Thread: Spring Steel

Hi all woodies and metal workers

Has any one made any Woodturning tools out of spring steel. I have a neighbour who has become addicted to turning timber and had a thought that I may be able to make him some tools out of spring steel. I have plenty of gear to work the metal so this is not a problem. Have made a few small items myself which have turned out to be quite useful. Any ideas as spring steel is readily available as well as a small forge to play with.

Regards Mike.

It will harden and heat treat to a good reliable edge.

Make your own forge. Lots of info and instructions here. Search on 'forge'.

Was surprised how simple and inexpensive the process is.

Now trying to get an anvil at less than the national debt of Ethiopia - there's a challenge!

Hello Mike. Have something that might interest you.

I've always wanted to setup a forge. But never found the time for it. One day.

But I have made chisels out of old files, which you can get anywhere. Can turn it into a well tempered chisel without a forge with your house oven. And often you can find an old file whose shape is similar already to that you require in your chisel.

There usually good steel already, and have a tang already to be set into a handle. The files too hard of coarse, too brittle when you get it. But all you have to do is put it in the kitchen oven (top shelf) for about an hour at about 220 degrees C. This will drop its hardness to somewhere around 60 (Rockwell).

Now that its tempered , you just have to work the blade on a grinder to the shape you want. The focus is on not burning the blade, of course.

Can set the tang in a handle by just heating it up with a torch and burning it into a handle by tapping it in with a hammer....or if that doesn't work ...can epoxy it in.

Originally Posted by apricotripper

Hello Mike. Have something that might interest you.

I've always wanted to setup a forge. But never found the time for it. One day.

But I have made chisels out of old files, which you can get anywhere. Can turn it into a well tempered chisel without a forge with your house oven. And often you can find an old file whose shape is similar already to that you require in your chisel.

There usually good steel already, and have a tang already to be set into a handle. The files too hard of coarse, too brittle when you get it. But all you have to do is put it in the kitchen oven (top shelf) for about an hour at about 220 degrees C. This will drop its hardness to somewhere around 60 (Rockwell).

Now that its tempered , you just have to work the blade on a grinder to the shape you want. The focus is on not burning the blade, of course.

Can set the tang in a handle by just heating it up with a torch and burning it into a handle by tapping it in with a hammer....or if that doesn't work ...can epoxy it in.

Remove all the "serrations" of the file teeth too. They can create a "snap" point.

I have a series of 4 metal working books (ebooks) by a bloke called "Gingery". The series starts off where you make a charcoal foundry. Once tis is complete you use the foundry to build a lathe (book 2). With the lathe done you move on to a metal shaper (book 3). Then finally a milling machine (book 4).

It is really quite dated. Alot of the stuff that he has hand made is now available at reasonable cost nd good quaility. However the foundary has always interested me. A small foundry can do so much.

I have the books in PDF. Book 1 is about 38MB. If anyone wants a copy we may be able to transfere it with netmeeting or the like.

Originally Posted by knucklehead

I have the books in PDF. Book 1 is about 38MB. If anyone wants a copy we may be able to transfere it with netmeeting or the like.

Knucklehead,
I would be really interested in these books. PM me with options if you could.

old car springs good cheap source of steel also.
Have also used old hduty bar type ride on mower blades for making cutters.

Knifemakers use above for laminating for high quality edge tools.

As you will know many new copy of original type chisels/ tools now are inferior steel, homemade tools can be much better quality.

I have had a couple of people ask about the Gingery books. I haven't figured out a way to get the files around yet. If the numbers are small, posting a CD may be the easiest.

The books are for sale at
http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/index.html With some links to other stuff he has made.

An Australian site for the books only http://www.ploughbooksales.com.au/contents.htm search for Gingery

There is a Yahoo group dedicated to Gingery inspired engineering.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gingery_machines/

It is a good source of info and links to other sites along the same lines.

I have the foundry, lathe and mill books. Hope to make the foundry one day but have gone off the idea of the lathe (bought a vintage one instead).

John