I know this very vague information/question, but I was in a Lowe's store and checked out the steel.  I have no idea what kind it might be!  Can any one tell me what type they carry, and would it be acceptable for making a knife?

Steve

nooooooooooo any of that will just be mild steel. it will be good for making templates but that's about it, maybe bolsters...

Thanks bro!

ha! i just gave myself an idea. as long as it doesnt tarnish easily then i might be making some bolsters pretty quick without having to order steel or nickel

It will rust and tarnish quickly.  Chad

Oooh...shot down! lol

Good luck with it!

Man that stuff is great for practicing.  I have been using it to practicing the grind.  Had a cousin try to make a knife with it and all he got was a pretty butter knife.  Wouldn't harden worth a dime.

Most of the stuff hard ware stores carry is mild cold rolled or hot rolled steel.  These types of steels will not harden through.  You can case or flame harden them but even then they dont get that hard and it is very hard to make it consistant.

I've always been of the opinion that if you want to 'practice' (Hell, it's all practice to me!   ) you may as well use good carbon steel to begin with. That way, if you get a really good grind you can practice your heat/quench. If that goes well you can practice your temper. If all's good so far, practice handling. Then you can practice your leatherwork.

You'd be pigged if you did a really nice, top quality, even & level grind in mild steel & then couldn't do any more with it! I'd rather make 10 useful-but-not-so-pretty knives than 1 stunning-but-useless blade.

I totally agree with Rob!!Heck it only cost a couple of bucks a foot just buy good steel and don't drink that extra soda .Of course this is only my opinion

im with rob practice with the good stuff
or recycled material that has the potential to be a good knife

Thanks for all the responses!