Admiral L6

G

Guy Thomas

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
1,370
Have any of you tried using Admiral Steels L6? Have any trouble getting it to harden or anything unusual to report?
 
I have some but haven't had a chance to use it yet. Have you had some problem with any L-6 from admiral?
Take Care
TJ Smith
 
I have only heard good things about it. Have you found otherwise? Im thinking about ordering some soon.
 
Nope, I haven't had any problems with it. Someone I was talking to mentioned having trouble getting theirs to harden. I've got a bar of it and it was a great value from Admiral (except for the shipping!), but haven't had a chance to use any yet except to rough forge a blade (it's very stiff under the hammer!)

What you guy's have said is good news. I like L6 a lot but I hate cutting up big circular saw blades to get it.
 
How DO you cut up big circular saw blades for L6? I have a couple of them, I've been putting this project off until I get a great idea on how to do it. Of course if someone here just tells me, it'll save time! Thanks.
 
Whit, I cut them up (as carefully as possible!) with my angle grinder and a thin cut off disc that is made for the angle grinder. Don't try to cut any curves this way, just nice straight slices. Wear your safety gear if you attempt this! (And don't set yourself on fire either with the sparks like I did!)

David Boye used to cut out knife blanks from large saw blades with an acetylene torch, cutting about 1/4" outside the blade outline.

I haven't tried it yet but metal cutting blades on a jig saw might work. These big saw blades aren't heat treated very hard, files cut right into them fairly easily.
 
I always cut saw blades up with an oxy acetelene torch. You just have to be careful and warm up the surrounding area of the blade. The first one I cut on I didn't know about that trick and about 5 minutes after I was done I started hearing strange noises and looked at the saw blade and it had cracks all over the place. If you use the saw blade steel, be sure to anneal it before grinding drilling or sawing on it. It's pretty hard the way it is.
 
I use a oxy act torch to cut out my blades. In fact I learned how to use the torch right here on the forums. You can cut with very little slag and a very small cut. Stay 1/4 inch away from final profile.I have a bunch of pieces from 30 -40 foot band saw blades. Makes nice knives.
Take Care
TJ Smith
 
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