Hot take: old farrier rasps make better knives than most new steel I've tried

I was at a swap meet in Missouri about 3 weeks ago and picked up a box of used farrier rasps for 20 bucks. Figured I'd try forging a couple into small utility knives just for kicks. After heat treating and sharpening, I'm honestly surprised how well they hold an edge compared to some new 1084 or 1095 stock I've used. Has anyone else messed around with repurposing old tools like this, or am I just getting lucky with the steel?

2 comments

2 Comments

david_stone2d ago

Have you tried checking the carbon content on those old rasps before you go forging them? Old farrier tools like that can vary a ton depending on the brand and the year they were made, but some of them are actually decent 1095 or even W1 tool steel that's seasoned from years of use. The trick I've found is to do a quick spark test on the bare steel before you heat treat it - if you get a lot of branching sparks, you're looking at higher carbon that'll harden up real nice. Also make sure you normalize the steel a few times before your final heat treat since those rasps can have internal stress from all the hammering they took. I'd say you got a solid deal for 20 bucks, just watch out for any cracks in the rasp teeth that might hide deeper.

rosew3713h ago

Did you ever run into any rasps that turned out to be low carbon or just junk? @david_stone always has solid advice on this stuff, I've seen his posts before... that spark test tip is gold, I've been burned by mystery steel more times than I care to count.