much any of those that aren't galvanized. and make sure they are clean on the inside, some cables have a plastic strip on the inside.

Edited December 7, 200916 yr by chadj
added info

cool thanks im going to the scrap yard tomorrow so i wanna look around

Most cable or rigging shops will let you have tails out of the scrap tub ( at least the ones Ive tried. Just tell them you are making cable knives and need a few scraps, They should be more than willing to give you all the cable you could ever want. Much better to work with new, clean cable to weld up than stuff that has had grease and dirt driven into it for 50 years.... Look in the phone book for outfits that swage cable and make up rigging in your area..

any "over head" type cable. such as crane cable, elevator cable, and i believe cable chokers (i don't recall the composition of cable chokers right off hand) pretty much any of those that aren't galvanized. and make sure they are clean on the inside, some cables have a plastic strip on the inside.

and yes.. you need "bright" cable... that is no stainless or no fibercore.. and no galvanized... The standard I think is referred to as 6 X 19 bright carbon wire

we use 6x19 eips...it about like 1095 i think...it's solid core,but has line tar on it...also it is 1 1/8-1 1/4"diamiter

I think all carbon wire comes in grease to keep it from rusting... I have always just burned it out with a torch.... something that should be done outside and away from the shop... Another thing I just remembered is there is a product called "compact swage" wire that is a bit easier to weld.... What it is ... well its compacted wire.. When the nets got bigger on the fishing boats they needed stronger cable on the winches.. but a lot of the winches have grooved drums so if they are made for 7/8 cable, you have to use 7/8 cable.... so what they did was take 1" cable and run it through a rolling press and swaged it down to 7/8... basically taking all the extra space out... not quite as flexible but since its as strong as 1" cable.... since its a tighter wire it is a bit easier to weld.. not much but everything helps.... It helps what ever wire you use to do a "tighten up" twist at heat before trying to weld it...

 

You can always take apart cable and clean it, then rebundle it. JPH shows this process well in his new thread. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f52/legendary-sword-septis-16029/

I bundled a bunch of insulation hangers like that for practice and got a small billet that sparks as medium carbon. Not sure what to do with it since it was for practice and I expected it to be mild. I have more bent and damaged insulation hangers that I plan to bundle and weld together to get something usable. I set the initial weld by twisting.

Phil

sweet ty all for the info

I've gotten cable from Web Rigging supply before - WIRE ROPE & CABLE > Wire Rope > General Purpose Rope - WebRiggingSupply
look for the words :
" 6X19 CLASS IWRC
EXTRA IMPROVED PLOW STEEL, RIGHT REGULAR LAY "

1.25 " Diameter is what I buy, they sell it by the foot, though when I tell them I need 5 pieces 1 foot long each they do think I'm a little nuts ...

happy hammering !

Jens

thank you sir and is the cable clean or does it have oil on it?

thanks again all for the info

Edited December 16, 200916 yr by Rileyrock
mistake

I have some steel cable, it's about 3/4 inch, but it's covered with rust. Just a couple of questions, 1. Is it thick (heavy) enough? 2. Do I need to clean off the rust? Thanks.

yes, it's thick enough.
No, the fire will take care of the rust

Thank you, you are all very helpful.

I’m about to buy 5/8” cable but the guy doesn’t know if it is bright or galvanized, anyway to tell? It’s not stainless bc it’s pretty rusted. I don’t want to waste the $100 but at the same time it’s 200 feet of cable sooooo 

Also I know this is 11 years later but not much on cable Damascus when searching they the good ol google 

Can you get a sample off the end to try out?   If they don't know any details do they know if it's a suitable steel for making knives?

Guy got it for a choker for his tractor. He said it’s bright cable after I asked but I mean he could be blowing smoke. Think I’m gonna take the risk at $100 for 200ft and if it isn’t high carbon I’m make mild steel Damascus for guards and what not 

Will it show any pattern if it's all mild steel?

Guy swears it’s bright high carbon cable now but even if it wasn’t I’m sure if I used 1084 powder to forge it it would show some sort of pattern 

I would pass just due to the diameter, 5/8" cable is pretty small for making Damascus.