Testing 6150

I started with some testing that the tool may see in normal use and it had no effect on the sharpness. Then I upped it by abusing the thing on a rock hard dead Dogwood Tree and still nothing. I finished it off by hammering it through a single 3/16” copper rod. The tool took no damage. Next I hammered it through a huge piece of copper cable consisting of 20 individual strands of 1/8” copper coiled together. The blade deflected slightly during that test. I took me all of 30 seconds to fix. In the video you will see one of my favorite sharpness tests. I tightly roll up some t-shirt material and draw the knife across it using the knife’s weight only. It still sliced many layers after all the testing.

I just finished cleaning 30 fish with the same machete, after all the tests and no sharpening at all. The thing is still razor sharp. I would use 6150 (https://www.blade6150.com/) again on a chopping blade or the like in a heartbeat. I really wanted to bend this thing to 90 degrees to see what happens but I really do not want to destroy it now because I like it. Credit: Chris Railey of Waynesboro Georgia

Knife maker Andy Alm is famous for his railroad spike knives, but he's also made some amazing blades with 6150 spring steel.

Andy had agreed to make a blade and to do some torture testing for us. We had no idea he was going to create such a stunning blade only to hammer it through a 3/16" solid steel bar.

Despite all of the abuse there was no damage to the blade. No cracks, no chips, bends, warps or defects of any kind. Not even a snag on his fingernail.

Andy Alm is a knife maker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, specializing in railroad spike knives. You can find (and purchase) knives made by Andy at AndyAlm.com

Here is the snap test of the 6150. Bill heated a sample in his dual burner propane forge.

The sample was heated to around 1600°F before quenching. It was not tempered afterward as he was really going for a quick rough idea here.

There are several glancing blows which have little effect on the sample. After several strikes we get full contact and a much stronger force finally causing the snap.

From what we can see, Bill also achieved some pretty good grain structure.

Here Bill does a file test of the 6150. This is the same sample previously used in the snap test video above.

Again we are pleased with the results. The heat treating has worked. The steel has become very hard and laughs at the file. lol says the 6150.

Bill then puts his file up against an "out of the box" sample. The file easily rips through the sample as it should.

Here is a pretty cool looking blade made by Bill from the 6150. He hammers it a few times through a brass rod. The first round the rod ended up wedged into a crack in the log. No damage to the blade.

Round two and we have a clean cut through the brass rod. Thank goodness for safety glasses and ball-caps!

No damage to the blade. No cracks, no chips, bends, warps or defects of any kind.