A friend wants a rebar knife.  rebar butter knife? Ok.  Rebar letter opener? Ok.  Rebar knife?  Not so sure.  So some options are weld a blade into a socketed rebar handle.  Epoxy a blade into a rebar handle ala stag handle.  Hammer weld a carbon blade to a rebar handle.  Or make a mold and take some 5160 or 1080 round stock and make the real steel appear to be rebar.  I like the idea.  I'm not thrilled with the challenge. I don't make wall hangers so it must be real world usable.

What about welding the cutting edge to the body out of rebar.

you could probably split the rebar and forge weld a piece of high carbon in between. would be similar to san mai. not sure how well this would work in your scenario but its an idea.

If it were me I'd forge the blade out of good steel and then try a socket joint and forge weld it together.

Might want to test some 1/2" from your local big box store. Much if it is rather high carbon (broke plenty that either air hardend in small sections or didnt like being water quenched)

they actually make 1090 rebar. you just have to look for it.

 

Now wont that turn em on their ear! Lol

If he's gotta have a rebar knife weld a HC steel bit in it and heat treat it.

If you can't or won't make what the customers want to buy they won't.

Frosty The Lucky.

Edited August 7, 201510 yr by Frosty

they actually make 1090 rebar. you just have to look for it.

 

They who? and where in the Ukraine?  perhaps Honduras? while I see no real reason for making rebar from 1090, and plenty of reasons not to, the world is a large place.

they actually make 1090 rebar. you just have to look for it.

 

Sure you dont confuse it with EN 1090 which is the european norm for rebar, but not related to HC 1090 steel?

I did a 30 second search for rebar specs and as I figured from what everyone else has told it is a crap shoot. It's not so much what's in it its more about it doing a specific job. According to astm a615, which I found referee to on a rebar manufacturers website, you're lookin at about .18-.25% carbon content on a standard piece of rebar. Some of the tougher ones are a little higher but not much. I don't see any mention of rebar even close to a 1090 spec.

The palaces in the Abu Dhabi,  UAE are built using s/s rebar , the Off cuts were often used to fashion kitchen knives, they were a lot of work but worked well and looked quite 'snazzy' I believe some of it sourced from the USA.

Steve , I think you might be surprised at just what gets used in some specialty rebar

Edited August 7, 201510 yr by ianinsa

St5andards are such a great idea that *everyone* has their own!  And generally names them to provide maximum confusion!

The palaces in the Abu Dhabi,  UAE are built using s/s rebar , the Off cuts were often used to fashion kitchen knives, they were a lot of work but worked well and looked quite 'snazzy' I believe some of it sourced from the USA.

Steve , I think you might be surprised at just what gets used in some specialty rebar

anything is possible but generally the higher the carbon content, the more brittle a steel is, defeating the purpose of Rebar.   People do not  normally pay more to make it less effective and more likely to break,   stainless is for other reason, mainly corrosion resistance.  If the client wants a rebar knife, make him one, dont bother to HT, its for looks anyway.  have fun and make them happy, while you make yourself money.

 

Forge a piece of rebar out of some round O1 stock, then forge it into a knife...

Forge a piece of rebar out of some round O1 stock, then forge it into a knife...

 

How would you do that and not lose money faster than buying rounds in a cowboy bar?

Frosty The Lucky.

I never said it was a good idea

Raymond Richard made a number of rebar knives that gave at least decent performance.  Most of them were done over 10 years ago, so finding pictures is limited.  He was specifically using American-made grade 60 rebar, which apparently (according to what he was told) meant .6% carbon.  Do a Google search for his name and "rebar knives" and you can at least turn up what he said about them, if only a few pictures. 

A couple of years ago there was someone on here that was making knifes out of rebar that were very good looken I think he was from OZ.?  

Years ago a friend of mine was stationed in Germany while in the Army.  He needed a cold chisel and got a friend to forge one out of a rebar cut off.  He found that it was the best cold chisel he ever had.  He was still using it when he opened his auto repair business,

One thing I learned while in industry.  There are specs for everything the Army/Navy/Air force does, They often bear no relationship to any other spec. 

Have to assume that rebar can be almost anything. 

Edited August 8, 201510 yr by Charlotte
left out word

Exactly, rebar is made to a minimum performance spec so as long as it has a minimum tensile strength and modulus of elasticity it's good to go. It can be stronger and is WAY stronger sometimes. Using rebar effectively is a good way to hone your practical steel use identification skills. Rebar tends to be more unpredictable than A36 so learning how to spark test and heat treat test it is pretty much a must unless your projects aren't in any way strength critical. For instance stakes to hang pea strings from can be anything so untested rebar is dandy but making a ladder for the barn or a grappling hook for search and rescue?

Rebar is a crap shoot unless you know how to test it and even then it can be iffy.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

They who? and where in the Ukraine?  perhaps Honduras? while I see no real reason for making rebar from 1090, and plenty of reasons not to, the world is a large place.

it's something that one of my old bosses told me about when i was working in a steel shop. they also make it out of stainless for government buildings.