steel

[Mescalero]

I sent gobblerforge a PM and he did not know, he suggested I take it to the board.
I have a wooden box full of reloading dies, must be 80 lbs +.
Does anyone know if this steel would be good for blacksmithing knives?

[wm]

You would think so........high carbon steel right?.......but I'm not qualified to say. The couple of crude knives I've made have come from lawn mower blades, some scrap sheet steel from a newspaper press, and a leaf spring from an old truck.

What level is below well meaning amateur? That would be where I'm at.

[Sixgun]

Mescaline,
For once, I'm serious. There's got to be some stuff in there I can use. I'm always looking for oddball dies for case forming and other pet projects. Some of those old dies have expander plugs that I can turn down for special cast bullet loads.

I pay CASH or if you like, a few CCI Mini Mags.

Besides, be realistic. How in the ---- are you gonna get any kind of length out of those dies to make a knife?

Come on, be a white guy and list some. -----6

[Mescalero]

Well, for you six................ I could make a list
but you have to make amends for blowing up my jeep and shooting Griff.
CCI is as good as cash.
As some are old, some are quite long.

[Sixgun]

Ok, I'm sorry for making fun of your junker with weeds growing through the floorboards and ......did I really state I was going to shoot Griff? He's a good ole boy with redneck tendencies, just like me. He's on my side and last time I checked I did not have too many on my side so I can't afford to lose any sidekicks.

On the dies, Take your time, sometime in the next several months.

I always thought dies were made from tool steel.

Did you get my post on someone else's post about Targetmaster having 4000 round cases of Hi-Vel Federal ammo for 275 and they will ship anywhere. Only thing you need is an address and a credit card.
610-459-5400. For overnight delivery the only thing you need is to have a notarized claim that you have a Jeep that is drivable and will go at least 40 mph. (I just can't keep my mouth shut)-----6

[Pete44ru]

.

AFAIK, to make a knife blade from one, each loading die will need to be heated red hot & hammer-forged.


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[Mescalero]

Pete,
That was the plan.

[Mescalero]

You did it in the cannon video.
The toy soldier marked Griff.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Quality (name brand) dies are made of the finest steel available at the time. Herters and a few others were chrome plated though and that can cause issues if forging. Also I don`t know if one could forge flat a die that has a hole running clear through the center and not end up with tiny faults inside. it would have to be fluxed well inside so the entire hole would forge weld.
Making a knife out of a time tested piece such as a flat car spring makes more sense to me. Or a car coil spring heated,unwound and flattened works well.
Sell/trade those dies to Six and start over with good steel.

[Blaine]

Old flat springs, or files would be a lot easier.

[Mescalero]

My American Bladesmith Society correct Bowie was made from a Chevy 3/4 ton flat spring.

[Blaine]

My American Bladesmith Society correct Bowie was made from a Chevy 3/4 ton flat spring.

The Society had to correct it after you made it??

[plowboy 45]

But hammering a knife out of something flat and fairly straight is not the same as forgeing a blade out of something round crooked, say like a ball bearing or forge welding a couple old reloading dyes together to make a blank
What really looks kool is stack a HD primary chain hammer forge it together really neat pattern
Just sain

[Mescalero]

No,
the society had to tell me how to make it correctly.

[Griff]

And I might be interested in a die or 2 for the right caliber(s). BTW, Six probably thinks he was justified in shootin' me in effigy because I invited him to meet me over in NJ & I'd buy lunch. And since NJ appears to pick on black women w/guns that enter NJ by mistake on their way to Atlantic City, maybe he's right!

[Griff]

OT, you'd have to heat the steel to the point where it "flows", in order to get it to weld, at those temps any chrome plating should have sloughed off. But, IIRC, if they were made prior to the early '70s chrome plating was done in arsenic baths. Breathing equipment might be in order.

I think if I were attempting it, I'd find a small foundry and have new blanks drawn.

[Gobblerforge]

I'm not sure but I believe a good chrome job is layered over a copper base coating. Forge welding won't work through copper. It would all have to be removed. Springs have been mentioned and they do work but are only in the 40 point carbon area. Files are about twice as hard in the 90 point range. If you want to do Damascus then blend the two together.
Gobbler

[M. M. Wright]

I decided long ago to just buy Starret oil hardening tool steel in the correct thickness. A Plasma cutter would let you cut out a blank though I never had one. They supply info for tempering and drawing instead of just guessing about what to do for an old spring. Then too, I've a made a couple from power hack saw blades. I just break off the super hard tooth strip and only use the backer.

[Marc]

Some reloading dies are made of case hardened steel. The steel might well be some type of mild steel.

[Pete44ru]

Pete,
That was the plan.

Shoulda figured - mea culpa, Pard.


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[Merle]

You would think so........high carbon steel right?.......but I'm not qualified to say. The couple of crude knives I've made have come from lawn mower blades, some scrap sheet steel from a newspaper press, and a leaf spring from an old truck.

What level is below well meaning amateur? That would be where I'm at.

So, which one came out best? I'd bet on the leaf spring.
My uncles made several knives out of old files & they came out OK.