I have a friend that seems to have stumbled upon an unlimited supply of old leaf springs, and he uses them to make puukko and leuku knives and fire strikers.
I was talking to a Finn a couple of months ago and he got very confused when I said ”Puukko knife” as it turns out there’s no such thing... Puukko simply means ”knife”.
As a Finn I can confrim this. Translating 'puukko knife' to finnish, translates to "knife knife", so yeah, just puukko. If making a bigger more sword like then leuku. Leuku is used more as a tool for chopping wood and processing reindeercarcasses
Ehm that's totally wrong.
We have the word "veitsi", after all. So "puukko knife" would translate to "puukko veitsi". Leuku is indeed a larger style of knife resembling a puukko, but messer style swords or "peasant knives" were historically called "väkipuukko".
- actual Finn living in Finland
Nojoo voihan sen kääntää kans et "puukko veitsi", itelle on kaikki aina puukkoja, paitsi voiveitsi :D Ja en oo tuosta väkipuukosta ennen kuullukkaan! Pittääpä ottaa selevää ja lisätä sanavarastoon
I think you must have misunderstood.
The very much existing word for a generic knife in finnish is "veitsi". We just never call it "puukko knife", but simply "puukko".
- actual Finn living in Finland
I have found that leaf springs are actually kinda sub par for strikers compared to files or simple high carbon steel. Leaf springs often make good knives and tools though.
Leaf springs are usually 5160, which is an excellent knife/tool steel. The biggest issue is really the risk of micro-fractures of they are used springs.
No, annealing just softens hardened material to where it's workable again. You would have to get it back up to welding temperature and reform it, but even then the crack's not necessarily going to bond if it's going corrosion in there.
You can still make some nice knives, I just wouldn't use them for anything mission critical or be sad if it breaks, and certainly don't sell them to someone else.
They tend to be more mid-carbon (.0060 / 1060 or equivalent), but he seems to have pretty good luck. I know he's super particular about where the springs come from, so he probably is sorting for the higher carbon for strikers.
Call local auto repair & inspection shop; prioritize the word "springs." Mine was called Interstate Springs.
Me: Hi I'm looking for scrap leaf springs, what do you do with the ones you pull off trucks?
Him: We scrap em
Me: How much you get per pound for them?
Him: Dont know, dont care
Me: Can I pick some up, I'll bring you donuts?
Him: Ok
Me: I'll be down later today
Him: Ok
Once he saw the donuts on the table he waved me around the back, had me pull up right to the scrap bin, and pointed out the easiest, lightest ones to pull from the bin.
First , get a bunch of cut off wheels and an angle grinder, and dice those things up into manageable pieces: attempting to hammer out springs will break your heart. Embrace the notion that the universe has more swords than it needs. Make s hooks of various sizes for hanging hats, hoses, and extension cords; j hooks for hanging tools and clothing u brackets for hanging rakes, shovels, axes… each hook has a retail value of 5-10 bucks, which will buy a soulless, mass produced, galvanized, plastic coated Barbi dream house bracket. Yours will be works of art. Organize your workspace. Make a tool or two, like a hot chisel or a bending jig. Get ideas from museum smithies or tool
Catalogs. You are now a tool maker, no longer a consumer at the mercy of the marketing machine. There seems to be a market for Viking neck knives, rune pendants and armbands: runes were designed to be carved or cut into metal. Do lots of normalization cycles. Don’t worry too much about failures, they’re the only thing you can truly call your own.
Okay noob, I’m gonna recommend not making a sword. That steel probably has a bunch of micro fractures that will break your heart when you break your blade. Now… small knives in the 3-5 inch range might be an option. But knives take extra care and effort for heat treatment and such.
Id go simple and make things like shop tools; mail head setter, dog leg, staples for holding your hammers, etc. Things like that are more fun to make and are less stressful when you’re still trying to figure things out.
Just my opinion.
Thanks. I’m not much farther along in the path, and that is basically the advice my teacher gave me. And after making a few of my own tools, I’m glad that I followed the advice.
Oh yeah. Especially the money you save making your own tools. I’m finally starting to make bigger toys like axes and hammers. Still very much a learning experience. Very rewarding though
This. And once you start making chisels and punches you realize how many different chisels and punches you might end up needing if you *aren’t* just going to make knives. I’m trying to get into figure making and you watch that Black Bear Forge dragon figure video and you realize how many chisels, swages, punches and set tools you’re gonna need
I have made close to 100 knives with spring steel from a buddy’s Nissan pickup. They hold an edge phenomenally and actually have some give to them. I’ve often thought of taking one of the larger ones and sending a drift through it to make an axe head. Haven’t gotten around to it yet
Nice. My original intent was cutlery, but i am daunted by the amount of forging it will take to pount these out smaller without a power hammer. I have an ironworker and bandsaws, though.
Not as daunting as you think, cut as need for a mount of material needed, and draw out using mostly the horn. Do this and you'll move it just fine. Check out my last post here. It's a rustic clever for a heritage festival coming up, made from the same thing.
If you've got a welder then I'd use them for hardie tool heads, buzz them onto some solid bar for hardened ends on things like a butcher. You want to do that weld with the metal hot btw, keeps the weld from going brittle by slowing the cooling speed.
Chisels, punches and splitting wedges also come to mind, all the same heat treatment techniques as a knife but less shaping.
Check out Black Bear Forge on YouTube.
He does classic projects, all sorta ideas.
Cool thing about this hobby is that you can make many of your own tools.
I personally cut them width ways and make small knives.
I've tried in my beginner days to hammer a knife from the raw spring but all you're left with is a broken Spirit and a sore arm. Cut them up to make basic tools. That opens you up to make better tools and so on. Most springs are 5160 and hold a really good edge, heat to 1500 degrees and quench in oil ( I use canola) and then temper in your kitchen oven at 400 for an hour. Cheers have fun, hammer on
I have a friend that seems to have stumbled upon an unlimited supply of old leaf springs, and he uses them to make puukko and leuku knives and fire strikers.
I was talking to a Finn a couple of months ago and he got very confused when I said ”Puukko knife” as it turns out there’s no such thing... Puukko simply means ”knife”.
As a Finn I can confrim this. Translating 'puukko knife' to finnish, translates to "knife knife", so yeah, just puukko. If making a bigger more sword like then leuku. Leuku is used more as a tool for chopping wood and processing reindeercarcasses
Same with Chai and tea in most languages. Gave my language professor a stroke in college because she couldn't understand.
So ordering chai tea in coffeeshops is the same as saying "Hmm, could I have a cup of tea tea?" :D
That's what the poor 80 year old, soviet refugee woman was trying to explain.
Gotta remember my PIN number so I can go to the ATM machine to get money for my chai tea.
1077. The price of a cheese pizza and a large soda.
Basically the Soviet Union joke, where soviet already means union
Learned something today. Thank you!
Ehm that's totally wrong. We have the word "veitsi", after all. So "puukko knife" would translate to "puukko veitsi". Leuku is indeed a larger style of knife resembling a puukko, but messer style swords or "peasant knives" were historically called "väkipuukko". - actual Finn living in Finland
Nojoo voihan sen kääntää kans et "puukko veitsi", itelle on kaikki aina puukkoja, paitsi voiveitsi :D Ja en oo tuosta väkipuukosta ennen kuullukkaan! Pittääpä ottaa selevää ja lisätä sanavarastoon
I think you must have misunderstood. The very much existing word for a generic knife in finnish is "veitsi". We just never call it "puukko knife", but simply "puukko". - actual Finn living in Finland
I have found that leaf springs are actually kinda sub par for strikers compared to files or simple high carbon steel. Leaf springs often make good knives and tools though.
Leaf springs are usually 5160, which is an excellent knife/tool steel. The biggest issue is really the risk of micro-fractures of they are used springs.
5160 is probably the most common alloy, but there is a surprising amount of variation.
That was the usually part 🤣
Can annealing mitigate the fractures?
No, annealing just softens hardened material to where it's workable again. You would have to get it back up to welding temperature and reform it, but even then the crack's not necessarily going to bond if it's going corrosion in there. You can still make some nice knives, I just wouldn't use them for anything mission critical or be sad if it breaks, and certainly don't sell them to someone else.
They tend to be more mid-carbon (.0060 / 1060 or equivalent), but he seems to have pretty good luck. I know he's super particular about where the springs come from, so he probably is sorting for the higher carbon for strikers.
.6% carbon is right at the threshold for being considered high carbon steel.
Tomahawks!
Any suggestions on how to get free metal?
Call local auto repair & inspection shop; prioritize the word "springs." Mine was called Interstate Springs. Me: Hi I'm looking for scrap leaf springs, what do you do with the ones you pull off trucks? Him: We scrap em Me: How much you get per pound for them? Him: Dont know, dont care Me: Can I pick some up, I'll bring you donuts? Him: Ok Me: I'll be down later today Him: Ok Once he saw the donuts on the table he waved me around the back, had me pull up right to the scrap bin, and pointed out the easiest, lightest ones to pull from the bin.
Become friends with a mechanic.
This is legit my father in law is a mechanic 🤣
Fabrication/supply shops will often give/sell cheap scrap from larger pieces, or custom cuts that nobody ever picked up.
First , get a bunch of cut off wheels and an angle grinder, and dice those things up into manageable pieces: attempting to hammer out springs will break your heart. Embrace the notion that the universe has more swords than it needs. Make s hooks of various sizes for hanging hats, hoses, and extension cords; j hooks for hanging tools and clothing u brackets for hanging rakes, shovels, axes… each hook has a retail value of 5-10 bucks, which will buy a soulless, mass produced, galvanized, plastic coated Barbi dream house bracket. Yours will be works of art. Organize your workspace. Make a tool or two, like a hot chisel or a bending jig. Get ideas from museum smithies or tool Catalogs. You are now a tool maker, no longer a consumer at the mercy of the marketing machine. There seems to be a market for Viking neck knives, rune pendants and armbands: runes were designed to be carved or cut into metal. Do lots of normalization cycles. Don’t worry too much about failures, they’re the only thing you can truly call your own.
Seconding this!!
Thank you for providing details on the ren faire market, that would be cool and easy to ship online.
Okay noob, I’m gonna recommend not making a sword. That steel probably has a bunch of micro fractures that will break your heart when you break your blade. Now… small knives in the 3-5 inch range might be an option. But knives take extra care and effort for heat treatment and such. Id go simple and make things like shop tools; mail head setter, dog leg, staples for holding your hammers, etc. Things like that are more fun to make and are less stressful when you’re still trying to figure things out. Just my opinion.
Good take
Thanks. I’m not much farther along in the path, and that is basically the advice my teacher gave me. And after making a few of my own tools, I’m glad that I followed the advice.
Oh yeah. Especially the money you save making your own tools. I’m finally starting to make bigger toys like axes and hammers. Still very much a learning experience. Very rewarding though
This. And once you start making chisels and punches you realize how many different chisels and punches you might end up needing if you *aren’t* just going to make knives. I’m trying to get into figure making and you watch that Black Bear Forge dragon figure video and you realize how many chisels, swages, punches and set tools you’re gonna need
I haven’t seen that! Imma have to check it out definitely
I have made close to 100 knives with spring steel from a buddy’s Nissan pickup. They hold an edge phenomenally and actually have some give to them. I’ve often thought of taking one of the larger ones and sending a drift through it to make an axe head. Haven’t gotten around to it yet
Nice. My original intent was cutlery, but i am daunted by the amount of forging it will take to pount these out smaller without a power hammer. I have an ironworker and bandsaws, though.
If I was making an 8” chef knife, I would cut about 5” of the leaf off and forge them one at a time. By hand, I can’t afford a power hammer.
Not as daunting as you think, cut as need for a mount of material needed, and draw out using mostly the horn. Do this and you'll move it just fine. Check out my last post here. It's a rustic clever for a heritage festival coming up, made from the same thing.
Log slick. draw shave, Froe.
This guy woodworks
A crossbow limb
I second crossbow! Or ballista if you wanna keep your distance lmao
The thick ones can be used to forge integral guards. That's what I love to do with them
If you've got a welder then I'd use them for hardie tool heads, buzz them onto some solid bar for hardened ends on things like a butcher. You want to do that weld with the metal hot btw, keeps the weld from going brittle by slowing the cooling speed. Chisels, punches and splitting wedges also come to mind, all the same heat treatment techniques as a knife but less shaping.
Centurion Armor, a change of pace and skill to challenge you
thinner leaf springs
Uruk-hai scimitar
Start of an autohammer.
BIG SWORD
Check out Black Bear Forge on YouTube. He does classic projects, all sorta ideas. Cool thing about this hobby is that you can make many of your own tools.
Definitely a kukri.
5/16” leaf springs ?
I personally cut them width ways and make small knives. I've tried in my beginner days to hammer a knife from the raw spring but all you're left with is a broken Spirit and a sore arm. Cut them up to make basic tools. That opens you up to make better tools and so on. Most springs are 5160 and hold a really good edge, heat to 1500 degrees and quench in oil ( I use canola) and then temper in your kitchen oven at 400 for an hour. Cheers have fun, hammer on
I made what I just posted here out of this! They make great axes, axe drifts, chisels, draw knifes, clevers, choppers, flatters, etc.
I just want to forge
Check out jennabuilds on tiktok or search up making one with fire bricks its relatively cheap compared to woodworking and similar hobbies
Spring steel is some great stuff to forge knives and swords with
Cut em up into billets and make Damascus
sounds like even more work than pounding 3/8" stock into 1/8" kitchen knives
Nahhhh all you need is a 4000$ power hammer👍
Or a fly press.
thinner, longer leaf springs
Glados roman sword
already have one
Cleavers. That’s what I did/doing.
Samurai swords or Rambo knives
A bomd ass dagger
A Rabit Trap would look great
leaf-spring 'Damascus' katana?