crosscut saw steel

[WEB2]

i have some pieces of metal from a crosscut saw, the old type, anyone know generally what this steel is? i hear of people making knives from it so i figured it must be decent steel. thanks in advance.

 

[anvilring]

Here's a rustic chef knife from some of that steel...
another pic... it's usually L-6 which is high in chromium... hardens and tempers well: makes great kitchen knives... As you can see, you can leave some of the original rough finish on'em or take it all off.


ps. I noticed your post about table saw blades: if your not fully or at least edge hardening and then tempering, there's no telling what your going to come up with. Ya gotta hardern'em first!!

regards, m

 

[WEB2]

anvilring - thanks for the info on the table saw blades. nice pics of the knife from crosscut saw steel. i am going to try a few in that steel.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A lot of the older two man saws were 10XX steel,often 1080 range.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Great knife steel, I used to make lots,100s of kitchen and fillet knives out of old cross cut saws. You need to heat treat it though, it's too soft for good knives in the saw temper. These are most likely 10XX steel where some of the big circle saw blades are L6. With a spark test old cross cut saw throw a 10XX spark (a intense shower of bright sparks) and L6 throws a 01 type spark ( a less intense darker spark)

Don Hanson