Many years ago when I first got into knife making one of the first books I got mentioned forging crane cable into a blade.  I found that fascinated and wanted to try it.  At that time there wasn't a lot of information on the subject.  Here are some things I learned.

Steel rope, or as I like to call it "crane cable" can be divided into 2 steel families.  The first is stainless, these cables are either 200 or 300 grade austenitic stainless.  This isn't a grade that is suitable for…