Iron City Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 Was wondering if 5140 was suitable for making knives? I sent a sample piece of leaf spring off for analysis hoping it was 5160, they say it "appears" to be 5140. should I use it or junk it? Thanks, IC Quote
ThomasPowers Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 What do *you* like in a knife? What are *you* trying to do with it? Some folks extoll their RR spike knives that are an inferior alloy to 5140; others don't think much of them. If it were me I might make an axe from it or use it for shop tooling; but not a knife, Quote
Iron City Posted November 25, 2008 Author Posted November 25, 2008 Thomas, I like big, thick, strong blades like a KhuKuri or a camp knife, something along the lines of a Busse or Swamp Rat. Quote
Woody Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 5140 is a low chrome alloy with 40 points of carbon. The general rule of thumb is it takes 60+ points of carbon for a steel to be fully hardenable. The addition of chrome will increase the hardness over what can be obtained with Nickel but with some loss of ductility. Make a knife out of it, it don't have to be fancy, then heat treat it and temper it. Then sharpen it and see how it holds an edge. Keep careful records of what you do that way if it turns out good you can duplicate the process, if it turns out bad you can keep from duplicating the process. Quote
Iron City Posted November 25, 2008 Author Posted November 25, 2008 Thanks for the info. Would anyone have suggestions for HT and temper? Quote
tantrum86 Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 i would suggest a brine quench for something with such low carbon and a very light temper if any at all Quote
Steve Sells Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 Brine isn't good with chrome steels. always start with oil, only then try water IF the oil does not get it hard. Quote
ThomasPowers Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 So this looks like a good alloy for a tough chopper that's easy to touch up with a regular stone. Probably not make a good filet knife but a KhuKuri would probably suit! And as mentioned: start with warm oil and if not hard enough then take the scarey step over to brine, (I had a handfull of junkyard steel blades that did not harden well in warm oil and so I ran them through a brine quench 60% cracked, sigh) Quote
Iron City Posted November 26, 2008 Author Posted November 26, 2008 OK great, oil first if no good use the brine, Thanks guys, I appreciate the time, IC Quote
Quenchcrack Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 Forgive me for being such a picky old f*rt, Woody. I would like to slightly modify what you said: "It takes 60 points of carbon to be fully hardenable". I think what you meant was it takes 60 points of carbon for a steel to reach full hardness, which is about 64Rc. Hardness is the resistance to abrasion and penetration. Hardenability is the depth into a steel that the quench can transform to martensite (usually 50% martensite is considered hardened). High alloy, low carbon steel can be fully hardenable through a given section size, but it won't be to a high Rc hardness. Quote
Woody Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 Forgive me for being such a picky old f*rt, Woody. I would like to slightly modify what you said: "It takes 60 points of carbon to be fully hardenable". I think what you meant was it takes 60 points of carbon for a steel to reach full hardness, which is about 64Rc. Hardness is the resistance to abrasion and penetration. Hardenability is the depth into a steel that the quench can transform to martensite (usually 50% martensite is considered hardened). High alloy, low carbon steel can be fully hardenable through a given section size, but it won't be to a high Rc hardness. I was just trying to help the kid make a knife, you on the other hand are just trying to salve your ego. I am sure this comment will get me an admonishment from some unnamed moderator but at this juncture I could care less. This whole site is becoming less of a learning place and more of a collection of over inflated egos. Quote
Quenchcrack Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 (edited) I love you too, Woody. I was just trying to get people to use the right words with the right meaning. If the kid wants to learn, lets teach him the correct terminology. By the way, I no longer have an ego that needs salve. Feel free to use it on yours. Edited November 30, 2008 by Quenchcrack Quote
Guest mod07 Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 NO need for me to be here, except that I was invited by woody. How about we relax a little? I do agree we ALL (myself included, as ALL of the IFI mods are also regular members with real names) have been offended and offensive much too easily lately. Maybe its the Holidays? and lack of funding to finance things? that is assisting in this problem? Lets remember why we are here, Brotherhood, as well as to learn and to share. This is NOT here to inflate our ego's, which lately seem to be doing that enough on their own, without much assistance from others. Lets not feed these fires of hostility. Rather let us all be brothers. Quote
Glenn Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 Mods are IFI members with real names. Their names are not important as I have ask them to take care of business in my absence. Each moderated event is reported back to the administrators so it can be reviewed. This way we are aware of any problem or action taken on the site. If at any time you have issues with a thread, or discussion, contact me directly so we can review the situation. Quote
Quenchcrack Posted December 3, 2008 Posted December 3, 2008 OK, maybe we need some direction here. Do we refrain from trying to add to the educational experience here for fear of offending? Do we not offer to correct mis-information when we see it? Should we wait until someone addresses a specific question to us before we comment? Should we refrain from offering advice on things we know little or nothing about? Or should we all just recognize that we don't know everything and if we are corrected, we should just chill and learn from it? Quote
Guest mod07 Posted December 3, 2008 Posted December 3, 2008 I feel that we should state fact's as facts, even including sources when we can, to be helpful, and not making opinion's as anything other than an opinion. We are trying to assist each other here. But, when an idea, opinion or rumor, is presented in the context of being a fact, then we cease to be helpful and can only cloud the issues. Just becasue we heard about a thing form someone we trust, does not make it so, unless we have done it ourselves, its hearsay, not a fact. There have been some issues, with opinion appearing as a fact that has caused discord. No one really wants to cause problems here, and if they do want trouble, ADMIN see that they are removed from the forum. No one should be afraid to join in any discussion at IFI, or fear stating their opinions. Take this statement for what its worth. Quote
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