Forged a knife from a rusty horseshoe and it actually held an edge

Picked up a beat up old horseshoe at a flea market in Elizabethtown for 5 bucks. Forged it into a little paring knife just for fun, figured it'd be a wall hanger. Took it to my buddy's kitchen last Sunday and it sliced through a tomato like butter. Even after 50 chops on a walnut board the edge was still decent, so I guess farriers knew what they were doing. Anyone else try making tools from random scrap and get surprised?

4 comments

4 Comments

keithharris17d ago

People don't realize how tight the grain gets on old horseshoes from all that hammering and road impact. That metal's been cold worked more than most bar stock you buy today. You basically got a piece of high carbon that's already been stress tested for years.

verap5217d ago

Honestly, @olivia_carr7 that's exactly why I only grab shoes from old barn finds, the metal's already proven itself.

olivia_carr717d ago

Oh man, that's a great point! I actually read somewhere that blacksmiths back in the day would toss old shoes into their forge just to see how the metal held up compared to fresh stock. A buddy of mine who's a farrier told me he's seen shoes that were forged and refitted three or four times still hold an edge. It makes you wonder why more people don't grab them for knife projects instead of buying mystery steel online. Isn't that kind of history in a piece of metal worth something?

karen_hart17d ago

Right? That's exactly what happened with an old file I found in my grandpa's shed, figured it was junk but after grinding off the teeth and heat treating it, that thing takes a scary sharp edge and stays there forever.