How do you cut the blades..

There is the super cheap method where you drill holes around the shape and hacksaw between them. A vertical metal cutting bandsaw is used by most to rough out shapes. Some use a plasma cutter or water cutter if they have acess to the technology. If you plasma cut some of the steel will be fried and you will need to adjust the original shape size of the sutout to allow to grind this away.
 
I was under the impression that most makers used bandsaws to get the approximate shape of the knife and just grind everything smooth.
 
for now i am pretty much just letting the metal tell me what it wants to be. ill decide what random size chunk i want and hack saw out a quazi rectangle. then kind of look at it an try to see what shape will be good. mark of what needs to be roughly taken off before i go to my bench sander. pull out the angle grinder and get a rough shape. move on over the the bench sander and go to town. (this method doesnt work well if you are going to be trying to do exact shapes and sizes but i like it)

once we get the drill press my dad got for christmas set up ill probably do some of the drill out the shape and cut.

-matt
 
The Right Tool For The Job (as they say)... is a bandsaw with a bimetal blade.

The ultra-low-cost method was mentioned above: hand drill and hacksaw.

Somewhere in the middle, and this is what I use, is a 4.5" angle grinder ($20) and a 4" cut-off wheel ($2.75).

Mike
mscantrell at gmail.com
 
I use a hammer to "cut" my blades to shape:D but seriously. Harbor Freight metal cutting band saws are pretty easy on the wallet. Just make sure you replace the blade IMMEDIATELY with a good bi-metal blade.
 
the harbor freight is the way to go. i used to cut mine with dremel cutoff blade and it took 10 times as long but worked
 
AngleGrinder.jpg

:thumbup:

Matt,
Yep the cut-off discs go on the angle grinder.

Mike
 
I bought the Harbor Freight metal cutting band saw and ordered two bimetal blades from Fastenal. I had to have them special ordered. I have tried to cut some of the 1080 steel that I ordered from Kelly Cupples and the bimetal doesn't cut much better than the one that came with the bandsaw. I'm very disappointed in the bimetal blades that I purchased from Fastenal.

I'm wondering if they gave me a good blade or not. I'm going to check my receipt and the paperwork that came with the blades that I got when I get home from the trip that I'm on. I was expecting a cost of about $30 per blade and was only charged just over $12 per blade. I'm wondering if they made me blades out of the wrong material.
 
scottickes said:
I bought the Harbor Freight metal cutting band saw and ordered two bimetal blades from Fastenal. I had to have them special ordered. I have tried to cut some of the 1080 steel that I ordered from Kelly Cupples and the bimetal doesn't cut much better than the one that came with the bandsaw. I'm very disappointed in the bimetal blades that I purchased from Fastenal.

I'm wondering if they gave me a good blade or not. I'm going to check my receipt and the paperwork that came with the blades that I got when I get home from the trip that I'm on. I was expecting a cost of about $30 per blade and was only charged just over $12 per blade. I'm wondering if they made me blades out of the wrong material.
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Wrong baldes,maybe. You should have noticed a major difference. I didn't like using my bandsaw until i got the new blade. Now I even use it to get the ricasso shoulders pretty close to finished. I have also totally given up hot cutting.
 
I have a second one waiting at the Fastenal store for me to pick up. I've emailed the sales representative and asked if I really did get the good blade. When I checked the cost of a bimetal blade on Fastenal's website, it was in the $30 range per blade. She only charged me $12 per blade, so I'm thinking she miscommunicated what I needed back to the factory.
 
I forge blades approximately to shape sometimes, and sometimes, depending upon the project, cut the shape from the forging-hogging big chunks off with a 15-inch abrasive saw, then grinding closer with 36 grit.

For CAD-related projects, I waterjet a little oversize followed by milling to exact shape.

All depends on if you're making one or two or 300.
 
i just did the "drill and hack" method, and it works, but i'm sure a bandsaw would be better! but for my first blade, i figured doing it low tech (and low buck) would be best. now that that's behind me, i'm in the market for a bandsaw!
 
724wd said:
i just did the "drill and hack" method, and it works, but i'm sure a bandsaw would be better! but for my first blade, i figured doing it low tech (and low buck) would be best. now that that's behind me, i'm in the market for a bandsaw!
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It's the low-dollar method if you time and sweat are free!:D
 
The important thing is to use a HIGH TENSION HACKSAW. You can buy one at a hardware store. One of these and a twelve pack of good hacksaw blades will cut up most any steel.They cost about $25.Don't think that regular hacksaw you have will do the same - it won't.Trust me on this one.
Stacy
 
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