chrispychris Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 what steel is used in horseshoes an is it suitable to make knives out of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 It is mild steel and does not have enough carbon to make knives from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julian Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Unfortunately, horseshoe steel isn't nearly knife-grade. It's the same as mild steel (1015-1020), which has low carbon content. A good rule of thumb to find out if a steel might be good for making knives out of is spark testing. Use some sort of grinder on the steel in question; if the sparks are very bright and intense, it has a high carbon content. However, if the sparks are dull and few, it doesn't have much carbon content and won't harden much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispychris Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 a bit disapointing but thanks for that guys you have saved me a bit trouble there thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civilwarblacksmith Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Don't go away disappointed, Horseshoe knives are still quite a novelty like rail road spike knives. They can also be a good learning experience for making knives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Just fashion a horse head at one end, leave a few of the nail holes and draw it to a knife shape and grind and you have a nice letter opener. Folks seem to like them. I have never been able to figure out horse people any way, they throw away tons of horse shoes, then turn around and pay $15 for a horse shoe letter opener.:rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaming S Forge Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I wonder if really all horse shoes are mild steel. Reason being I've done several projects with horse shoes and have had to do some annealing in order to be able to drill holes. I'll have to dig out some of my shoes and do a little experimenting. I have a horse shoe knife out in the shop and it has a pretty keen edge. That bad boy will get some serious testing tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 What about band saw blades? I'd imagine if you have enough blade you could forge pretty mean blades out of them correct? After all they are high carbon but also flexible enough so as not to be brittle? I also was at the dump one day and saw this thing that looked like a wagon wheel but it was like a coil of 3/4" wide 1/8th inch thick flat steel (like a ribbon sorta) coiled up. I'm not sure what this stuff is but it was hard as heck to cut. It must be some kind of high carbon steel. It looked old, totally rusted, like some kind of rustic looking thing from a farm. Anyone know what this stuff is, and if it would be good for forging into blades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civilwarblacksmith Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Post a picture of it. Also put it on a grinder and do a spark test. Get a lot of crows feet in the sparks and its probably tool steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaming S Forge Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Good morning, Reb, I assume the picture you wanted was of my knife. I did some spark testing on it and got some crows feet. Then I tested a chisel I made that I know is tool steel and got close to the same spark pattern. I know there is some carbon content in that shoe. However, with a file test, the file will just bite the slightest. My chisel, the file just glides. So, my thought on horseshoe knives is they are more of an ornamental conversation piece, but they will cut a rope, skin the bark off a branch and cut your own finger while sharpening. It's not a beard shaver though. People will probably buy them because for some reason their is a certain mystique about items made from horseshoes. I'll have to test some of the other shoes I have. Like I said before, I had some that I coulddn't drill and the file would just glide across it. I wonder if it was similar to "work hardening" from the horse beating the shoe. Now about the picture. My main idea was to give it a primitive look. After I had it forged, I ran the blade over a rough sanding belt to give the blade a bit of a texture. Applied bees wax and hung it up for display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civilwarblacksmith Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 The blade looks nice. I figured it would be mild steel as most of the shoes I have work with are. They make decent bait knives for fisherman as the edge doesn't get alot of stress work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triw Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I like that, it is an interesting blade. Did you make it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaming S Forge Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Yes, I made that. It was another one of my I wonder if I can make projects. Hammered the blade into shape, a little finish grinding, sanding and sharpening and that is what I got. Avadon mentioned bandsaw blades. I've used them as well as reciprocating saw blades. They make a decent blade. You can get them pretty sharp. They work nice for patch knives, friction folders, paring knives, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulpius Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 On the subject of recycling, anyone into hedgecutters (the large shears)? That is very sparky steel as well, I use the ancient ones about 50 years or more old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 True that modern store bought factory made shoes are mild steel and low carbon so not the choice for knife stock BUT, What says you can't follow the lead of multitudes of farriers and smiths down through the ages and make your own -out of material that you WOULD use for knife stock- so you wind up with a knife made from a shoe made by you? Sart with stock of your choosing, a creaser and a nail hole pritchel and you should be in business. Make a horseshoe from scratch that looks just like a factory made shoe and go from there. Dan. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 When I was shoeing, I used primarily Diamond-brand shoes, which are mild steel. BUT...sometimes they'd have to be drilled and tapped (say, when I made a hospital plate shoe or installed removable caulks). And sometimes...I'd hit a hard spot in a quenched shoe that simply wouldn't drill. I figured it was just a matter of inconsistency in the smelting process that let some random alloy slip past into the finished "mild steel" shoe. Sometimes I used Izumi shoes, imported from Japan, and they were perfectly consistent, never exhibiting this tendency (in my experience). They were uniformly soft and oh, boy, what a breeze to shape, hot or cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Evers Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 [quote When I was shoeing, I used primarily Diamond-brand shoes, which are mild steel. BUT...sometimes they'd have to be drilled and tapped (say, when I made a hospital plate shoe or installed removable caulks). And sometimes...I'd hit a hard spot in a quenched shoe that simply wouldn't drill. I figured it was just a matter of inconsistency in the smelting process that let so me random alloy slip past into the finished "mild steel shoe. Sometimes I used Izumi shoes, imported from Japan, and they were perfectly consistent, never exhibiting this tendency (in my experience). They were uniformly soft and oh, boy, what a breeze to shape, hot or cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quenchcrack Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 There are two types of steel common in the US: Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). The BOF starts with cast iron made in a blast furnace and blows oxygen through it to burn out the carbon. The EAF starts with recycled scrap and uses electricity to melt the scrap. After refining the metal, both types CAN be very clean. However, you will usually find that the EAF steel will have higher residual elements like copper, chromium, nickel, moly, etc. It can indeed be harder than the BOF steel. Or you may just have a dull twist drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 What? A dull bit, on MY shoein' rig? It's INCONCEIVABLE! Standard joke/gripe among my group of shoers (circa 1982) was "Sure the Izumi shoes are good -- they're made out of salvaged American battle ships!" And, now that I think about it, while they shaped readily, those heels back then needed a LOT of work to smooth 'em out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking-sword Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Been a blacksmith and knifemaker for twenty plus years, but never did any farrier work, and upon reading this thread my curiosity brought up the question of why, aside from cost perhaps, are horseshoes not made from a higher carbon steel than they are? Wouldn't it seem logical to make them from something that would wear a great deal longer and thus cut down on the frequent need for shoe replacement? Or does that fact compliment the need for regular maintenance as a horse hoof grows and wears? Sorry for my apparent lack of knowledge in this area, but I suppose there's only one way to learn(by asking questions). Wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) You "nailed" the answer yourself! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Horseshoes compensate for the unnaturally rapid wear on the hooves of working animals by eliminating virtually all wear on the hooves*. However, some wear of the hooves is necessary to maintain the animal's posture and correct gait. So, horseshoeing is a two-part solution: The shoes protect the hooves from excessive wear, and the trimming of the hooves (analogous to trimming our own nails) replaces the natural wear the animal would have received without the shoes' protection. Hoof growth is such that the average cycle time is 6 to 8 weeks. You'll hear shoers and horseowners talk about "resets," the practise of reusing and re-fitting (or "resetting") the previous shoes which aren't worn out by the time the horse's feet need trimming. As to making shoes last longer, tool steel shoes would be a real bear (IMO) to work, but in hard-use environments (draught horses, for example) which would otherwise cause shoes to wear out prematurely, hardened steel caulks may be inserted in the shoes, or carbide granules may be brazed in place to resist wear. This is analogous to hard-facing the blades of bulldozers and so forth. *The heels of the hoof are free to flex laterally, and thus minor wear occurs in this area. It also polishes the hoof-side portion of the shoe at the heel. Edited February 9, 2009 by Leland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking-sword Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Thanks for the explaination, I thought it might be something like that. I'd imagine the nails used would wear away prematurly too as you couldn't use hardened nails and bend them on the hoof to secure them if they were hardened, so I guess it all works out the way it should. Wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 In short, yes, horse shoes are mild steel, generally. I first started making these as letter openers, then decided to quench in SuperQuench. I don't draw a temper. As said in the descriptions, I sharpen my carry knife about once a month, less often than I have to sharpen my wife's Case Equestrian and all she cuts with it is Bailing Twine. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindri Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 well I'm 12 years late buuut I recently made a horse shoe knife and hardened it in water, didn't temper it. Honestly it works pretty well so far, not a shave your arm kind of knife but it's alright at cutting cardboard, burlap, feed sacks, leather food, etc., probably wouldn't use it to chop wood but it's too small anyways. The horse shoe was over a hundred years old though so it's possible it was something somebody made from a scrap of medium carbon steel as opposed to the low carbon in mass produced horse shoes now a days. Idk for sure though tbh, just that it's an over a hundred year old piece of metal and that it works ok for what I want it to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt trout Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 All horse shoes are mild steel and not suitable for a quality knife blade. The hard spots are slag inclusions or bits of "carbide" that got included in the steel. No quench or temper will ever harden them to blade steel requirements (Rc 54 plus). Great novelty items but not performance blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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