Blacksmith with a Forge?

[BamaBrad]

I am looking for someone who has a forge. I have some CPM-M4 steel along with some DHP steel I would like a few 3-4” fixed blades made out of. I would like to trade some steel for some knives, if not how much for someone to make a couple knives with my steel? Thanks

 

[Retired Army]

Maybe nicaburns or 36fatfriends can point you in the right direction?

 

[36fatfriends]

Never got into hammer forging. Just stock removal here.

 

[nicaburns]

I forge but neither of those are traditional high carbon forging steels and, from what I can tell, they don’t follow a heat treat schedule that I could perform with my equipment.

 

[C Rex]

Both are difficult to forge due to their very short window of malleability - one or two hits per heat and the special alloying makes them very stiff to move even at the correct heat. Get outside the heat window and you do unrecoverable damage to grain structure. Therefore not a go to steel for smiths.
Basically they would be a stock removal steel and would require specific and sophisticated thermal cycling capabilities, pretty much beyond the average bladesmith/knifemaker.
Most CPM steels will make excellent blades with the proper thermal cycling, but not sure about M4. Got no idea on the DHP. Knowing the alloy mix would be important and will affect any results.
Trading steel for a custom knife ..... well like trading used tires for a running car. You're going to have to add a lot of boot to make that work fairly.

 

[41mag]

Interesting info…. Especially for the layman , like me.

 

[BamaBrad]

Both are difficult to forge due to their very short window of malleability - one or two hits per heat and the special alloying makes them very stiff to move even at the correct heat. Get outside the heat window and you do unrecoverable damage to grain structure. Therefore not a go to steel for smiths.
Basically they would be a stock removal steel and would require specific and sophisticated thermal cycling capabilities, pretty much beyond the average bladesmith/knifemaker.
Most CPM steels will make excellent blades with the proper thermal cycling, but not sure about M4. Got no idea on the DHP. Knowing the alloy mix would be important and will affect any results.
Trading steel for a custom knife ..... well like trading used tires for a running car. You're going to have to add a lot of boot to make that work fairly.

I see your points and that makes sense. I didn’t know if adding another metal would help it out or not. I’m definitely not a blacksmith but curious if it was possible. Wouldn’t mind paying for it either I just thought I could offer some steel as well, as an option. I appreciate your advice.

 

[C Rex]

Totally understand what you wanted, just those particular metals pose serious thermal cycling issues for most smiths. I hate to see wasted metal as much as anyone and I do use a lot of repurposed steels in my bladesmithing, but those two are beyond use for the average blade maker.