Pelican Parts Forums - Zombie Knives....

Anyone read Cormac MacArthur's "The Road"?

It deserves it's own thread amongst the zombie-fighting survivalists around here. But I remember a part where the father sees a war tribe passing by, and one of the weapons described is a sword or spear made out of a truck's leaf spring.

I looked this up on the interwebs, and seems like it's common practice around the world. Here's a snippet from a how-to article on the topic of making leaf spring swords:

How to make cheap and effective war swords

The sword is described in this series of articles is a simple hand and a half sword that could have seen action through the medieval and renaissance period. According to the taste and needs of the maker each of the components can be modify to a variety of forms without significantly changing the method of manufacture. It is strongly suggested that simplicity is best for beginning projects.

Part 1. Getting Started

Picking a leaf spring: No small operation can hope to make for better steel than big business so it is to be expected that auto manufactures can make stronger steel than we can ever heat treat ourselves. The leaf spring in most cars is hard enough and tough enough to eat every commercially available sword that I could find in almost 30 years of destructive testing. Leaf springs are easily available at junk yards all over. Most yards usually have a pile of hopelessly unmatched springs that can be had at scrap prices. It is generally easier to get lots of leaf springs than to get just one. There is a wide variety of leaf springs available to choose from. The hardness is of major concern so if given a choice use a small file to sample the hardness of each rack. The file will bite more in the softer springs. Get the hardest ones for the best swords, and the softest ones for the easiest straightening. Some are thicker and thus more work to grind down but again are better swords. The narrow springs are easier to straiten and less work to taper but nothing matches a long thick wide spring if you have the juice to straighten it. If you have almost no tools and little investment money pick up a narrow thin spring like those found on mini-pickup trucks. The hole in the spring is a big deal so the longest springs allow one end to be cut off placing the hole closer to the handle....