hi guys acquired an old leaf spring from an ambulance today ,read it is good stuff for knives ,but anybody else have any ideas ,its at least 4feet long and half an inch thick at its widest point ,and i have three of them cheers

hot cuts, punches, chisels, guillotine tools, nail headers, bolster plates, swages, shear blades, fullers, tongs, scrolling wrenches, twisting bars, axes,etc anything that needs to be tough and hard(ish)

wow cheers john best get busy and see what i can come up with ,oh i forgot to say it came from an ambulance station workshop skip ,only had to ask and the guy said help yourself .it was full of leaf springs drum bakes ,brake discs ,wishbones drive shafts and other bits and bobs ,might be an idea for others to ask at their local station im sure every town has one ,

hot cuts, punches, chisels, guillotine tools, nail headers, bolster plates, swages, shear blades, fullers, tongs, scrolling wrenches, twisting bars, axes,etc anything that needs to be tough and hard(ish)

 

Pretty well what he said!

 

The only things, apart from John's list, that I have used them for is punch plates (female dies) for sheet metal under the fly press, and amazingly as springs! One for a leg vice and one for the return spring on one of the iterations of my foot hammer.

 

Alan

I forgot one. The eye end makes an almost instant froe for a green woodworker. I made up two or three when the greenwood craze took off.

"Old" is not as good as "new" as an old leafspring may have fatigue issues; why I suggest finding a place that does lifts or lowers and get the new springs they take off and toss.

 

Also that is a pretty heavy piece of metal to heat and beat, you might do better looking for one thinner and reserving that for things that need the heavier steel.