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.
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
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!
@JoshSmithsOverallForge4 жыл бұрын
@@SpeargrassForge of course!
@thedixonway4 жыл бұрын
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!!
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Picked that up from my man Sam. Gotta get through the decarb and test it! Ha ha cheers mate!
@kensmapleleafretirement4 жыл бұрын
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....
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
No need to be embarrassed. It was learning
@kevinstokes68623 жыл бұрын
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.
@lukegraham19454 жыл бұрын
Interesting to know some mower blades are able to be hardened. Good to see another fellow Aussie out forging as well!
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Cheers mate glad another Aussie is with me
@louisaziz123511 ай бұрын
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.
@jadabull4 жыл бұрын
Here in the states not many mower blades are Hardenable but John Deere blades most certainly are. Cheers Adam
@timbrown93053 ай бұрын
I use my blades for a couple months and Tig Weld the cutting edge and sharpen it. It lasts.... works fantastic
@GWIRailroad4 жыл бұрын
Thanks Adam, I have several of those blades I will have to play around with them. Great video thank you Wayne.
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
No worries Wayne. Don't forget to test a bit first. To see what you have!
@oddwoodforge23054 жыл бұрын
Had headphones on when you skated that file. Like nails on a chalkboard. Lol
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Whoops. Sorry i will remember to put a warning on next time!
@philonda2 ай бұрын
Sent that big cricket for a ride lol
@xxxxxponchin4 жыл бұрын
Hey Adam, interesting video, thanks for sharing and take care 👍
@holler85944 жыл бұрын
Good informative , even entertaining video. Thanks
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it mate
@grandadz_forge4 жыл бұрын
Try water quench just to see what happens. Good video Adam
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Great idea
@brianhoeckelmann13042 жыл бұрын
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
@BrettKorpela3 ай бұрын
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.F4 жыл бұрын
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
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Nothing to loose by giving it a go lol
@BrettKorpela3 ай бұрын
Most mower blades can only be hardened to about HRC 50.
@SSSmithing4 жыл бұрын
Great video man
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Cheers mate
@danielcrawford73154 жыл бұрын
Good video brother thanks
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Cheers mate
@louisaziz12353 жыл бұрын
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.
@redbeardsknives32783 жыл бұрын
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.
@SpeargrassForge3 жыл бұрын
Cheers mate glad it helped someone! And thanks for joining me
@jamesmiller59512 жыл бұрын
Wood it Work heat up in A WooD Stove ,, harder an last longer !!!! Jim,
@einarlotric2 жыл бұрын
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. 😁
@hannemannironworks16514 жыл бұрын
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.
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. You should test all found steel
@emilflognoid1532 Жыл бұрын
Heck yeah! I’m gonna build a camping machete
@N34RT3 жыл бұрын
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!
@SpeargrassForge3 жыл бұрын
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.
@johndolin48907 ай бұрын
I've been wondering if a mower blade would forge a tomahawk.
@larryw29732 жыл бұрын
Great video, but that grain looks extremely coarse to me. 🤷♂️
@brianhoeckelmann13042 жыл бұрын
Why not spark test first
@y-notforge89134 жыл бұрын
..made a machete and a debarking drawknife out of a couple. which reminds me i need to harden the knife...
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
Nice!
@floydhanson27494 жыл бұрын
Hey mate do you make your own lump charcoal?
@SpeargrassForge4 жыл бұрын
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 Жыл бұрын
Never heard that accent, what part of Texas are you from?
@silver6940 Жыл бұрын
It's an Australian accent mate haha.
@Divine_Serpent_Geh Жыл бұрын
@@silver6940 I think he was fucking around. At least I hope… 😆
@Patriottoo29 ай бұрын
@@silver6940 Down under Texas?
@cliftonwheeler107510 күн бұрын
Do not harden the whole blade. Just harden the cutting edge only
@SpeargrassForge10 күн бұрын
@@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.