Scrapers out of ice skates..other sources for good steel

[robert raess]

I had a pair of ice skates form my rearing in Wis., now i live in Az.,...not much ice here nor do i have the inclination.I cut the blades off the skates and made a no. of scraper shapes with them. I noticed they were Sheffield steel.I'm now on a quest for 'found' steel.I've heard that leave springs are made of good steel..is that true? Any sources for salvaged steel that would make a good scraper.The skates are about 5/16", and i would like to find some good steel that is 3/8" or even 1/2".Thanks Rob

[Doug Herzberg]

I used to get used steel by the pound in the back lot of one of our steel suppliers, but since the price of scrap metal went up, they mostly sold it all for scrap. There are still a few nice pieces out there. I've noticed when I recycle metal that some people are buying, not selling. Seems like they were paying 3 times the scrap price per pound, which isn't a bad deal at all if you find just what you want.

[Bob Bergstrom]

You could buy carbon steel turning tools at close to scrape prices. For the work involved, annealing, forming, hardening, and sharpening, it would be better to fine high speed steel, to make turning tools. Planner blades, drill bits, saw blades, are all in the garage sales.

[ray hampton]

I had a pair of ice skates form my rearing in Wis., now i live in Az.,...not much ice here nor do i have the inclination.I cut the blades off the skates and made a no. of scraper shapes with them. I noticed they were Sheffield steel.I'm now on a quest for 'found' steel.I've heard that leave springs are made of good steel..is that true? Any sources for salvaged steel that would make a good scraper.The skates are about 5/16", and i would like to find some good steel that is 3/8" or even 1/2".Thanks Rob

any steel spring are form from good steel, leaf or coil springs

[Bob Bergstrom]

If you want carbon steel rods, shock absorber shafts are high quality carbon steel.

[Joe Kieve]

For miniature work I saw somewhere that you can use cut nails (the kind you drive into concrete). After shaping they'll hold a pretty good edge.

joe

[Prashun Patel]

Drill bits are great for end grain; Jeff Nicol describes on his site how to make a hollowing tool out of one.

[Robert Henrickson]

For miniature work I saw somewhere that you can use cut nails (the kind you drive into concrete). After shaping they'll hold a pretty good edge.

joe

E.g., http://dngoodchild.com/7931.htm

And warnings about using them

http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ10.shtml

[Thom Sturgill]

I guess when I saw this thread title, I wondered 'good for what?'
Cold rolled steel works well for boring bars where it is needed for mass and some stiffness but not for direct cutting.
Carbon steel is great for knives and bench chisels but too soft for turning - we stopped using that when HSS became available.
HSS comes in a multiplicity of grades and different ones have different qualities, but most are adequate.
Carbide is harder still, but depending on the grade may not be sharp enough ad is difficult or impossible for the average turner to re-shape or sharpen.

I have bought annealed drill rod (HSS) for making point tools and it works well and is easy to shape and then harden and temper. If I needed small scrapers I would (and have) regrind a cheap set of turning tools.