Subject: Bladesmithing metal

From: Stephen Smith <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 20:38:38 -0400 (EDT)

When you buy metal for bladesmithing, does it usually come as round stock or
square?  And how thick does the bar have to be to make a blade that is about
1 1/2 to 2 inches wide?  Thanks again!  
Stephen Smith

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From: Chris Kilpatrick <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 02 May 1996 20:47:57 -0700

Most of the time it's basically knife shape e.g.; 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 18.

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From: Steve Smith <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 3 May 96 9:42:55 MDT

Dear Stephen,

You can buy tool steel in rectangular slabs, like 1/4" x 1.5" x 36",
or you can buy it from a place catering to knifemakers and get knife
shaped blanks. The former can be had from industrial suppliers, like
MSC or tool steel suppliers like Burgon, and the latter from specific
steel suppliers like Atlantic Steel.

If you buy rectangles, it comes two ways. The first is aimed at
machinists, and is precision ground. This is more expensive. The
second is ground to remove scale and decarburized skin, but not
precision ground, which is a bit less expensive. In my experience, new
tool steel in modest quantities runs between $3 and $5 per pound,
depending on how much you are buying. A square foot 1/4" thick weighs
about 10 pounds.

The scrapyard is great for small quantities if you are as much of a
scrounge as I, especially at 15 cents per pound. Depends what your
time is worth.

Contact addresses and phone #'s for the above companies can be had
from the ABANA or ArtMetal Resource web pages. If you can't get web, I
can provide the address info.

--
Steven O. Smith
[email-masked]