Turning old steel into new knives

M&M BBQ dad, forging, knife making

Many of my knives are made from recycled scrap steel from trucks. What could be more cool than that?

I have a small pile of leaf spring I salvaged one day from a local auto wrecker. This leaf spring came from an old Ford F150 pickup, and I’ve made a few knives from it. Leaf spring is high carbon 5160 steel, and is excellent for making knives. A knife made from 5160 is virtually indestructible and holds an edge under heavy use.

See my gallery of currently available knives made from recycled steel.

Recycling old steel into new knives is not only fun and rewarding, it is also an environmentally friendly ‘green’ enterprise.

Some of the steel in my junk pile I use to forge knives and tools

I see the art in old steel. A beautiful new chef knife from an old broken shovel, camp knives from discarded dull saw blades, a kitchen chopper from the leaf spring of an old truck.

Old scrap steel is a beautiful thing

Steel is 100% recyclable and should never be thrown out or end up in the garbage dump. It can always be used for something, and I love to reuse and re-purpose old tools and discarded steel. Some people see junk – I see new knives. I see the potential for something new and beautiful.

Steel rescued from the dump that can be repurposed into beautiful new knives. This paring knife was forged from an old chunk of steel cable, and uses deer antler found in the woods for the handle (no deers were hurt!) (SOLD! Sorry…)
Camp knife forged from automotive leaf spring, using walnut and deer antler in the handle. (SOLD)
Paring knife forged from the leaf spring of a Ford F150 pickup, with a walnut handle

See my gallery of currently available knives made from recycled steel.

I made this kitchen knife from an old saw blade, and etched the pattern into it using acid from mustard.

This whimsical cheese knife was made from an old saw blade, with walnut handle. (SOLD)
This damascus blade was forged from an old steel cable. The handle is deer antler, with a brass and leather bolster. (SOLD)

This camp bushcraft knife was forged from the leaf spring of a Ford F150. The handle is solid oak.

Questions? You can use my contacts page to reach out. Thanks.

Have a lovely day!

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