"Will" wrote in message
...
Not that I really know what I'm talking about, but wouldn't the coil or
leaf
spring most likely be 5160 or something similar? Shouldn't you be able to
harden one of them to 56-60 Rc? And how about valve springs?

I don't know the alloys that are used for either one. I happen to remember
the axle alloys because I looked it up last year.

In any case, valve springs are very small and would be of limited use. I
doubt if there's any advantage to using either one for cutting tools, and Rc
56-60 is pretty marginal for cutting steel. It's generally accepted that you
need Rc 60 or more. 60 points of carbon isn't enough to do it, unless it's
combined with enough chromium to boost the hardening potential of the
carbon. I don't think that's the case with suspension-spring steel,
although, again, I'd have to look up the alloys used for valve springs.

--
Ed Huntress