Wildernessmedic Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 What is the cheapest most readily available steel I can use to make a cutting tool? Will mild steel work? I want to make a Coa de jimi, basically a j hook blade on the end of a pole, for harvesting agave. I want it to be functional, but doesn't need to be pretty or anything crazy like 1095 high carbon. Mild steel or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 All the ones that I have seen have been round, but a J shape would work. I would use an old carpenter's chop saw blade, say 12" or so as the base metal. Knock off the saw teeth and brazed on carbide tips, the base metal of the blade is decent steel. Doesn't get much cheaper than free, and it would be adequate for the task. Oh, and 1095 is not crazy. It is also known as W1, or old American made files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Yeah most lawnmower blades are 1095 or something very similar! Crazy? I think NOT! There's some pretty cheap steel for you! Mild steel? NO, NYET, NADA!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildernessmedic Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 Wow didn't know that. Thought 1095 was for high quality knife production. Why the XXXX is flat stock so expensive then!! And. You are right. From the pictures I see they are like a sharp flat shovel. Which kind of sucks now... Because it sounds more like I'm just cutting a saw blade than really blacksmithing it. Hmm. Also now how am I going to attach it to the pole. With the curved blade I was just going make a couple spots to just lash it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 1095 is used for high quality knives, that does not make it costly, but cost will depend on where you buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Get a torsion bar from a car or truck,,that is large enough to make you feel you have smithed something when done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeshow Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Rich is right. Forging a torsion bar will make you feel like you did something! I heated one from a new Jeep to a reddish yellow and it hardly moved under my homemade 3lb hammer. I got my wife out of the house. She put the gloves on and held the bar in place. I went after it with a 10lb sledge hammer. Quenched by dipping in the slack tub for 1 second in the water 3 seconds out. Back and forth until the rod end was cool to touch. It has a wide chisel blade for digging hole and going thru mild sandstone. I don't know if an interrupted water quench (terminology?) will work for you. This is what worked for me at my shop. Please let us know how yours works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Tie rods from Ford 4X4 steering work great as well, esp. some are 4-4 1/2' long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 True about the ford,,,and mopar steering parts..good for a lot of things,,,tongs punches,,wot he was looking for above etc....easy to come by and most likely cheap. Chevies are a poor source as most of them are still being driven! (May lay low in here for a while 'til the dust clears!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeshow Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I'll hold Rich down someone get the honey and find an ant hill. ;-) I can say that I'm still driving my 20 year old Ranger with 304,000 miles on it. Chevy parts are hard to get because the cowboys that own them won't let you in their hayfields to tow them out. Rear drive axel shafts make great tools as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I could not find a picture of the tool, but it sounds like a very narrow bill hook, yes? If you want it to cut, and not be sharpening the thing after every one, then you want hardenable steel. 1080/84 or 1075 would be my choice. If you don't want to spend the $20 or so that a 4" stick would cost you, how about an old crow bar. That should be 10xx and there is plenty of it. Or you could go to a auto spring shop and see if they will sell (or give) you a piece of 5160, which is nice tough stuff. If you are willing to take the chance of cracks, an old leaf spring should be 5160, 9250, or even 1095. If a thin blade is what you are after, old whipsaws are carbon steel, hay knives, digger rod, sucker rod, coil springs, all of those are carbon. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I've seen the round ones made from push scrapers, like you would use to lift linoleum tile - and some of the Mexican smiths will use car/truck springs because they are plentiful. My father brought home a couple of the J-shaped versions from Mexico when I was a kid and we used them to cut brush. Those had two bands wrapped around an ax handle and riveted to the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildernessmedic Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Ahh so many different types of steel Geoff... Torsion bars or tie rods are hardenable yes? The tool is basically a flat round sharp shovel. Bottom right of this page. http://www.tequilasource.com/glossary_02.htm HWooldridge, so there are J shaped ones. I thought I saw that somewhere and that's what I was originally making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I was thinking that it was something more like a bill hook. The pictures show a circular hoe, sort of. Perhaps a harrow disk, or an old circular saw blade with a shank welded on. I have the cutter blade from a meat slicer that would be just about right. Forging out that much mass would be quite a job, but I'm betting the originals are not made from hardenable steel, any more than a hoe is. 4140 at the very best but mild steel would be my guess. You could refashion a shovel blade, they are some kind of mildly hard stuff with good spring. I'm just lazy, I like to start with stock that is close to the finished product. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I work with a couple of guys from Jalisco - I'll ask them if they have ever paid any attention to these tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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