5160 "tough" what is this?

Mungo Park

New Member
Well I am a lurker over here but wanted to put this question out their.
I have searched 5160 to try and get a "feel" for it, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
I have a home built forge and have been forging 01 rods and quenching/HT by eye with some modicum of satisfaction, holding at critical for a few min is always a hit and miss doing it by eye and magnet.
I want to make some wood working tools, i.e. some hand plane blades, and looking at trying some 1/4" thick 5160.
any opinions about using this steel.
What I have read so far is the steel is "tough" but does not hold a edge all that well, would not "tough" mean holding a edge.
Also forging the steel and the heating and cooling adds something to the final product, if I normalize the steel 4 or 5 times to mimic this would it do the trick.
The more I read about this the more conflicting info, so help me separate the hebie jebie from the real what I gots to do here.
Cheers Ron.
 
Terminology can be hard to get a handle on. Toughness in a steel refers to it's ability to resist perminant deformation. Hardness effects edge holding ability and, due to the crystaline structure of the steel tends to increase of decrease inversly with toughness. Wear resistance is what truely determines edge holding ability which is effected by the hardness, which is more of the ability to resist denting or compression, and carbide content and type, which itself can contribute to hardness. At least that's the understanding that I've come up with after studying a primer on steel metalurgy a few times.

Doug Lester
 
There are three ways an edge becomes dull:

- Wear, that's what we normally think of.

- Chipping, microscopic chipping dulls the knife but isn't obvious.

- Edge bending, again microscopic isn't obvious.

Increased hardness reduces basic wear but may increase chipping, especially if the
hardness is because of large carbides.

Increased toughness reduces chipping.

Too little toughness increases edge bending.

The most important type of edge wear depends on what the knife is used for
and how it's used.
 
5160 is often used in leaf/coil springs for cars and trucks... but not always! That doesn't mean every junk spring you see is 5160.

I've never worked with it, so take this with a grain of salt: 5160 is highly regarded for bigger knives and even swords that will really get pounded (chopping on wood, etc). That's where the toughness comes in.

For small blades that don't get hammered so hard, like plane irons, I think O1 would be a better choice. It's likely to keep a fine edge, longer in that type of use. I could be wrong though. O1 is kinda "The" standard in tool steels, and is more widely available in the bar-stock sizes you probably need for your wood-working projects. If you're used to working with it, I would say stick with it.
 
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Thank you that was what I was looking for a little background and some specific advice, you guys are great.
Cheers Ron.
 
Keep us posted on your progress! Personally, I'm just as excited by good chisels and planes as I am by good hunting knives. But I've also been known to take a jeweler's loupe and inspect a paper-cutting die to examine the edge geometry, so maybe I'm just weird.
 
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Well ,Yes, I don't know of you can have to many knives, fishing rods or hand planes, I might have missed something on the list, I had better ask my wife:eek:
I am now leaning towards the 01 but I will post any progress. Thanks for the interest. Cheers Ron.
 
Plain carbon steel like 1075 might be a better choice as you are never going to get the maximum performance out of O1 with your current setup and methods.
 
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