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I Forge Iron

Screwdrivers as blade steel


thesean75

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Hi, I am new here, and only moderately experienced in blade making, and have been curious as to whether you could use screwdrivers to make small carving blades or maybe just very thin ones. I have used them as makeshift hot chisels for decorative forging, with mixed results, I also get used ones for about a few pennies a piece so if it is a usable material I would like to utilize it. Thanks for your time and responses! 

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Most screwdrivers are medium carbon steel at *best* and often worse.  Also many are plated with toxic materials and so not a good idea to work.  Spending a lot of money for PPE to maybe save  a little is not a good trade.

However a roll up door spring usually picked up for free from a company that installs and repairs them will provide many meters of stock suitable for forging into small chisels, MANY Meters!

Have you read Alexander Weygers' "The Complete Bladesmith" which contains much information on chisel forging  as the author was a sculptor as well as *many* other things...If you live in the USA you can ILL a copy at your local public Library, if you are in South Africa, Australia, China, or any of the other 150 countries that participate here I don't know about their support of ILL. (Strongly suggest you put in a general location in your profile, as it makes it a lot easier to say: "Stop by Saturday and I'll give you a meter or two of good chisel stock")

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