Forging A Huge Integral Bowie Knife From A Giant Truck Spring, Blacksmithing, Knifemaking

My Website: firecreekforge...
Support this content: / firecreekforge
T-Shirts: firecreekforge...
I was given a massive truck spring, and I want to forge a cool blade from it!
Though I don't know for sure, I think this spring is 5160 steel. I did some hardness testing on it and it came out to 58 HRC following hardening and tempering.
Dimensions of this Bowie knife:
Overall Length: 17"
Blade Length: 11"
Spine: .250" at bolster, distal taper to point.
#Bowie #Blacksmith #Knife

[@craigcook1571]

The Jolly Green Giant is anxiously awaiting his knife 🤣

[@JohnSmith-gs4lw]

That would be brutal to do that all by hand without a press and a power hammer. Holy cow.

[@TomBostian8255]

Man, that is one beautiful piece of art! Rough, rustic, rugged, butcso beautiful! The ironwood is gorgeous!

[@minnesotatomcat]

Hell yeah I’m glad u took my advice and checked out Bigunas, he’s a wizard! So many nice little tips and tricks can be learned from that guy 👍

[@kassiog.6595]

Bigunas is a national treasure for Brazilian bladesmiths, unfortunately he doesn't get the recognition he deserves

[@chrisangelone3349]

I’ve been watching A. Bigunas videos for a long time. He is a superb knife maker. I learned a ton from watching him

[@kassiog.6595]

Glad to see some recognition for our Brazilian smiths

[@catgirl4499]

The same thing here in Iraq

[@andrewneilson227]

Sick chopper! Glad you found the Bigunas channel. He’s a fantastic smith

[@SuperGregore]

Dundee would be proud.. nice blade

[@PatriotForgeOhio]

I just made a 16" kukri out of a dump truck spring. I like 5160 for a chopper, it holds an edge just fine for its intended use.

[@stephenjohnson6841]

Now that is a knife! It turned out awesome as usual! Thanks again Elijah!

[@FireCreekForge]

Thanks for watching!

[@wanazsantanna8369]

Very happy and proud that you Know and like @alex bigunas 😊

[@chriswren3636]

Crikey now that’s a knife

[@mgmcd1]

Crocodile Dundee would be proud. Now that’s a knife!

[@scottlanghorst1483]

😳Now that's a "David Wowie" knife! It turned out great.🤜🤛

[@corbeauyannis8254]

Is this a Jocke ???

[@adamwaskiewicz8016]

That's a monster of a knife. Amazing work, as always.

[@billzielke6798]

Desert ironwood was a great choice.

[@FireCreekForge]

Thank you

[@HardwayRanch]

Now that's a knife!

[@jplarussa2392]

Awesome Chopper!!! You're gonna get a ton of projects out of those springs thats for sure!

[@athenazoey5093]

We call it "bolo" here in the Philippines and yes it was a huge knife for small wood (soft wood) projects and survival knife as well as cooking knife, it serves a lot of purpose here it is considered our 2nd amendment in the provinces for self defense 🎉❤🎉❤

[@bandanabanana3162]

Definitely got some talent there on display!

[@chewyakarieckenicholas6049]

(Best Australian accent) now that's a knife

[@FireCreekForge]

Haha yes sir, I thought about attempting it but I know one of my Aussie viewers would correct me!

[@chewyakarieckenicholas6049]

That usually works out that way lol

[@jeffreycarter1223]

That look is awesome. It’s rough and rugged but flawless and elegant.

[@JamesThomas-gg6il]

That desert iron wood has great grain. It sets off the entire knife.

[@Moondog-wc4vm]

Respect for that forging! I used a piece of truck spring (maybe 5160?) for a kitchen cleaver. I'm still working on it trying to hand sand it to a nice finish. The quench warped the blade pretty bad and grinding it straight took it thinner than I would have liked. When it is done it will cut meat and vegetables to whatever thickness (or thinness) I want, but it will be absolutely useless for chopping through bones. It's more of a Frankenstein chef knife than the cleaver I wanted to make. Next one I will take a few lessons from this vid and try them. Thanks.

[@NorristopianKnifeGuy]

I got a lot of truck springs that i use to make my own knives. Anneal it it makes it crack and warp less .

[@jayztools4038]

Thanks for your humble attitude. We can learn from your trials. My first spring steel knife was made into a machete. That certainly was not the goal. I wanted something much smaller. Leaf springs offer MASS.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Nicely done Elijah. Big blade.

[@aaronkreger1891]

Now that's a knife!! Beautiful work as always!

[@TroubledOnePaydirt]

Crocodile Dundee would approve. 😳😂😂

[@andrejohnson6731]

Its pronounced “Bee-Goo-Nass" but close enough 😂 Master Bigunas is a wizard. 👍🏻

[@duanefogard7519]

You will be able to make a lot of knives out of that spring. Huge.

[@jordansmith4084]

Thank you for all the work you do

[@jeremynedrow7003]

I love the design, I'm a Bowie nut and own several.

[@ryanblystone5153]

Thank you

[@slamdunk6170]

Good job

[@ronland1821]

Received my Nessmuk today. This knife is amazing and feels great in the hand. Thank you so much sir.

[@FireCreekForge]

Thank you I appreciate it!

[@tonyhorsch9559]

Damn son that's one hell of a Knife! Even Crocodile Dundee would be proud to carry it. 🤣

[@jayarehaaker1]

Shurap is a great knife maker, base in Ukraine, very good knife BTW awesome job bud

[@howmanable]

That’s a knife Mick Taylor cud love 👍👍

[@B-leafer]

Nice. It would be cool to have a swedge on it...

[@johnt.chambers4204]

5160 is my favorite metal for large knives and hatchets. I have made dozens of knives with it and several tomahawks as well as two swords. One thing I have found out with it is that it doesn't forge weld as easily as most other steels.

[@vladimirkovacevic1656]

I love integral bowies beautiful polish

[@Gangstasparadise-r7k]

This is cool, man 💪⚒️🔥

[@richardrudy2834]

Step back crocodile dundee 😅😅. Awesome job job bud .keep up the great work.

[@jbowerman50]

Cool blade, thanks for sharing!

[@davidpalmer4184]

Cool, ideal for the Croc's we get in Queensland, Australia!

[@FireCreekForge]

Nice

[@davidlargen6945]

Turned out real nice

[@guillermoalfaro2714]

Hey 👋 man how you doing bro ohh yeah!..that is amazing bowie knife 🔪 buddy ready to go camping 🏕 blessings 🙌 🙏

[@michiwonderoutdoors2282]

I know a guy that owns 20+ gravel trains. Michigan doubles. Just started blacksmithing, he has many, many broken leaf springs.

[@rock_machine01]

Might even be 5160. Cool man.

[@darrenpautzke3795]

That is a beautiful knife. I am partial to the bigger blades.

[@stronghammersmithy8436]

You using the side of your hammer to make that step was oddly satisfying, I might be a psychopath 😭

[@bdydrpd8825]

Now thats a knife

[@scottprather5645]

Very cool. classic Bowie knife. Using recycled materials always a plus 👍 I have a big old truck leaf spring that I salvaged I would love to have the means to turn it into some useful items. Good choice of wood for the handle I have a supply of ironwood I've collected out in the desert when I visit quartzsite really beautiful wood.

[@stevesalles6047]

what a monster

[@bigunksworkshop786]

Well done, sir. As always, very much enjoyed the video.

[@robert.brokaw3829]

Cool knife - good job. Stay safe.

[@GTGibbs]

Great content! Thanks

[@toddfessenden2102]

Always enjoy Watching you work, awesome👍

[@davidhenderson4599]

I like the music, sick knife.

[@user-pk2fg8im4u]

Wow, Paul Bunyan edc. Very nice knife, and commentary!

[@doingitoutdoors7083]

Excellent job!

[@GalloPazzesco]

Nicely done

[@andrewmcgibbon9785]

Wow! Huge.

[@achall29]

Nicely done once again

[@arbez7k]

Amazing work! I'd love to add that to my collection of blades!

[@Woodstock271]

Excellent work man! I remember as a young man in Hawaii, the Filipinos there were always making knives out of leaf springs. Particularly, Volkswagen leaf springs. I don’t know why, but they said it was the best steel. This was back in the 80’s so maybe it’s different now but back then, it was all about Volkswagen leaf springs. German steel back then? Probably. This is the first time since then that I’ve seen anyone using a leaf spring to make a knife and that old memory just popped to mind.

[@nathanhunt5173]

Beautiful blade

[@MrSoloun]

Excellent sword :) Just kidding, beautiful work, great process video.

[@MrGamer_jinjit_96]

I used a thick small size of leaf spring to forged the blade,it makes the huge blade

[@hulkthedane7542]

Good looking, beafy knife. 👍

[@butthedd0233]

Great looking blade.

[@marcelschmidt8658]

I love the raw look of the Blade :)

[@denniscliff2071]

Extremely nice work, nice shop, great video! Thank you.

[@lewgriffinknives216]

Great job! Integrals aren't easy 👏

[@scififan698]

Hmmm, what a nice piece 😺

[@ZerrinBlackclaw]

She's a beaut

[@blackthornknives]

Fun build!

[@dddube12]

Awesome

[@chrismicklich7831]

Awesome as always.

[@lairdcummings9092]

Whackin' *HUGE* blade! I LOVE the rustic look, especially the handle - it might not have been what you initially intended, but it looks AWESOME. Honestly, the only change I'd have made would be to have ground a false edge to the clip point.

[@chriss3886]

Nice Monster Bowie; some thoughts that occured to me as you were working through shelling the integral bolster. 1. Getting a nice balance point (matchete like for chopping or more camp knife oriented). 2. Would a thru tang and pommel or integral guard/bolster add or detract from the design, as something to use some of the extras metal? 3. A sweet little Bird & Trout 4 inch blade, in the same steel would make fun companion set, IMO. Love you openly talking thru areas that went well and those that were challenging.

[@NorristopianKnifeGuy]

Awesome build as always. I made my self a Bowie out of a dually truck spring. It's tough as a rattlesnake, while forging and after lol.

[@woodsinme]

Very nice!

[@jjeckerm06]

Nice work as always!

[@danielclawson2143]

Looks awesome!

[@hillbilly4christ638]

Forklift tines are made out of similar steel, so if you insist on something even larger. The big forklifts have tines a foot wide. Samson's sword?

[@DavidEricWilliams]

Cool!

[@darrell840]

Those are quite common here in europe. They have a distal taper built in what safes a lot of work when forging the pre form for a sword. Also its thickness is good to forge integral guards

[@OhanaAinaWoodworks]

Well done!!

[@lancemillward2462]

crocodile dundee approves

[@Ronie792]

61. Rock well, it’s still extremely hard in my opinion.

[@Zolivision]

Az igen!

[@jamesdearman814]

cleaver with a point.

[@leor2830]

Excellent,,, get you a case of beer for that (NOT Bud Lite)

[@lowrangeoverland9013]

outstanding ❗🔥🚙🇺🇲

[@FireCreekForge]

Thanks!!

[@Anderson-HandForged]

Elijha that came out amazing maybe you can make some butcher dies for the integrils? a friend offed me a leaf spring from a peterbuilt if older should be good for knives or at least practice thanks Mark 😃👍👍

[@djk721963]

It's already sold

[@AndyColglazier]

Very nice!! ❤

[@mulepowerforge]

i tried my first attempt at an integral last week and it totally got ruined with a bunch of cracks. i hadnt even finished forging it yet. it was out of what i think was 5160, as it came from a big spring i found by a railroad track.

[@wesch6354]

That's more of a chopper than a Bowie. Still a good knife.

[@renepicard8113]

6great job

[@ChiefJusticeMcGruder]

Nice work, dude - just the title of the clip is a little confusing… that’s not a knife… it’s a full grown sword😁