Steel Test Lawn mower Blade

[@JoshSmithsOverallForge]

Hey Adam! My brother in law has worked for Briggs and Stratton for almost 20 years and when I first started smithing, I picked his brain and had him do some research for me on the topic. Basically what he found out was that if you can get your hands on older mower blades, 70s and older, they're pretty much all going to be a good higher carbon, hardenable steel. After that, getting into the 80s to current, you start to find a variation between commercial and standard usage blades in both push mowers and riding mowers. Typically the commercial push mower blades are higher carbon, wheras the standard models are generally case hardened at best. More often than not, the riding mower blades are higher carbon. There really isn't a standard type of steel used, and the best rule of thumb is to forge a bit out, normalize and just do a snap test, both in oil and water... But my first knife was from a lawnmower blade and hardened to about a 60 on the Rockwell scale.

[@SpeargrassForge]

What a fantastic bit of information Josh! Thankyou. I knew that push mower blades were not any good, it's a good idea to test any found steel. But I will be screenwriting this and using it as reference in the future if I may. Thankyou again!

[@JoshSmithsOverallForge]

@@SpeargrassForge of course!

[@thedixonway]

Good to see a guy testing hardiness with a big hammer and really filing on it, not just tickling it to death. Great stuff Adam! Thank you!!

[@SpeargrassForge]

Picked that up from my man Sam. Gotta get through the decarb and test it! Ha ha cheers mate!

[@kensmapleleafretirement]

Good fun. Looks hardinable to me... When I first started last Jun, The only piece of steel I had in the yard was a lawn mover blade. I beat on that thing for a few days, heating it with a propane torch because I didn't have a forge... lol... I am embarrassed to look back at my naivety... The pros make it look so easy... Of course, I had a forge within a few weeks and all the rest of the gear came quickly. I am time free, so I have forged nearly everyday since.... Thanks Adam for having me over to your place for a visit. Good Fun....

[@SpeargrassForge]

No need to be embarrassed. It was learning

[@kevinstokes6862]

I haven't made any blades, but I'm a big fan of reusing steel. Thanks for checking it out and adding to my education.

[@lukegraham1945]

Interesting to know some mower blades are able to be hardened. Good to see another fellow Aussie out forging as well!

[@SpeargrassForge]

Cheers mate glad another Aussie is with me

[@louisaziz1235]

Recently found your KZbin channel and very happy that I did. I just recently got started with knife making, the old-fashioned way. Yes, I want to pound some steel. This episode is really important to me because I have accumulated several lawnmower blades, and I've been questioning whether or not they would harden enough for a decent blade. You really solved a problem for me. Thank you.

[@jadabull]

Here in the states not many mower blades are Hardenable but John Deere blades most certainly are. Cheers Adam

[@timbrown9305]

I use my blades for a couple months and Tig Weld the cutting edge and sharpen it. It lasts.... works fantastic

[@GWIRailroad]

Thanks Adam, I have several of those blades I will have to play around with them. Great video thank you Wayne.

[@SpeargrassForge]

No worries Wayne. Don't forget to test a bit first. To see what you have!

[@oddwoodforge2305]

Had headphones on when you skated that file. Like nails on a chalkboard. Lol

[@SpeargrassForge]

Whoops. Sorry i will remember to put a warning on next time!

[@philonda]

Sent that big cricket for a ride lol

[@xxxxxponchin]

Hey Adam, interesting video, thanks for sharing and take care 👍

[@holler8594]

Good informative , even entertaining video. Thanks

[@SpeargrassForge]

Glad you liked it mate

[@grandadz_forge]

Try water quench just to see what happens. Good video Adam

[@SpeargrassForge]

Great idea

[@brianhoeckelmann1304]

1084 doesn't get near as hard in canola oil as water . Add a surfactant as in dish soap . It really shocks the blade if it has any uneven heat it will crack the blade

[@BrettKorpela]

Most mower blades can only be heat treated to HRC 50 which is plenty hard and tough for a mower blade, but maybe not hard enough for a hand knife.

[@NeilGraham.I.M.F]

That's one thing I never had any luck with was mower blades. Then again the ones that were given to me came off of a push mowers. Which would make sense cuz they wouldn't want a blade that would shatter when you're standing right behind it. However I did just retire a riding mower that has four blades on it so those may be worth checking out. As always good stuff see you next time

[@SpeargrassForge]

Nothing to loose by giving it a go lol

[@BrettKorpela]

Most mower blades can only be hardened to about HRC 50.

[@SSSmithing]

Great video man

[@SpeargrassForge]

Cheers mate

[@danielcrawford7315]

Good video brother thanks

[@SpeargrassForge]

Cheers mate

[@louisaziz1235]

Good video. We now know that the blades have a future, so to speak. Maybe stacking the pieces and forge welding into a thicker material will prove to be another fruitful challenge. I look forward to seeing that. If that works out, who's to say what could come of that? Doing good... More p!ease.

[@redbeardsknives3278]

your video helped me a lot. i got me a pair of old lawnmower blades just now. and i'm turning one in to a knife. if you'd ever like to discuss some blacksmithing. pleas hit me up. i'd love to learn a thing or two from you. friendly greetings tom.

[@SpeargrassForge]

Cheers mate glad it helped someone! And thanks for joining me

[@jamesmiller5951]

Wood it Work heat up in A WooD Stove ,, harder an last longer !!!! Jim,

[@einarlotric]

They can how ever produce great san mai blades as the outer layer and a high carbon steel for the core. Use 1095 or 15n20 for the core. It produces nice blades. 😁

[@hannemannironworks1651]

From what I’ve been told these blades can be spotty on how hard they get and that it’s best to cut a small chunk of each and do a water and a oil quench to figure which works better and sometimes neither do. Take it for what you will just what over been told about mower blades.

[@SpeargrassForge]

Absolutely. You should test all found steel

[@emilflognoid1532]

Heck yeah! I’m gonna build a camping machete

[@N34RT]

Excellent video! Thanks for producing and sharing. I would mention, however, in order to improve your "scientific method" you should run the same tests (filing, bending, breaking, interior structure examination) on another (identical) piece of metal. Cheers!

[@SpeargrassForge]

Great feedback. And thats true. However with "found steel" it will be inconsistant from one piece to another. This test wasnt for firm accuracy. It was to test the hardenability of THAT piece of mower blade. The next one i used i had to test as well and it want hardenable. If you're going to use found steel, tests like these are neccessary to detemine not one the hardenability, but the charateristics of each steel, until you get a decent baseline. For example. I now can say that MOST of the mowerblades i have act like 1070. And i can pick the non hardenable ones now by shape and "feel" though i still recycle the "non" hardenable ones and have occasionally been surprised when one got hard in water.

[@johndolin4890]

I've been wondering if a mower blade would forge a tomahawk.

[@larryw2973]

Great video, but that grain looks extremely coarse to me. 🤷‍♂️

[@brianhoeckelmann1304]

Why not spark test first

[@y-notforge8913]

..made a machete and a debarking drawknife out of a couple. which reminds me i need to harden the knife...

[@SpeargrassForge]

Nice!

[@floydhanson2749]

Hey mate do you make your own lump charcoal?

[@SpeargrassForge]

That i do.i have 2 vids on it on my channel. One failure one success ha ha check them out if you like

[@emilflognoid1532]

Never heard that accent, what part of Texas are you from?

[@silver6940]

It's an Australian accent mate haha.

[@Divine_Serpent_Geh]

@@silver6940 I think he was fucking around. At least I hope… 😆

[@Patriottoo2]

@@silver6940 Down under Texas?

[@cliftonwheeler1075]

Do not harden the whole blade. Just harden the cutting edge only

[@SpeargrassForge]

@@cliftonwheeler1075 that is one option. That leaves a softer spine. However differentially hardened blades can take a set more easily than those that are fully hardened and tempered. It depends on the desired use of a blade on how it is heat treated.

[@tagerauen5378]

Stop ruining that file.