Prevenge Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Hey all. So i live on a farm but have only recently been smitten with the blacksmith bug. What was before just old pieces of farm machinery scrap metal is beginning to look more like a gold mine of hammerable steels. These are the pieces in question for now.... I know i took them off of something years ago but can not for the life of me remember what....I am thinking a disc, rock rake or harrows maybe. I know assumptions are frowned upon, but based on the junkyard steels reference page and the fact that they were on the business end of a rough service farm implement , I am going to assume they may be 1080-ish? Last night I flattened a bunch of them out to fit in the forge easier but I will try hardening one in the next day or so. First pic is one before flattening ... the skinny part was the business end and is shaped that way due to wear. So what would y'all make out of them? Since i have about 30 of the things I was kind of wanting to make them into something i might be able to sell to support my blacksmith habit. My initial thoughts were welding a handle on them and forging them into a brush axe/machete type tool similar to the "woodsmans pal". Also if they are a higher carbon steel then the way some of the original blade parts have worn scream to be made into knives via material removal. I forgot to put down a size reference in the pics but the bolt holes are about 2.5 inches center-to-center. Anyways, what are your thoughts/suggestions on how to use them? This place is a treasure trove of stuff.... I rounded up around 200 pounds of broken and bent bale spears...already thinkin of a stake anvil and some other things to build ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hay River Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 They look to me like knives off a green chopper or flail chopper. Did one edge have any hint of bevel left from a cutting edge? If they were that they should be pretty good steel. I wouldn't know what type however. A hardening test should tell you quite a bit. Start with an oil quench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prevenge Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Hay River said: They look to me like knives off a green chopper or flail chopper. Did one edge have any hint of bevel left from a cutting edge? If they were that they should be pretty good steel. I wouldn't know what type however. A hardening test should tell you quite a bit. Start with an oil quench. ya the thinner section has a knife edge and was 90 degrees from the bolt side before i flattened them . Could have been from a swather I suppose ...but as far as i remember we have always used a disc-bine style one which just has the small rectangular knifes that bolt onto the rotating discs...which I also have a bucket full of Edited February 19, 2016 by Prevenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Mail em down to me. I'll make bird feathers out of em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 They look like tines off a rototiller. Generally speaking, any "blade" that was intended to engage the earth, needs to resist impact and abrasion. Even without knowing the actual metallurgy, you can still assume they would serve well as "chopping" or "digging" tools. When fooling around with that sort of thing, I like to leave it "soft", and use it for a while, before worrying about tempering. Some years ago, I experimented with making "English" style "Billhooks", from old lawnmower blades, ... and came to appreciate how handy they are. Now, there's always one rattling around in the junk that "lives" in the back of my Gator. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Y Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Those are scrapers from a disk. They clean out the inside of the disk as you move. I don't have a clue what grade they would be, but I am sure they are built from tough stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbojak Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Probably a boron steel alloy depending on how old it is. It's tough stuff. Abrasion resistant but not high carbon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 They'd make one hell of a backscratcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prevenge Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 6 hours ago, Double Y said: Those are scrapers from a disk. They clean out the inside of the disk as you move. I don't have a clue what grade they would be, but I am sure they are built from tough stuff. That might sound about right....of course the disc we have is at the other farm where my parents live so I can't even verify. . I am sure I see it soon when I go to loot that place ...the other farm is bigger and older so there is probably lots of treasures to scavenge up there too ............ thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Old Fence rows have been treasure troves of wrought iron and old High C Ag steel for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prevenge Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 I wouldn't be surprised to find some wrought at the other farm actually .... and I know there was a big lovely pile of scrap and doo-dads I am going to rummage through the next time i am up there in the daylight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Wrought and high C sounds like an "old farm knife" to me! Got any old boards or firewood there for a handle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prevenge Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said: Wrought and high C sounds like an "old farm knife" to me! Got any old boards or firewood there for a handle? Wouldn't be much of a farm if there wasn't old wood to go with the old metal haha ..... I have a pile from an old box stall barn that collapsed. Was covered in creosote at one point but definitely well weathered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 rotavator blades, no guess as to what they are made from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prevenge Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 On 2016-02-22 at 6:37 PM, yahoo2 said: rotavator blades, no guess as to what they are made from. Nailed it...definitely what they are. Rotovator blades. And also possibly boron steel as jumbojak pointed out. I have been reading a bit in to it as I am unfamiliar with it. I did find some info... That link has a decent write up on it i think....but does anyone have any experience forging this stuff ...if that is in fact what it is? I though I would make a bulky bushcraft style knife from it. After reading a bit about boron steel it might not be bad for some hot punches and chisel type tools either, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 I could be wrong to say so but I remember reading you are new to said trade? My thought ,though it is worth very little; you DON'T want to break into the hobby with some unknown steel/alloy. It breaks apart if you dont work it correctly. If you get lucky, you won't be physically harmed. If you's ain't; then keep bandages etc at hand. If in fact you're new, I very seriously doubt your first projects are big bush knives and tempering chisels And punches (Remember my personal injury warning.) Many of my blacksmithing trade students have no interest in forging a nail/hook/fire poker etc. They can't accomplish that ................but ,still think pearl handled revolvers and Japanese swards are where to begin. You go working on some unknow scrap (literally unknown scrap) and harden it to what you think is right........I'd be wearing some Kevlar body armor when you go strinking that punch and chisel with a hammer If it will allow you to forge it that far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prevenge Posted April 17, 2016 Author Share Posted April 17, 2016 Thanks for the warnings. I have been smithing for about a year as well as quite a bit of welding and metalworking experience over 20 or so years so this definitely not some of my first projects. While I have successfully reforged , hardened and tempered old chisels as well as made some blade type things from 1080-ish ( I think... I mean it could have been unobtainium plow disc if we are going this far with it) that I trust enough to use myself. I do not really consider myself a blacksmith or bladesmith yet....which is why I loiter here and read. And why I ask questions. The nature of this trade for me means that I will be using some steel which doesn't come with a heat # and AISI grade stamped on the side. So i do try to test for the type of hardening steel it might be for anything dedicated to being hit with a hammer. Not precise by any means....But I acknowledge the risk and accept the consequences. But I also want to minimize risk and get a better result ...so i am researching and asking questions. I know 100% what the pieces are....and so far I have learned that they are most likely made of the boron steel 50B50 or possibly 6150 ....both of which austenize (?) at the same temp . If I decide to make something potentially dangerous out of them then I will do all I can to err on the side of caution. Hence why I am going back scouring for more information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 On 2/18/2016 at 2:51 PM, ThomasPowers said: Old Fence rows have been treasure troves of wrought iron and old High C Ag steel for me! Like most, the farm where I was raised, was littered with derelict equipment. As a very young boy, one of my favorite "tools" was a hack saw. I have a clear memory of how difficult it was to saw the head off a carriage bolt, in a rotting old horse-drawn manure spreader. And how, when I finally got the bolt out of the wood, it had an unusual "grainy" appearance. I'm sure, that was my first ever experience with wrought-iron. Couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Would steel from an old farm animal pulled plow blade or spring make good chisel material? Spring is flat bar style for engaging depth. Blade is a c shape exaggerated about 2 ft wide one end narrowing to like 3 to 5 inches. Maybe 2 inches thick at most. If not good for anything besides practice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I'd hang onto it without doing more than brushing it off. It's probably worth a lot more as an antique than as mystery steel. I'd look around the interwebs and see what animal drawn farm machinery is selling for and probably put on Ebay or Craigslist, take the money and go shopping. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 not sure if my phone likes me photos loading black. Need retake it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 The basic answer for all "found scrap" is TEST IT AND SEE! I tend to use the forge the end out, quench in water and break in the vise test to check for usability for edge tools. (And remember that on old equipment two identical items may NOT be made from the same steel! I remember one implement where there were two braces, one was around 1080 steel and the other identical one was real WI! Especially back in the great depression things tended to get fixed with whatever you could find in the scrap pile!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I had an old horse or mule drawn roadgrader back on the farm and being a scrap metal artist, it was hard to pass up tearing parts of it off for this or that project. I thought it best left intact. It had cool ball joints for tilting the blade and a huge sector gear for angling it.... I hope the new owners value it. I don't think it was old enough to have WI but had alluring gears, springs and cast parts. It wound up going with the farm. I did manage to slip an old horse plow with rotted off handles and a pull type seed planter onto the truck though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Here are the pictures finally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.