Will 01 tool steel spark well if made into strike-a-lights?

[tombear]

It suddenly occurred to me that buried in the materials box are the remains of the slab of 01 steel left over from making the big Nessie I did a few years back. It was too thick to make any small knives without having to remove ( or push around ) a lot of metal from the pieces left over. Being un heat treated it was pretty easy to work so if it's any good at sparking, once suitably hardened, I could use up the scraps making blanks of a variety of styles and then when the forge is fired up on Wednesday to soften up the files we can heat and bend the tails into the various styles.

Also it's occurred to me that one of the numerous jobs I've been putting off has been emptying the what's probably rancid cooking oil from the deep fat fryer before I clean it and put it away ( we are soooo fat! ) We've not used it this year, being vaguely good, so not changed the oil. Will it be ok for quenching? There's about 2 quarts of it.

ATB

Tom

 

[Dave Budd]

o1 does spark, but it's not the best by a long way. Your old files will produce better sparks!

As for the oil, yeah that will work too

 

[tombear]

Thanks ! That saved me from starting cutting. Looks like we will have to wait until the files are softened up.

atb

tom

 

[HillBill]

Are you talking flint and steel or scrapers for ferro rods?

 

[tombear]

Flint and steel.

atb

Tom

 

[HillBill]

Yeah, as Dave said, files are better... because they are a more basic mix of steel compared to 01.