Old Sawmill Blade - What to Cut With?

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NecktieWalter

Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Messages
2
Hello,
I have an old sawmill blade which I'd like to make a knife from. I've tried drilling it with a power drill, using "wood and metal" bits, and I've tried cutting it with a jigsaw using a high-gauge metal blade. The jigsaw did nothing, and the power drill only made it through a very thin layer of rust, making no impact on the steel underneath. Any ideas? Would a rotary tool work? Cheap is nice.
 
Those old saw mill blades are hard! I use a thin cut off disc in a hand held angle grinder to cut sections. Even if you're doing stock removal, I'd suggest doing at least three normalizing cycles and an anneal cycle before heat treat. These blades had a built in warp to keep them spinning straight and that can really cause a problem. Good stuff when heat treated right. My cutting test put it right up there with 01 and 5160.
Rick
 
check out harbor freight for dremel size diamond cutters and
ask the local Vocational School for assistance in using their Plasma cutter.:eek: you must clean the rust off the surface or moisture trapped in the rust will burn out plasma tips fast.

or, a 4-1/2 inch angle grinder with a cutoff wheel can get the job done.:thumbup:
i've used all of these techniques with some success.:D
buzz
what Rick Lowe says , works well, takes a little practice but you can get'er cut.
 
The fiberglass wheels they sell for Dremels can work great for cutting out blades. I have a machete from when I first started blade making and bit off more than I could chew in the garage that I cut out of .44" steel with fiberglass dremel wheels.
 
Norton makes a 7 1/2 fiber abrasive cut off blade with a 5/8 arbor, fits a table saw perfectly. I have used that for big jobs, like cutting 1" mild steel square bar, 1/4 steel plate, and also 154CPM. Just watch out for the kickback! The blade is less than $20 also. That bandsaw blade should be no match for that cut off blade on a table saw. Just watch where the sparks go. I was standing in the wrong place, and the sparks burned a hole in my shorts. Shame on me for not wearing proper shop clothes!
 
i use cultivator discs in my blades and before my friend offered to cut them with his plasma torch, i had to grind a groove 3/4 the way through then break off what i wanted. that way you dont have to grind all the way through to cut a piece.
 
I'm with Rick on this one. Few minutes of practice with a sidegrinder and a short stack of cut off disc will get the job done quickly. Just do it outside the sparks are definite fire hazard. Think you'll find dremel work on a sawmill blade rather frustrating and tedious at best. Besides you can get a HF 4 1/2" side grinder and 10 cutoffs disc for around $20. You'll find a million other uses for the grinder as well, like profiling, scale busting, etc. Just be careful as they have a lot of torque and will try to get away from you sometimes. Good tool to have around.
Bad time of the year for it (around here at least) but you can crudely anneal the saw blade in a burned down campfire after vespers. Then you can slice it up with a portaband and a bi-metal blade with very little waste. My prefered method.
 
Thank you all for replying, I'm going to attempt the angle grinder method. Thanks again, very helpful - and fast!
 
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