What is the easiest steel to forge for a newby?

[R H Clark]

I want to do some forging on my home made coal forge.Maby a better question would be which is easiest to heat treat with primitive methods.

[tomh]

short answer is 1080 or 1084. I am sure others will chime in. Just make sure you have a known steel from a good source and it will save you a lot of frustration and trial and error.

[longbow55]

Sept 11-12    American Forge Council Conference at Tannehill state part. Bet there will be lots of good info at this. Would love to attend this one day.

[chris amos]

Any of the 10 series steels are great, I like 5160 myself. Tomh is right, be sure you know what you have, otherwise your heat treat and temper will be different every time. Good luck and enjoy!

[R H Clark]

Thanks everyone.I have some leaf springs from a 70's Chevy truck I'm going to do some practice work on but will get known steel when I practice hammering a little.

I will assume the springs are 5160.Where do I get info on heat treating?

[Lin Rhea]

The first one, top left side. I draw my 5160 at about 350-380 degrees depending on the use of the knife. Lin