I have an old butcher's steel and wondered if that steel material would make a high quality knife blade or would it make a high quality striker for a "fire starting" set? I know it is hard steel but did not know if it could be tempered properly...your experienced thoughts are appreciated! :bow: :bow:
Butcher's steel
- Thread starter Bretwalda
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It is probably good quality steel, but why not save it and buy a bar of known steel that you can easily heat treat. 1080, 1084 is pretty cheap, and pretty easy to heat treat without hi-tech equiptment, and either will make a fine blade with good edge retention.
ohio ramrod
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A good quality (and most of the old ones were good quality )steel is far more valuable. Leave it as is and use it. Get other steel stock to play with. :hmm:
Sorry guys, I should have stated that by brother found it in the back of the milk house behind an old piece of harness that was worn by our last draft horse in 1961! 
Unfortunately, is was all rusted and well worn (with the wooden handle missing), but my mother advised me that it was my grandfather's and so I wanted to "repurpose it" as it is no longer can be used for it's original purpose. :idunno:
Unfortunately, is was all rusted and well worn (with the wooden handle missing), but my mother advised me that it was my grandfather's and so I wanted to "repurpose it" as it is no longer can be used for it's original purpose. :idunno:- Joined
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Well,in that case you might give it a try.
ohio ramrod
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O.K. Then to work it you need to first aneal it. You can do this simply by building a good hot bed of coals place the steel in the bed of coals and pull red hot coals over the steel and then just let the fire burn out. This heating to red hot and slowly cooling will soften the steel. When you are done forming your blade or striker just heat the item red hot and quench in oil. For a striker leave it so. For a blade, temper it by putting it in a bath of just molten lead for about 1/2 hour and remove and let air cool. :hmm:
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Do not temper a knife blade in molten lead. It is much too hot and you will have a soft edge. Using a separate oven thermometer, temper in your kitchen range between 400° and 475° depending on how hard you might want it. Temper for 2, 2 hour cycles, letting it air cool between cycles, or you can cool it in water. It helps to have the blade buried in dry sand. This gives a more even heat as your oven cycles. Tempering a blade at the heat of molten lead, about 625° can cause a condition in the steel called "blue brittle", and possible failure of the blade, or edge in use.
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