Im not sure this is the best place for this post but i figured whats the most important and needed thing to make a knife....and thats the metal... Caught my eyes upon some scrapyard posts and videos here and there and thats all well and good but, when your walking down the isles passing by cheap tools (especially on sale!) you have to wonder...is it worth getting to reforge it? lets take Mastercraft for example, chisels or files (ive heard a bit about using files) There cheap to begin with now, is it worth it? For learning and making my basics (tongs, ect) I think the scrapyard is more then welcoming, and even when I get down to the glory of the craft Ive heard wonderful things about scrap if you know your stuff. I know you can test metal with a magnet and a file. and in the shop a grinder and by hardening it and seeing how it breaks. Is there any other advice that can be given? How cheap is a pure billet and a good place to get them (preferably local)?
Rob a CKS in Sundre is a good place, ships quickly, also Metal Supermarket in Edmonton has become a bit more attractive with the exchange rate these days.
It's fun to re-purpose stuff and my local dump guys are more than happy to help me cart scrap steel away for odd projects. If I am making a knife, I absolutely need to know what the steel is and understand how to heat treat it. O1 and 1084 will be your friend if you want to do the heat treatment at home. As Jon said, Canadian Knifemaker Supply has a good stock and they sell by the inch. O1 can be found in 3 ft. lengths at Metal Supermarket, sans freight. Cheers! Dan
