Carbon steel

[Gray]

Guys, I've got a strip of mild steel. 3 foot long by about 3mm thick. Can this be turned into carbon steel for strikers or shall I just throw it away. I am a complete novice on this subject without any know how of steel working at all.
If this cant be done, can you think of any uses for it, if not can anyone make use of it.
thanks fellas and fella-ettes.

 

[Everything Mac]

How wide is it?

Mild steel can be case hardened, which means adding carbon to the top layers of the steel, but this isn't great for a striker and would wear away almost instantly.

If you want to make a striker you should find an old file. These are made from excellent steel and I only use well known brands of files for my strikers.
you can use unbranded files to make a striker but they are very hit and miss so you might not get a working striker out of it.

Cheers

 

[DaveBromley]

Mild steel can only be case hardened as far as i know, so would be poor as a striker. you could use it to make throwing knives though. these would need to be soft to allow for the shock of impact without damage.

Dave

 

[Gray]

Thanks guys, i knew about the old files but cheers anyway.its about an inch and a half wide, i hate throwing anything away and was just trying to think of possible uses

 

[Dave Budd]

stick it in the corner and one day (maybe 15 years time), you will find a use for it I'm still finding uses for junk stashed a decade or more ago



Oh, and technically mild steel is a carbon steel. By definition any steel is a carbon steel, since steel is an alloy of iron and carbon Mild is just a low carbon variety and for strikers you need a medium or preferably high carbon content. Just a little bug-bare of mine, along with firing an arrow and being described as a neolithic blacksmith.

 

[Gray]

Cheers Dave

 

[Stew]

Yeah, don't throw it. If you do, you'll only regret it the next day when a job for it suddenly pops up!