In need of some ideas/guidance

[Ottawa Archer]

Alright guys I was swapping out the blades on my ice auger today and was about to toss the old ones out when I realized that they may have potential for a cool little knives or knife if i were to weld them together somehow...

Any thoughts??

[Ottawa Archer]

The company website says they are made of Swedish boron steel, which is the same they use in farm plows and some auto parts...

[kansas stik man]

could be a great steel to make something out of but the problem at hand is that with anything that you do not know exactly what the make up is will be hard to know what heat treat it will need and what type of tempering it will need. mystery steel can be a good sorce of cheap practice and can make great tools but may not be able to reach perfect conditions

[Ottawa Archer]

I see, Also is there a good book(s) for beginners? I'm looking to make sturdy/functional knives. Most of my stock is going to be things like old saw blades, leaf springs, and other things you can find on a farm.

[tomsm44]

As another beginner, I'd say to wait on recycling steel until you get a little more experience with heat treating.  That is unless you know exactly what steel the old piece is.  I've been making my own blades for about a year using 1095 and 1084.  Both are cheap, easy to heat treat, and make great knives.  A 9" knife might take $5 worth of steel.  Once I have a little more experience I plan to experiment with other things such as old saw blades.  You'll probably be able to make better knife starting out from a known steel.  Just my thoughts.

Matt

[Lin Rhea]

Listen to Matt...please.

[Ottawa Archer]

sounds like good advice

[Lin Rhea]

Ottawa Archer,  I've done both and my rate of success is much greater on new, known steel. I dont mean to be smug or spoil your zeal. I strongly suspect that some guys get into knife making thinking it's so cool to make something beautiful and functional from something that is either useless articles of the past, or from something that is sentimental to them. While this is very true, it ups the difficulty factor a lot.

If you want to get your feet wet in making knives, I would like to see you get some successes under your belt using known steels, then have a point of reference to compare the unknown steels with. This does two things. It enables you to have known factors to build your knowledge, and it allows any potential help from an experienced maker to pinpoint a problem for diagnosis.

[JMR]

I have tried making knives both ways. It is a lot easier to make a knife from a known steel than it is from something you are unsure of. I started with old files and found out that even though it may have been a file that doesn't mean it will be a good knife. The same is true about other types of cutting tools. Good luck with your knifemaking it is a fun and frustrating at times adventure.