order steel to make a plane blade

[Mark Almeidus]

My familiarity with steel iron is zero. There is a steel company in my country that produces steel.
So i want to know if that kind of steel can be used for making plane blades?
Here is the link:
http://www.zeleznik.com.mk/
I know you guys can figure it quick. :o

[Marc Seguin]

From their website it looks like what they sell is low carbon steel shot and castings. Not what you want to make a plane blade.
You want to look for someone selling 3 - 5 mm flat stock in steels like O1, 1095, or L6 (your choice depending on availability) and in the width close to what you want to make your plane iron. A high carbon steel essentially.

I'd recommend trying to get a copy of Ron Hock's "the Perfect Edge" or Leonard Lee's "Complete guide to sharpening" to learn a bit about the steels and their properties for making blades. That'll help you decide what will work best for your application.

[Steve knight]

it does not look like they sell what you want. for plane blades o-1 oil hardening steel is easy to work. you can get it precision ground just put a bevel on it and heat treat it. this gives you a idea what you want.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_seven_br_2?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A16310091%2Cn%3A16310191%2Cn%3A16414131%2Cn% 3A6469704011%2Ck%3Ao-1%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A5485859011&bbn=6469704011&keywords=o-1&ie=UTF8&qid=1430349100&rnid=3071213011

[John Vernier]

It would be worth finding out which vendors other tool makers are buying from in Europe. If you can't find information from small tool makers I would look for an online forum for knife makers. That would at least be a start in the right direction.

[george wilson]

Get some precision ground 01,BUT,DO NOT put a bevel on it until AFTER you harden and temper it. If you do,the bevel will present a different size surface area on one side of the iron,and it will warp concave permanently. Grind the bevel only after hardening and tempering the blade.

You need to heat the cutting end of the 01 steel to an orange color,and quench it in oil. Automatic transmission fluid will work fine,or vegetable oil from the grocery store. Some prefer peanut oil. Most any kind of oil will do for home shop use. DO NOT quench 01 in water. It will shock the steel too much,and it may crack or warp. DO NOT try using used motor oil. It will coat your iron with a thick black coating that is very hard to remove.

Test the hardness of your hardened plane iron with a FINE cut file. The file should not be able to cut the iron. Be careful to not ruin your file while testing the iron. The teeth will be dulled. I only use the very tip of the file to test hardness,or the other end of the file just at the tang. The file is not normally used at these places,so dulling the teeth in them will not ruin the file for other uses.

Sand the hardened iron with wet or dry paper until the steel is bright. Then,slowly heat the iron until it is a medium brown color,or a dark brown color. Even a purple color will be fine. Too hard an iron will not hold an edge well because the tiny cutting edge will break off microscopically,and the iron will seem dull. Quench again in oil after you get to the proper color.Blue comes after purple,and that is a spring temper. The iron starts becoming too soft if you heat it to a blue color. Keep the quench close by,and be careful to not over heat the iron. You must quench the iron quickly when you reach the color you want,as the iron will continue to change color,getting softer as it goes towards blue.

You can use a MAPP gas torch to heat the cutting end of the iron to an orange color. Better if you have TWO torches. And,take some dry bricks and pile them into a corner shape. Put the cutting end of the iron into the corner. It will do a lot to keep the heat from escaping,and help you to get at least a third of the iron orange hot. If you have a weed burner,it will put out a great deal more heat. But,turn the iron over as you heat it,to get the iron evenly hot on both sides. This helps the iron to not warp.

[Mark Almeidus]

Thanks guys.
Wonderful info. Looks like its a good thing to get expertised in that era, to understand more about woodworking. I can find gas torch, so when i find iron i will harden with that.
I asked a lot of people regarding iron manufacturers. Its interesting to note that most of them pointed me that the wheel amortizers from cars, or some part that is conected to the wheel has strong iron.
Someone familiar with that?

[Mark Almeidus]

Atm i found another link about stainless steel.
http://www.stainlesssteel.com.mk/stainless-steel-inox/ss-pipes-rods-sheets-plates-strips-flats/stainless-steel-flats.html
I think that sounds promising. :)

[george wilson]

Do not use stainless steel. It is not as good as 01,or regular high carbon tool steels.

I hope you read my response carefully,I am a retired museum tool maker. Made many dozens of planes.

Google Manhattan Supply Co.,or Victor Machinery Exchange,or McMaster Carr for a few well known and reliable sources for tool steels. A2 steel might be beyond your capability to harden as it has to be protected from the air or it will decarb when hot. 01 is a simple and effective steel. It will also take a better edge than A2,though the edge will not be quite as durable. Tool steels are always a trade off. You will lose how sharp an edge can be gotten in order to get a steel that will stay sharp longer. Simple W1 steel will get the sharpest of all,but it will not hold an edge as long as 01. But,it was used for many hundreds of years in one form or another. Even the Romans had it,as well as the Hittites in the Bible. It began to be made more controlled in quality in the 19th. C.

These days,it is getting hard to find W1 since tool and die makers don't use it much any more because it is treacherous to make an expensive die from. Plus,it doesn't stay sharp as long. It changes dimension more than other more advanced steels. But,for something simple like a plane iron,or a knife blade,it is fine,and will get VERY sharp. You may find it large (wide) enough to make a plane iron by Googling knife maker's supply houses such as Jantz.

[Pat Barry]

Thanks guys.
Wonderful info. Looks like its a good thing to get expertised in that era, to understand more about woodworking. I can find gas torch, so when i find iron i will harden with that.
I asked a lot of people regarding iron manufacturers. Its interesting to note that most of them pointed me that the wheel amortizers from cars, or some part that is conected to the wheel has strong iron.
Someone familiar with that?
Maybe something like an old leaf spring might be a good starting point for testing the idea out.

[Steve knight]

Get some precision ground 01,BUT,DO NOT put a bevel on it until AFTER you harden and temper it. If you do,the bevel will present a different size surface area on one side of the iron,and it will warp concave permanently. Grind the bevel only after hardening and tempering the blade.



this is good advice unless you use 1/4" thick then it is not much of an issue. But it is much harder getting 1/4" hot enough with a torch.

[Jeff Ranck]

If you want to get really ambitious, you can build a small "coffee can" forge that can help retain heat for small items. One example here: http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/micro_forge/ .

[Mark Almeidus]

I mentioned stainless steel because i came across a blog of Brese planes using stainless steel.
http://breseplane.blogspot.com/2010/12/stainless-yes-but-which-one_23.html
But its probably different type of steel which is hard to find or expensive.
Nevertless thanks for the detailed info.
At the end of the day if i cant find a way, I will have to purchase online.

Btw George: Are you the one that appeared on one of the woodwrights shop episode? :)

[george wilson]

Brese planes use stainless steel in their BODIES,not their irons.

You need to get a book on tool steels and read up on it.

I do not recommend automobile springs for plane blades. They do not contain sufficient carbon,and they have other alloys which will restrict how sharp an edge they will take.

Yes,I was on an episode of the Woodwright's Shop when I was Master Instrument Maker. In 1986,I got begged to institute a tool making shop,and was Master Tool and Instrument maker both. I had had enough (16 years) of being in public,and answering the same questions anyway. The tool maker's shop was behind the scenes.

[Noah Wagener]

according to this thread O1 has different names in Europe and England. http://straightrazorplace.com/forge/93058-o-1-steel-europe-print.html

Shipping from England is very expensive here in the United States. I do not know about the Balkans but here is a British dealer of precision ground O1: http://www.europeantoolsteels.co.uk/

If shipping is reasonable where you are you can get English tools real cheap on the auction site.