Are table saw blades hard enough to use without heat treating?

Belstain

Belstain

Joined
Sep 17, 1999
Messages
320
I have a number of old 10 inch blades that i want to makes some knives with and i want to know if they are hard enough as they come or will i have heat treat them myself?

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I'm a Schizophrenic and so am I
 
Are the saw blades in question with or without carbide teeth?If they have carbide,in my opinion they arn't any good at all for a Knife blade.Next question is how do you plan on profiling the blade? If you use a torch heat treating is a must.In my opinion you should always heat treat that way you know what the hardness is.You can always cut one out and grind it then put it through a cutting test ( chopping-cutting )and check your edge,if you are happy with the results finish it if not Heat Treat it.Just my opinion hope it helps...Bruce
 
I have some with carbide and some without. I cut them with a dremel cut-off wheel. I am not planning on selling any knives made from this steel. I am making them just to test some new looks and maybe give a few to friends.
What RC hardness are these type of blades usually at?

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I'm a Schizophrenic and so am I
 
The way I understand it is that there is a lot of different kinds of metal used for saw blades.If it has carbide teeth it may be to soft to harden. I have made a couple out of saw blades without carbide teeth and they can be hardened enough.To hard could be a problem also.Like the man said make one test it and see
Take Care
TJ
 
If you are planning on giving your Blades to friends you really should check for edge holding or just go ahead and heat treat.The reason I say this is because friends and relatives usually are very proud of these knives and like to brag on them,you wouldnt want them to do this and go to show somebody how it will cut better than anything they have ever seen and then the knife fails to perform,not a pretty site huh.So I guess what I am saying is no matter how rough or beautiful the blade if it doesnt perform it's just metal made to look like a knife and good for nothing!!!!Let them be proud!!!! The steel in most saw blades is L6 It is not hard to heat treat, in the long run you are better off heat treating the knives you plan on finishing.if you just eant to practice or make patterns,you can use just plain old cold rolled mild steel but mark it as such. You dont want a rep. that your knives arent any better than a $2.00 Flea Market Special.I know this sounds harsh but a rep now will take forever to overcome no matter how good your blades are.

[This message has been edited by beknives (edited 04-25-2000).]
 
In a previous thread Gerome Weinand indicated that saw blades were not hard enough without heat treatment:

"I use about 10 or 15 large saw blades 20 inches around a month making damascus there is not any saw blade hard enough to qualify for a knife blade without heat treating."

There have been several threads about heat treating L6 in Shop Talk and in the Shop Talk Archives.
 
I made several, probally 20 or so, parring knives from some old saw blades. The first few I didn't heat treat, just tried not to over heat with the grinding. They took a nice edge but didn't stay sharp long. The good part is that the edge returns with a few strokes of the sharpening steel.
I started heat treating by just bringing to critical (non magnatic) and oil quinching with a 1 hour draw at 350 degrees. Makes a big difference and they don't seem to rust as quickly. Good pratice.
Lynn
 
gentlemen according to my hardness tester most saw blades are rc30 need i say more

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All that is not Given Is Lost
 
Thanks guys!!! I will be heat treating all my blades from now on. I had just figured that if the blades are tough enough to cut all that wood that they would probably work well enough without heat treat. Thanks for the help everybody. I'll be giving away a few knives (ATS-34 NOT sawblades) in the next month or two so keep an eye out kuz I'm gonna have some fun.

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I'm a Schizophrenic and so am I
 
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