Saw Blades for bar stock?

B

brady.kevin07

Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Messages
369
I can pick up some old saw blades pretty cheap that I could use to make knives and just wanted to hear some opinions. I know some guys use them and some guys hate them. I'm just looking to practice knifemaking and work on my grinding skills. The blades are various sizes from 24 to 48 inch diameter so what do you guys think?
 
Go ahead and use it and sell them to environmentalists as a "green" knife from recycled material:rolleyes:
 
A known piece of blade steel can cost you as little as several dollars for carbon steel, up to about $20 for a premium piece of stainless blade steel for fairly large (long) knife, and of course a lot more if you start with damascus.

Either way, the initial cost of a known steel will assure success in heat treating after you have toiled hours on creating your first knife. Is saving $10 worth compromising the possible outcome of many hours of your work? That is for you to decide.

Mike L.
 
I would try and chat with Alan Davis as he uses them often and makes some really nice blades. I have made a couple out of two man logging saws for myself and they turned out pretty useful. I would give some advice but I am just a beginner and Alan has been doing this for a while with saw blades. It can be done, and done very well just you gotta be able to experiment a little or if you have the extra cash and you have enough stock to make it worth while send off a piece and have it tested to find out exactly what it is. Maybe not the best thing to learn on but you can make some nice blades out of them.
 
I say go for it. All the other points about known steel costing about the same or little more are entirely valid, but you do get some very nice steel from those old saw blades, often with character you don't find in new steel. The sizes you are talking about leaves you plenty to experiment with - cut a few strips, anneal them and then do different HT's to see which works best. Chances are they are one of a few steels, like W2, L6 (normally more on the 2 man logging saws) etc and their HT's are not that different. Once you have HT'ed test them by seeing how they hold an edge, doing the brass rod test (elsewhere on this forum) and bending them to see where they break. Once you have determined your best HT you can make quite a few more knives from a 48" blade.

This was made from an old saw blade:

utf-8BSU1HLTIwMTIwODA0LTAwNTYwLmpwZw.jpg
 
I love old saw blades....they make great shop wall decorations.
Most often they make poor knives.


What were the blades made to cut? Any markings? Photos would help.
 
I also say go for it, this chopper was made from about a 30" dia. blade. I'm going to
guess L6?-- I do know it Rc's out at 56-57, and done very well this last week on alders,
willows, sawgrass, and just about everything else swamp related. Would I use it on knives
I sell?-No, known steel is too cheap. Now and then I still play with unknown steels and
sometimes end up very happy with the results. This one will be around after I am.
Ken
102_1074.jpg
 
Best to use known steel.

BUT, the older, larger sawmill blades make fine knives. I only made around a thousand knives from it, my dad made well over that.

Saw steel is not W2, or L6. More like 1070-1090 with, or without nickle.

I did run across a couple smallish (16-20") blades with carbide tips that would not harden.
 
I love old saw blades....they make great shop wall decorations.
Click to expand...
:D @ Stacy.....

OK, let me redefine a little, and agree with Don - it is mostly on the older blades that you will find good steel. And I am talking about big (24"+) circular saw blades and the long two man logging saw blades in particular. As a general rule the thinner the blade relative to it's diameter, the better the chance it is going to be a decent steel, especially if it does not have inserted tips (the steel itself is sharpened). Anything that is small and thick, especially if it has carbide or tungsten tips, is likely to be less good. I like the character you get from the old blades, and I mean old - because that is where you get the pitting and scars and I have had some pretty decent results from them. And I like the "re-cycling" aspect of using them too.

I wholeheartedly agree that known steels are cheap enough not to warrant trying to replace them with old saw blades as a source of steel stock, but I also know that you can determine an effective HT for good saw blade steel with a little effort, if you like the character. Most of the older carbon steel have very similar HT procedures and they tend to be quite forgiving, so you can get good results with a little effort. I mean, 1090, or 1095, or W1 (add a bit of vandadium to either and you have W2) are the same, whether they are from an old saw blade or from new bar stock supplied by any of the knife supply shops. L6 is more problematic as what is toted as L6 isn't always, but like I have said, you can cut a strip or three and test.
 
Thanks for all the info guys and yes I am aware of the price of getting known bar stock but I have seen other guys make knives with them and I like the rustic pitted look it gives the knives that new barstock won't have. Plus I like to experiment so I think it would be a fun project
 
I used some older saw mill blades (.140 27" diameter) and they hardened very nicely and made a really tough knife, but they rust more than any knife I have ever seen. I also used a .180 31" sawmill blade that did have carbide teeth that hardened good aswell. It may make a nice knife and be cheap now but I will most likely never go back to using them. The steel you can buy pre- annealed is well worth the money, and is 10x easier because you wont have to anneal it, and you don't have to hassle with cutting it out of the big blade.
 
I like the rustic pitted look it gives the knives that new barstock won't have
Click to expand...
Me too, and that is to me at least, the whole point of using them.

they rust more than any knife I have ever seen
Click to expand...
Some of them do, that is true, others not - but they are carbon steel blades after all. I have a big Friction Folder I made from an old saw blade some years ago and that I carry in a pouch on my belt and use often as EDC and for hunting, which means it often gets full of blood and while it will rust if left unattended, maintaining it is not such a big hassle at all - just wipe down well and keep it dry - and oil every so often when you get a chance - I just use Ballistol:
Frictionfolder002.jpg

Next to a 30-06 round for scale:
Frictionfolder014.jpg


And I can tell you that more often than not, come second or third day's hunting, the other guys with their store bought (and sometimes custom stainless) knives are looking at borrowing this one to gut out and skin their game, because it is the only one with a decent edge left.
 
Good enough. I understand that some folks like the pitted look. Not my thing, but different strokes for different folks.

Since the OP was not familiar with these blades, my main question was if they were sawmill blades. The concrete saw blades, and the newer mill blades with carbide teeth, are usually not suitable steel.

As to the ability to harden a knife made from a saw blade, remember...you can harden 1040....it just doesn't make a good knife blade.
Unknown is unknown. Just because it will skate a file doesn't mean it will hold an edge. Willem has a good source and gets good results. Not every blade will provide that. A new smith may not have the skills and experience to tell one from another.

If one was to decide to use a large sawmill blade to make a hundred or so knives, I would suggest sending a 2"X2" piece for testing and then you would know exactly what it was.
 
bladsmth said:
Good enough. I understand that some folks like the pitted look. Not my thing, but different strokes for different folks.

Since the OP was not familiar with these blades, my main question was if they were sawmill blades. The concrete saw blades, and the newer mill blades with carbide teeth, are usually not suitable steel.

As to the ability to harden a knife made from a saw blade, remember...you can harden 1040....it just doesn't make a good knife blade.
Unknown is unknown. Just because it will skate a file doesn't mean it will hold an edge. Willem has a good source and gets good results. Not every blade will provide that. A new smith may not have the skills and experience to tell one from another.

If one was to decide to use a large sawmill blade to make a hundred or so knives, I would suggest sending a 2"X2" piece for testing and then you would know exactly what it was.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the information.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top