Hello,

I'm new to the group and have only been smithing for about 4 months but have used this forum for about a year for research and development in building my single burner ammo can forge.

I have a question about steel type however;

I just recently picked up a 6'x4"x1/2" tractor bucket cutter edge from our facility manager and I am wondering if anyone has any info on the types of steel used in these products. There are no stampings on the piece and I haven't had any luck with google. 

I'm pretty sure it's the same steel as grader blades, which is AR (abrasion resistant) steel. I have a lot of it and it's hard to forge or cut.

 

And to answer the typical question:  Not good for blades.   However such items usually have square mounting holes and so make great improvised hardy holders.

I have a chunk with 2   1" sq holes in it that weights 50# for instance. (Same piece  the second one has the sq tapered shaft of my latest stake anvil in it as I was using it to forge the spike to size at the top.) 

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm sure I can put it to use. Maybe stack, weld, and purpose for striking anvil. (Great tip on hardy holes BTW)

No, that would make a really poor anvil, every interstice will sap energy. You'd have a more effective if poor anvil with a single piece as a face plate.

Thomas suggests the second possible use I've heard about for cutting edge steel. The other is as a bar shear, bolt two pieces together with a single bolt as the pivot and weld a handle to the top piece. Sharpening is a "mother bear" though, you need blue wheels or stones to grind it. 

Personally I'd: mow lawns, shovel driveways and do various handyman work to save up enough to buy what I need.

A nice big piece of steel like that is really tempting though, I think most everybody has a piece somewhere, mine is outside the shop door, I use it as a weight so the wind doesn't blow light stuff away. I did have an idea for silver soldering it to an ASO someone gave me years ago as a real faceplate but never got to it. The ASO is living in a patch of saplings. May it rust in peace.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you Frosty I love the shear idea. With having 6 feet I might use a single plate with hardy holes for twisting and obviously holding hardys then use the rest I think for a brake for my sheet work and the shear you mentioned. I made a wise choice joining the forum. Tons of experience from all walks of life.

You're welcome, my pleasure. Let us know if you think of something worth the effort that works please.

Tons of experience, that brings to mind how you gain experience, learning from mistakes. Better to learn from someone else's mistakes and lots of us are really hard to embarrass so we offer up our mistakes publicly.

Frosty The Lucky.

Mine I got for the sq holes, and another piece that is exceptionally wide that I use as the acorn holder for my heavy duty postvise as it's in the dirt floor section of the shop. (And I got it for the 1.5" sq holes as I have 3 anvils that use 1.5" hardies and having a worktable with built in hardy holes would be nice---waiting on getting electricity to the shop...)