Knife idea

[User00056]

Hoping for some advice from the resident cutlers, please? I have a lot of my grandfathers old-fashioned drill bits and brace. I was wondering if these could be turned into a Damascus billet and then further into a custom chefs knife, also incorporating a section of the wooden handles? Would that be achievable, d'you think? I'll never use them as tools again, and I'll also never throw them away. But it would be lovely to have them turned into something I'll use on a daily basis

 

[Stuart Mitchell]

Assuming the steel is of blade quality, yes, that can be done.

 

[VSS]

Personally, I'd keep them as they are, and use them.
I have a similar selection, also inherited from my father and grandfather.

 

[User00056]

Assuming the steel is of blade quality, yes, that can be done

I think they'll be HSS. The certainly seem to be of really good quality steel. They're stamped 'The Irwin Bit', which I gather was an American manufacturer of high-quality hand tools

Personally, I'd keep them as they are, and use them.
I have a similar selection, also inherited from my father and grandfather.

I'll never use them. They'll just end up forgotten in the barn. I'd like to have something special made from them, and a chefs knife would be just the ticket

 

[opticron1]

As above, I inherited my brace and bit from my father, who had inherited it from his father.....still use them for bits of woodwork now and again. And if you ever want to do a bit of casual neurosurgery, these types of tools were used for burr holes and craniotomies not that many years ago!

 

[muddy42]

Old tool steel is generally of amazing quality. We have simply lost the metal working skills to make steel that is hard and sharp in the right places and strong elsewhere. I have some old beaten up chisels that are miles better than even the most expensive chisel produces today. You also hear theories that the post 1945 nuclear age has introduces trace radioactive stuff into steel produced after this, affecting the quality of steel after this. You definitely could have those made into a few damascus knives. I would use different wood for the handles, the existing wood is the wrong shape and not pretty enough.

 

[User00056]

I would use different wood for the handles, the existing wood is the wrong shape and not pretty enough.

That would be the plan, but I'd like to incorporate the existing wood into it as a feature (maybe an inlay or something like that).

I've read about the low-background steel. Apparently, plate from sunken WWI and II warships commands a premium price for scientific and medical equipment due to precisely this (where it can safely and ethically salvaged, of course)

 

[Bowland blades]

As others have stated the steel should be good , however if you want to see sections of recognisable drills in the billet and then the knives ? Its going to be a proper head stretcher.
The steel is likely to be 1090, 1080 hc or its kin , which are fine for making the billet but it will be possible to make the billet . Then you need to add contrasting materials in stainless to get contrast .
Old tools inho are best cleaned up some " while keeping much of the patina " and put them on display in a a nice wooden box felt lined .
I actually have a lot of my close friends old woodworking tools in the study , some of them will be over 100 year old as he had them passed down .
I really don't think you will happy with a billet of pattern welded design with nothing trully recognisable

 

[User00056]

As others have stated the steel should be good , however if you want to see sections of recognisable drills in the billet and then the knives ? Its going to be a proper head stretcher.
The steel is likely to be 1090, 1080 hc or its kin , which are fine for making the billet but it will be possible to make the billet . Then you need to add contrasting materials in stainless to get contrast .
Old tools inho are best cleaned up some " while keeping much of the patina " and put them on display in a a nice wooden box felt lined .
I actually have a lot of my close friends old woodworking tools in the study , some of them will be over 100 year old as he had them passed down .
I really don't think you will happy with a billet of pattern welded design with nothing trully recognisable

I wouldn't be worried about not being able to actually recognise the drills for what they were. Just a nice contrasting pattern would be great. I'd know what the blade was made from, and that would enough for me