what metal is good for a bowie?

[beaver#1]

ok i have made a few from old saw blades, but i want to make a bowie knife.  what is the best steel to look for to make one of these?  im looking for something i can salvage from something else, insead of buying already cut out blades.
thanks
beaver

[Wampus]

Leaf springs work great for big knives.  I try to stay with springs from vehicles made before 1973.  Blades out of pasture mowers are usually the same type of steel but they are a lot bigger and thicker and need more work to get down to knife size.

[beaver#1]

thanks wampus

[Soilarch]

Don't know what the steel is...probably the same as the springs wampus mentioned

Find some old farm implements and basically anything on the implement that went into the ground.

Culivator "springs" or "legs"

Old disks

...it would be a shame to cut it up, but maybe look around antique stores for one of the old pre-chainsaw two-man crosscut saws.  You'd have to pay for it but there'd be a lot of knives in it.  Not sure they'd be thick enough for a bowie though

You'll have to get a source of heat big enough to get the farm implement peaces beaten flat.