Key Questions to Ask When Ordering Spring Flat Steel

I just received a book on making lockback folders. In it they recommend using 1. spring steel for the spring as it will not rust. Does anyone know where I could buy some of this material, or is there a North American equivalent that I could purchase? Thanks in advance.

edit to add....the recommended diameter is 2mm (0.").

Screen shot taken from "Knife Steel Compositions" app.


They are likely referring to blade stock, but I would wait for more informed others to comment for a definite answer.

300 serie's steel are not hardenable, still won't rust and as rolled (work hardening) exibit enough hardness/springness to be used as springs as they are commonly used i.e. in food industry...
if you buy wire use it for your spring with no concerns

300 serie's steel are not hardenable, still won't rust and as rolled (work hardening) exibit enough hardness/springness to be used as springs as they are commonly used i.e. in food industry...
if you buy wire use it for your spring with no concerns

Good to know, Thank you.
I figured it didn't have enough carbon to harden, but didn't look much further into it seeing as how I was betting on a sufficient answer on here.

Thanks again. Not if you squirt a little WD 40 in there. Stainless generally doesn't work well for springs. Using work-hardened stainless is not a good idea. Work-hardened metals will be springy for a while, but as they move, they become more work-hardened -until they break.
This could very well be why people are always talking about springs failing or getting weak- perhaps those springs are made of low carbon, work hardened stainless wire. High carbon steel doesn't act that way. if you have the ability to heat treat you could, and maybe should use carbon or martensitic stainless, but for that type of construction the 300 serie would go just right.
You can bend the spring as you like to control the preload, and with that section and small range of movement you'll stay in the proportional range, hence no work hardening will take place to lead to the issue Bill correctly pointed out. On the contrary even carbon or martensitic stainless would fail for work hardening in the same application
All said, but i must add that i wouldn't use 300 serie's steels for the spring of a slipjoint knife where the forces are bigger and for galding concerns. Thanks for all the info gentlemen. I also ordered a book on making slip joints and will be using AEB-L for the back spacer/spring. Maybe I will try S35VN on one as I have some sitting here that I haven't touched yet. So many things I want to do and so little time. 301 stainless steel has been used for springs for many years, at least 50 years .I remember using it in the early s !! As a 300 series it can't be hardened by HT but work hardened instead.In the FULL HARD condition it makes fine springs , the right hardness and of course stainless !! Use it ! Think of bending a coat hanger wire until it breaks. As you bend it, it begins to stiffen. This is work hardening. If you keep bending it in the same spot, it breaks.
While 300 series stainless may have been used as spring material for a long time, it's quite inferior to high carbon spring wire, with the exception of corrosion resistance.

AISI

Stands for American Iron and Steel Institute. The institute serves as the voice of the North American steel industry. AISI numbers are used to categorize metals by alloy type and carbon content, and they do it with four digits. The first two digits of an AISI number refer to the alloy type, and the second two digits refer to carbon content.

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ALLOY

A metal made by combining two or more metallic elements. An alloy typically possesses qualities different from those of the components used to create it.

ASM

Stands for American Society for Metals. ASM International is the world’s largest association of metal material engineers and scientists. The association engages and connects materials professionals and their organizations to the resources necessary to solve problems, improve outcomes, and advance society.

ASTM

Stands for American Society for Testing and Materials. ASTM International is a not-for-profit organization that develops standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Metal with an ASTM designation meets the international standards for quality and regulations.

CUT-TO-LENGTH

This process levels coil into a flat sheet or blank. The service provides better length and width tolerances than sheared product, and it can improve diagonal tolerances as well.

DEBURRING

Cutting metals can leave behind burrs, which are unwanted raised edges or protrusions. Deburring is the process of removing these burrs with a tool.

DRAWING

Drawing is a metalworking process that uses tensile forces to stretch metal. As the metal is drawn, it stretches thinner, into a desired shape and thickness.

DRAWING TEMPERATURE

Drawing is usually done at room temperature, classifying it as a cold working process. However, it may be performed at elevated temperatures during special applications like on large wires, rods, or hollow sections in order to reduce forces.

ELONGATION

A metal fabricating term that refers to the degree to which a material can be bent, stretched, or compressed before rupturing. A metal’s elongation is a point between tensile strength and yield strength, and it is typically expressed as a percentage of the original length.

GAUGE

The thickness of sheet metal in the USA is commonly specified by a traditional, non-linear measure known as its gauge. The larger the gauge number, the thinner the metal.

HEAT LOTS OR HEAT NUMBER

A heat number is an identification number that is stamped on a material plate to prove it meets industry quality standards which require materials to be tested by the manufacturer. The heat lot or heat number is used to identify production runs for quality control purposes.

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EDGE ROLLING

Edge rolling is the process of adding finishing edges to metal. It forms the edge of a strip to the desired shape beyond that of a standard slit edge.

MIL STD

Stands for Military Standard. This classification establishes uniform engineering and technical requirements for military-unique or substantially modified commercial processes, procedures, practices, and methods. In order to qualify, materials have undergone rugged, exact testing, equal to the exigencies of combat use.

NORMALIZING TEMPERATURE

Normalization is a heat treatment that relieves stress on steel to improve ductility and toughness in steel that may harden after the cold working process. During normalization, steel is warmed to a temperature just above its upper critical point. Normalized heat treatment facilitates a more uniform final product.

ROCKWELL SCALE

The Rockwell Scale indicates the hardness of materials. Rockwell hardness numbers are most often used to describe the hardness of metals, although they are also used for some plastics. The Rockwell scale is based on measuring the depth of the indentation made by pressing a diamond point into a material.

SAE

Stands for Society of Automotive Engineers. SAE International is a global association of engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive, and commercial-vehicle industries. Materials meeting SAE standards are internationally recognized for safety, quality, and effectiveness.

SLITTING

Slitting is a precise shearing process, but instead of making cuts at the end of a workpiece like shearing, slitting cuts a wide coil of metal into a number of narrower coils as the main coil is moved through the slitter. During the slitting process, the metal coil passes lengthwise through the slitter’s circular blades.

TEMPER

Temper refers to reheating hardened, normalized, or mechanically worked steel to a temperature below the critical range to soften it and improve impact strength. Tempering results in greater toughness by decreasing an alloy’s hardness.

TENSILE STRENGTH

The maximum stress a material will withstand before fracturing or breaking. The ultimate tensile strength is calculated from the maximum load applied during the test, divided by the original cross-sectional area.

UNS DESIGNATION/NUMBER

Stands for the Unified Numbering System for Metals and Alloys. UNS designation provides a means of correlating internationally used metal and alloy numbering systems currently administered by societies, trade associations, and those individual users and producers of metals and alloys. This system is meant to avoid the confusion caused by using more than one identification number for the same metal or alloy, and the opposite situation of having the same number assigned to two or more different metals or alloys.

YIELD STRENGTH

The amount of stress a material can withstand before causing permanent deformity.

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