Feukair Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 I wanted to ask a question about spring steel, i have a few good sized chunks of it that were give to me and i was planning to make some knives. I've heard about hairline cracks that can be present in leaf spring and don't show up until the final stages of polishing, thats a poor time to realize the steel is flawed. I"ve heard this from my blacksmith instructor and recently on this forum. I'd like to make some knives folding the steel and welding it a few times, i'm not really looking for a damascus look, just that fine grain look that japanese swords have if you look real close so i don't want different types of steel, just layers from folding and welding. Question is, if i fold and weld the leaf spring 4-6 times shouldn't that work also help to weld together any cracks that might be in the piece? Thanks. Lt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feukair Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 Man i missed that statement in the other thread. I just read it again. Sorry guys... Lt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 OTOH the nickle in some of the leaf spring alloys can be difficult to weld to its self. How good a weldor are you? Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feukair Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 yeah, i'm new at it, so that could be a problem... Maybe i'll weld up some and just grind and polis a small section or one side to see if cracks become apparent. thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 I use a lot of leaf spring steel for knives and every once in a while I get one that will crack but I will venture to say that more cracks are the result of forging at too low a temperature than from existing cracks in the material. As for welding, I have no problem welding the stuff it's either 5160 or 1095 and both weld easily. If nickel were an impedement to forge welding us damascus makers would be out of business because two of the common steels we use in our stacks are L-6 or 15N20 both of which contain about 2% nickel. High levels of Chromium make welding difficult, but the chromium content of 5160 is low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Woody; I've been billet welding for over 20 years myself and I have noticed that Ni alloy to Ni alloy doesn't weld nearly as nice as Ni alloy to High C. I don't know many billet welders who stack the L6 and 15N20 side by side and don't stick in a piece of 1095 or so in between---You're using it for contrast right so welding it to itself doesn't buy you much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 you notice I said L-6 or 15N20 not and. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 well Woody my post you replied to said "the nickle in some of the leaf spring alloys can be difficult to weld to its self." Since I was talking about welding Ni alloys to Ni alloys your post of "As for welding, I have no problem welding the stuff it's either 5160 or 1095 and both weld easily. If nickel were an impedement to forge welding us damascus makers would be out of business" would seem to be addressing the same issue right? Perhaps changing the wording to indicate that Ni alloy to non-Ni alloy welding wasn't a problem, which I quite agree with, would have avoided this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 leaf spring car 5160 or 1085 leaf spring truck 1085. 5160 is a low chrome alloy contains no nickel neither does 1085. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 OK chrome---makes it worse not better for welding. Thanks for checking up on that. My reference books are a 15 minute drive from my posting machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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