pnut Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 I'm thinking about making a tobacco knife out of 1045. It doesn't need to hold a shaving edge. Due to the type of work it's going to be doing it needs to be tough enough to take repeated hits against the soil but have just enough of an edge to not make you have to take more than one swing at the stalk to cut through it. It's a primitive tool but since I haven't made an edged tool from start to finish except for a hot cut chisel I would like to have other opinions on the type of steel. Here is a picture of the type of tool If you aren't familiar with them. The cone is for the stake and I'm not making those thanks for the help. Pnut (Mike) Theway I plan on making it is just cut the shape and grind the edge sharp. Will 1045 benefit from heat treating or would it be a waste of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Moose Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 In my experience, tobaco knives need to be a good bit more spring than hard if that makes sense. I haven't seen a field yet that did not have rocks of some form and size. When you cut thru the stalk, you will strick the ground a lot of times. You don't want it to bent or break. The cutting action is more from the velocity and thinness of the blade. When we sharpened them it only took a few swipes of a file to be good to go. No recommendation on steel is being made. And think of the spike as just a nail and a sheet metal funnel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 5160, 4150, 1060, 1045 would be fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 I was thinking normalized large bandsaw blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 I don't think I'd go higher than 60 pts. of carbon. I'd be looking at an old shovel blade, they're harder than folk think and tough as all gitout. However when you see videos of shovels being forged it seems they're being made from scrapped RR rail which runs in the 1085 range and rail tends to be brittle. You cut it by scoring and dropping it soooo. Maybe not. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted May 7, 2019 Author Share Posted May 7, 2019 I was thinking about scavenging a blade from a hoe and going the easiest route . Pnut (Mike) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Got any oldtimers you can ask what they used? I have seen several corn knives made from cut down US Civil War sword blades... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmall Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Ive seen both broken sickle and scythe blades converted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Why not just twist the hoe blade in line with the handle and sharpen it if you want easy? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kooky Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 Wow, great. I am part Cuban, I enjoy pipe smoking maybe once a week and the occasional cigar. I tried growing 5 different varieties of tobacco about 3 months ago but with the rains, it was a disaster. I just resowed them only a few hours ago. Praying to the tobacco Gods this works! I may not need a tool like this for such a small amount but then again, of course I do! 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.