Leitz Saw Blade Material

Z

zcostilla

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Dec 20, 2005
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I have a friend who does commerical construction of cabinetry who will be giving me about a half dozen saw blades. He says that they cost around $250 a piece. I looked up Leitz online, but found no specifics about what is used in the blade. Does anybody have any ideas? Do the Germans use different tool steels than Americans? I'm hoping to get several knives out of the blades if I can figure out what steel it is and how to anneal and or temper it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Zac Costilla
 
Leitz is an optic, Binocular,, Scope and Camera manufacture of the highest order. World famous for their Superior quality. Perhaps they have bought a metal working business. Mike
 
If your talking about industrial hack saw blades It will be a custom blend. That breaks down to 1075 for the blade and M2 for the teeth (assuming it's bi metal)
If not, it could well be high speed steel throughout. In either case, if your careful and don't get it too hot, there's no need to heat treat.

Drilling for the screws, rivets, etc can be a bitch. Spot anneal those places by punching and then heating with a nail in your drill press at high speed.
 
Peter,I think they are circular saw blades.They can be made from many steels.Most not good for knives.If the teeth are carbide,the core is usually a high chromium,mid to low carbon steel - not a good blade steel.
The old theory that all saw blades are L-6 is not true anymore.In fact it is hardly ever true,anymore.
Stacy
 
I didn't even think of that Stacy. Your right. Once in a while you get lucky on the large blades and get L6 and a lot of the really big blades are 4140. The 4140 is good for a lot of things but not knife blades, and the L6 is rare.
 
Some of the large circular saw blades are very good steel. I had some tested in a lab (foundry)for content and can't call them a known number but real similar to 1084, but with some additional elements. These are the ones with carbide teeth brazed onto the blade. I have made knives and hunting axes from them for many years and have always had very good feed back on their performance. The size of these blades are 24-26 in. dia. and about 3/16" thick. C=0.660 Mn.692 Si.273 P.007 S.008 Cr.343 Ni .0588 Mo.003 Al.023 V .002 Cu.0518. I have used other steel in my knives but this is one of my favorite steels for knives, hawks and axes. It continues to be a mystery steel until it is identified, just like other steels. Everyone will be guessing...... If you work it and do some of the afor mentioned test then you will know if or not you can use it for a knife. Some great materials are passed by because many asume things that might or might not be correct. We all can see the same depth with our eyes, therefore do a spark test, a brake test, flex test and a hardness test, then you will know if or not to spend your time making a knife from it. One needs to have a good supply of what ever it is in order to spend time or money trying to dicover its knife making possibilities. I haven't done much with the smaller blades but it might be good to determine their worth.
Ramsey
 
First of all, thanks to everyone for their insight.

Second,

Ramsey said:
I have made knives and hunting axes from them for many years and have always had very good feed back on their performance. The size of these blades are 24-26 in. dia. and about 3/16" thick. I have used other steel in my knives but this is one of my favorite steels for knives, hawks and axes.
Ramsey
Click to expand...
How do you heat treat or anneal the steel to get the right hardness?

Ramsey said:
If you work it and do some of the afor mentioned test then you will know if or not you can use it for a knife. Some great materials are passed by because many asume things that might or might not be correct. We all can see the same depth with our eyes, therefore do a spark test, a brake test, flex test and a hardness test, then you will know if or not to spend your time making a knife from it. One needs to have a good supply of what ever it is in order to spend time or money trying to dicover its knife making possibilities. I haven't done much with the smaller blades but it might be good to determine their worth.
Ramsey
Click to expand...
I've never done a spark test. How can I do it? Does it take special supplies? What safety precautions are to be taken for a bend test? I Don't want the steel to snap and end up with a flyer sticking me in the process. I'm just getting into it and am working out of my garage.

Thanks again for all the help.
 
Hi Zac, I deal with Leitz blades on a daily basis. The mob I work for are agents for Leuco, their arch enemy (both German). The blades your mate has are worn out carbide tipped circular saw blades, 300mm diameter with either 72 or 96 teeth.The "plate" or body of the blade that you will be using is made of good quality clean steel. The plates are tempered but realatively soft, around 48 RC. To add some stiffness they have a shallow ring pressed into them abot 3/4 of the way out fom the bore(centre). They also have lasercut exspansion slots to minimise warpage when they get hot. I have not used it to make knives but am guessing it won't go much harder. I recon it would do well in a damascus mix with something of a higher carbon content. Experiment with heat treating the stuff before you bust your nuts making a blade out of it.

regards Peter.:thumbup:
 
Zac,
I would suggest purchasing some knife making books such as "The Wonder of Knifemaking" by Wayne Goddard. A book by Tim McCreight "Custom Knifemaking" and also "Step-by_ step knifemaking" by David Boye are excellent for a background in basics and well worth your investment. Sometimes you can find these books used and save some bucks. You can refer to. http://www.knifehow.com/2.html lots of great information here as well as other places. Always practice safety and wear the proper eye etc. protection. I know makers who have lost an eye and only takes a fraction of a second to happen.
Ramsey
 
Thanks again for the help. I'll check out those books and I'll look into heat treating as well. I contacted the complany about the materials as well, and hopefully they will get back to me.

Zac
 
Well, Leitz won't give me any information. They claim that the saw blades are proprietary. I got the blades from my friend John. I am going to try to get them to another friend's who has a plasma table and one of those cool computer controlled cutters to make a couple blade blanks. It they don't work out as blades they can always work for templates.

Thanks again for the help.

Zac Costilla
 
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