[TheForge] Re: Timken Case Hardening

[Ron Childers]

Some years ago I made a big knife out of an old axel bearing from a semi. I
was told it was 52100 and I tempered in oil. It chopped through a 2x4 and
would still shave, so it must have been pretty good steel. Also made some
smaller blades out of car axel bearings and big ball bearings; same story. 

It must have been dumb luck that the bearings weren't Timpkin. Which
manufacturers use 52100 for their bearings? Machinery's Handbook must have
contacted Monmoth, Fag, or some other company for their information on
bearing steels.

Ron C