riohog 5,751 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 a old boy in the next villiage gave me this leaf from the road spring of an old army lorry ,he has had it 40 odd years , he is a master gunsmith ,that makes and refurbishes old rifles and black powder guns , it is the last leaf of the spring he has left , he used them over the years to make gun parts . anyway the old lad found out i was a knifemaker and gave me the leaf .. it is 5160 spring steel .you cant get it now in the u/k and it makes super knives so i made. a start click on image to enlarge 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 it is the same steel the nepaleese guys used to make the kukri from . now i think they use any truck springs they can get !!. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Patterd Ales 59 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 Great stuff, how do you cut out the blank so accurately? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 its all done with magic mate belt grinder and ceramic grain belts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 justv abupdate v i managed to get 3 blades from 1/2 the old spring started off a 5.8mm thick i got two nice 3.5 " blades and a 4" blade took the 3.5" ones down to 4mm thick and the 4" down to 5mm put a first grind on scandi grind and drilled ready ,for heat treatment . they will make great bushcraft knives . 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Patterd Ales 59 Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 They are lovely! No profile cutter then, just by eye with a belt grinder? Impressive work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 the grinder is purpose built for the job . i do sometimes make a cardboard pattern,and draw around it on the steel , ,just gives a line to work too Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 its not rocket science making knives .bit of knowlege of steels and blade geometry . oh yes and alot of time !!. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 anyone interested in one of these knives pm me. should be finished sometime next week. probebly have ancient bog oak as handles as it is very hard wearing . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rodp 316 Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 What steel do they use now then for leaf springs if that one's not available ? And when did it stop being used please? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 What steel do they use now then for leaf springs if that one's not available ? And when did it stop being used please? you cannot get 5160 in the uk now most used is i think its en45 or something like that no one usesit for knives so that says it all !! you can get 5160 in europe and the usa .but not the u/kits bloody good steel very like the 80crv2 i use its tuff steel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 why did they stop using 5160 ,well i guees en steel was cheaper to produce , .increase in volumes of vehicles they need to buy as cheap as possible . and here in the u/k the steelindustry is fkd like so many other industries .so a;lot of stuff is inported from india ,china and who knows were . we were once a world leader in steel production !! ,ship building and so on them days have now gone!!. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rodp 316 Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Wonder what the european trucks use, if they still use 5160. I'll ask around, we have quite a lot of dealings with the spring and steel trade. If we could find a european truck that still uses it then steel supplies would be sorted as a lot still use leaves on front springs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 i doubt they do now tbh thing is ,some of these modern trucks have real thick springs ,, old american chevi cars there springs were 5160 ,you can still buy the steel in the usa ..not worth the bother to me it would just be to expensive , i can buy krupp 80crv2 from europe if i need more , its equaly as good if not slightly better than 5160 i use a fair bit og 80crv2 great carbon steel used on high end circular saw blades ,lol i bought the last bit of 4mm in the u/k .if i need more itll need to come from europe ,i still got a bit left yet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,751 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 well heat treated the blades thismorning , then back on the grinder took them down to zero . and started to polish blades bit more polishing tomorrow then ready for handles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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