craig Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 The blade is from a ball bearing race, handle is chokecherry branch, the other piece is small chunk of wrought iron strap from a wagon. Grinding is poor as I only have a little 6" bench grinder, but the knife works OK for a shop knife...Made it a couple months ago...I should've taken a picture of it right away before it got all dirty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tech413 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Not bad! How tuff was that race to work? I have access to all kinds of the stuff, just want to know hou much trouble it is to work with. Pretty good for a shop knife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Craig, nice knife. Tech, some bearing races are case hardened mild steel, others are 52100. 52100 is not an easy steel to work with. It is very unforgiving and it is easy to stress crack if you work it even a little too cold. If you work with it, expect some failures in the learning process it does make a great knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Well, straightening it out was trickier than I thought it would be, and drawing the tang took a fair bit of work...definitely tougher than mild steel ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tech413 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Yeah, I figured that, but I'll start bringing it home from work to try. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 A quick test for steel type, grind a small spot on the race then try to file that spot, if the file cuts, it's case hardened mild steel, if it won't cut it, it's 52100. I had a friend who didn't check first and made a beautiful knife that wouldn't harden. And as Craig said the way it moves is a clue too. 52100 moves reluctantly. I have some roller bearings that are about 2 inch dia and 2 inch high. They do not move easily into a usable shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Not a bad looking little utility knife Craig. Have you tried draw filing? It's a LOT faster and WAY more controllable than most folk think. It yields a truly fine finish. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 Not a bad looking little utility knife Craig. Have you tried draw filing? It's a LOT faster and WAY more controllable than most folk think. It yields a truly fine finish. Frosty Thanks, but no,I hadn't even thought of draw filing, I'm sure it would have worked well...I've read about it but have never tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking-sword Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Been using bearing(52100) steel, from bearings, for a long long time. Most of my bearings come from large machinery or ships. A large majority of them are made by Timken, and they are all good quality. The main thing I've learned to watch for are the roller bearings that are tapered as they are almost always case hardened low carbon and so are thier races by the way, if you forge them out they are very good steel for most anything not needing to be hardened. A powerhammer is a most usfull thing to have for working bearings and thier races down into usable stock and a very bright orange will help the steel move much better, Proper normalizing and annealing right after finish forging will make all the difference in the world when you go to cleaning up, finishing or drilling, and is also paramount to heat treating a blade and avoiding cracking and warpage. Wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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