truck spring bowie

[don't tread on me]

I am making a bowie out of a truck spring, it is about 1/4 in thick and the blade will be 10 in long, do you think I should make the blade thiner.

[mrkiddi]

I've made two knives out of Spring steel and they are both around that thickness. if you want it to be sharp just have the Edge high enough of the knife:)

[Robert Mayo]

I would give it a full distal taper which will lighten it up by close to half the weight plus make it more ballanced.

Bob

[ThomasPowers]

Distal taper and a full blade bevel can make that an elegant usable blade. No distal taper and a partial bevel makes it a crowbar with an edge.

[golgotha forge & anvil]

sounds great..don't forget photos/updates!

Gene

[jimmy seale]

forge thick and grind thin, that way i can get the hammer marks out. good luck,jimmy

[Longstrider]

1/4" thick sounds perfectly normal for a 10" blade fella. Go with a taper if you're looking for a general usage knife, but leave it un-tapred as far as possible if you want it to be a heftier chopper. Cutting competition blades have a 10" blade (maximum) and many of those are well over a 1/4" thick at the spine ;)

[don't tread on me]

forge thick and grind thin, that way i can get the hammer marks out. good luck,jimmy

I am not forging it, it is a cut blade. And it was actually closer to 1/2 in, than 1/4 but know it is around 1/4.

[ThomasPowers]

Note that "hefty" knives tend to spend more time in a drawer than on a belt.

I admit freely that I abuse some of my blades because "I made it if I break it I'll make another!"

OTOH when I want to chop I forged a nice light camp hatchet from a farriers rasp--bent over and forge welded together and forged out into a light axehead and drifted the eye for a hammer handle---easier to find and cheaper than hatchet handles out here...
Paola, Ville helped me get the IR2 working on AOC,

SFIT123 ran 10/12 of the scans and then stopped with the below error:

[don't tread on me]

Here is a pic. I am not done yet and the handle is jest slid on.

[golgotha forge & anvil]

MAN!!! I really like the whole knife: blade/handle are great but I love the "D" guard..looks fantastic!

Gene

[don't tread on me]

Thanks Gene, when I am done with it I will be putting it up for sale on here if you wont it. Hint hint

[Bentiron1946]

Dang! that's a hefty looking knife. Looking good. :P

[don't tread on me]

Jest an update. It will be a while before I post some more pics. I need to get a finer grit sand paper for the next step.

[Marksnagel]

That knife is a beauty. It gives me something to shoot for in my endeavors. thanks for posting a pic. <><

[don't tread on me]

Whele I gess you have to heat treat car springs with oil, I quenched it in water and it shatered. O well, I am going to make anther that looks the same and this time I will quench in oil.

[golgotha forge & anvil]

Hate to hear that! Just about everyone has had it happen though..the first knife I made shattered when I tried to straighten the blade with a light
tap with my cross pein hammer..it happens...

Gene

[reefera4m]

Not only do you need to use oil but you should pre-heat the oil to around 140 degrees. I've made several knives from truck leaf spring steel ('78 Ford HD) and the turned out great. Sharp enough to shave with, tough enough to chop hickory and flexible enough not to break.

Another good tip I learned - sand the blade to with 220 grit - 400 grit sandpaper before heat treating. Eliminating deep scratches from grinding or rough sanding will go a long way in preventing cracking/shattering (unless you use water ).

I also believe that a thinner spine will help as well. Sometimes the greater the differential thickness between the edge and spine, the greater the stress between the two will be when quenching.

Not to denigrate the knife, the design of which I really liked, but a knife of that length and that thickness would probably either end up as a wall hanging or put away in a closet. Way to heavy to use or carry. Still it need not be practical to be good looking!

[golgotha forge & anvil]

just a thought..I quench in 3 parts 30 weight non-detergent motor oil (cheap stuff) to 1 part deisel fuel..works good for me..I have also read in various forums that ATF works very well also..I've never tried it so I don't know for sure...

Gene

[edge9001]

I've had that happen, it is a real let down when that happens. My first broken blade was broken while trying to form copper around the blade as a guard,before I tempered it.
I know your pain. Remeber all you can do is try again. Beautiful work BTW. keep it up, and remember post plenty of pics

[Dodge]

Whele I gess you have to heat treat car springs with oil, I quenched it in water and it shatered. O well, I am going to make anther that looks the same and this time I will quench in oil.

Did you normalize the blade before you heat treated? (Heat to critical and let air cool.) Usually a couple times is needed. Just a thought.

[don't tread on me]

Not only do you need to use oil but you should pre-heat the oil to around 140 degrees. I've made several knives from truck leaf spring steel ('78 Ford HD) and the turned out great. Sharp enough to shave with, tough enough to chop hickory and flexible enough not to break.

Another good tip I learned - sand the blade to with 220 grit - 400 grit sandpaper before heat treating. Eliminating deep scratches from grinding or rough sanding will go a long way in preventing cracking/shattering (unless you use water ).

I also believe that a thinner spine will help as well. Sometimes the greater the differential thickness between the edge and spine, the greater the stress between the two will be when quenching.

Not to denigrate the knife, the design of which I really liked, but a knife of that length and that thickness would probably either end up as a wall hanging or put away in a closet. Way to heavy to use or carry. Still it need not be practical to be good looking!

It would be a good hog hunting knife.