Hi, I'm new.. both to this forum and the art of blacksmithing, only been doing it for a few months... I am a self thought swedish blacksmither/knifemaker.. My father brought me a piece of steel from his work, apparently it was/is a tent peg from what I belive is a rather big military tent. I want to know what kind of steel this is, I know it probably hard to see from just pictures, but I don't know how to test to see what kind of steel something is, so I think that maybe you guys can help.

Now if this question is in the wrong category I'm sorry, I am in a bit of a hurry. And feel free to remove or move the topic.

Here is some pictures after I cut a bit of with the angle grinder.

Welcome to IFI VB. Please put your location in your profile as some questions require specific answers and I'm sure you'll have many questions to ask. As for the steel, it's impossible to know but an educated guess from other members may be forth coming. I would suggest it is likely a mild steel but such items could be made from whatever was at hand. You would do well to do a search for 'spark testing', there will be threads here on the forum covering it and other areas of the internet will also have the information. It's a way of helping to identify the carbon content of steel using a bench grinder or belt sander. I see from the photo evidence of at least an angle grinder so it is a method you may fnd useful if learned. Hope that's helpfull.

Forge out a thin piece, heat it to critical temp, quench in water. If it bends and doesn't break, then it is too soft for a knife. Good for other things, though.

You might be lucky, it is not unusual for stuff like axles to get repurposed as big tent pegs. Test as above to give yourself an idea. If it snapped after water quenching it is at least worth playing with.

So if it bends and doenst break its to soft for a knife, but if it bends and snap is it a good knice Steel? Do I harden it and ben it in a vise and ben it as much as I can? I've seen a youtuber do something like that?

 

Thanks for the answers, I'll test it when I get back home!

2 hours ago, VikingBlacksmith said:

So if it bends and doenst break its to soft for a knife, but if it bends and snap is it a good knice Steel?

 If it bends and doesn't break, then it hasn't hardened and will not be any good for a knife. If it snaps, then it can be hardened, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be good knife steel. 

If you haven't yet read the pinned posts on basic knifemaking and heat treatment, I strongly suggest that you do so before proceeding any further.

Just as a reference point, I've played with a lot of pallet strapping, which after hardening usually bends to about a 45-50 degree angle before snapping, so it will harden but is not what I would call knife steel. Basically what jhcc said, just because it breaks doesn't mean it is great steel. If you can barely bend it to an angle at all before snapping, now your dealing with some decent steel.

2 hours ago, Will W. said:

If you can barely bend it to an angle at all before snapping, now your dealing with some decent steel.

Blade steel shouldn't bend at all before it snaps.

C-1

That's basically what I was saying. Could have been worded better though. 

Thank you guys for all the help. I will be testing it this weekend! 

The forge it out thin makes a big difference too; both in the amount of force needed to bend/break and in the quenching.

For unknown steel testing I always use water.  If I get good results in water I then try oil.

I don't know if this works, if it doesn't I'll just upload it to youtube and link it here later.

But this is a spark test on a non harden piece of the steel. I try the bend/break test when I have more coal.

Turn down or off your sound, filmed with a Galaxy S3 so... Its a potato film.

video-1490890731.mp4