Trap Spring Knife Question

[tryinhard]

Anybody ever make one? Got a couple of worn out traps I been thinking about repurposing into one. I have no way of hardening the steel if it needs it?? How would a guy go about straightening a spring to do this with?

TH

 

[BrownBear]

I'm no expert by any means, but I made a couple. I just put one wing of the spring in a vise, bent it mostly straight by hand, then laid it flat and beat on it a little to finish flattening out the bend.

It cut and filed real easy, making me suspicious that it would need tempering. Sure enough it did! Took a real nice edge, but was good for cutting about 3 patches. I tried tempering by heating with MAP gas then oil quenching, as someone suggested. Nope. Probably messed it up, but it didn't work for me. Someone who knew what they were doing could probably do it for you in two shakes. I like the way the knives turned out, but now I gotta find someone to temper them right.

 

[JamesG]

For me I would put the spring in bed of coals and let them cool over night.If you want to straighten them you can do a camp fire with a piece of long pipe hair drier and make a forge. Heat the bend to an orange color then straighten with the vice or hammers.And then normilize the blade back in the fire . You can grind the blade to shape with a grinder,Then get a mill file and file your bevelas.leave a dime thickness on the the edge.Get you camp fire going do this the shade or dark. Need some vice gripps. make shure your coals are deep enought for cover your blade. hair drier does not to be on high. it take some time to get the hang of thing. Need a speaker mag.to check the blade for none mag. the speake mag. well not stick.For your quanch fluid you can use several oil.I use canola oil need to pre heat the oil 135 f degree need a something out of metal to hold the oil and somthing to smoother if it flames up.i would do a vertical quanch on the blade and make shure move the blade up and down.
for heat treat.Clean the blade off of oil and sand the blade for u can see the bare metal.Preheat the oven and use a oven thermonter.
back and hour then let it cool you then do another hour then cool.You well want a bronze or straw color.You well want to test a piece of the steel first.That means to break a pieve.Bring it to none mag. quanch then let cool to room temp. then get your safty gear out.You can brake the piece in the vice. Look on the inside of the metal you want fine gray color is called the grain.this is one way to do it .I hope it helps and sorry for the spelling new keyboard.

 

[BrownBear]

Excellent!

Many thanks.

 

I searched the craftsman forum for "trap" and found these. The first one has some good photos.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/211467 http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/238698 http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/223296

 

[hawk]

those are some nice trap steel knives

 

[grettadarlean]

I don't post to much because I have a keyboard like James G has (it can't spell worth a carp). When I first started making trap spring knives I used an Oxy Acetylene torch to heat the blade. About 4 years ago, I built a propane forge and now I am totally spoiled.

Here is a photo of a D guard in the works

The D guard finished

 

[JamesG]

Nice work ,My and spelling never got along. So I blame the keyboard.