making knives out of 3/8" thick woodchipper blades

I

ibanezplayer470

Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
95
My dad has 4 blades left over from the woodchipper that he sold a while back. he said that I could use them to make knives if I wanted, or else he would throw em away. Problem is, they are pretty damn thick, around 3/8". I have NO knifemaking experience, but access to quite a few tools. My thought is that I have two options to get thinner, useable blades from them. I could a) use a grinder, and as a result, lose quite a bit of metal or b) heat them up and hammer them out into thinner "sheets" and then cut the blades out. this would require heat (charcoal barbecue? or would I need to set up something a little more intense, with a powered air source?), a proper hammer, and an anvil... I have none of those.

Which would you think would be easier to do, and which would you choose to do? If I'm completely off the mark with both of these, how would you go about getting thinner pieces of metal to work with?

second question: Would they need heat treated? I'm assuming that they already have some level of heat treat because they were made to be used as blades... but I don't know...

thanks!
 
If they are quality chipper blades then they are probably very hard and will not be easy to grind. Expect to consume a good deal of time and abrasive reducing the thickness, likewise for shaping it into a knife blade.
In order to forge it you will need more heat than most barbeque's will generate, and after shaping the knife you will have to re-heat treat it. This can be a bit tricky if you have no idea what kind of steel it is. So, I must agree with the previous response-you are better off starting with known steel of a resonable size unless you really want to do it the hard way.
If you are intent on using recycle/salvage type steel you might consider using a file, they are a bit more predictable as far as alloy and are usually simple carbon steel which is easier to work with using low-tech methods.
 
I'd say there's probably someone out there on Craigslist or somewhere that will pay money for the chipper blades. Sell them and use the money to buy some known steel.
 
If it was a good quality chipper, the blades might even be something like D3 steel (sometimes also seen in big planers) -- if so, forget forging - and never mind simply grinding either unless you just want to make your abrasives supplier some nice money.
 
No, they aren't a good idea.

I have read your other post, too. Do a bit more reading on knifemaking...you have a few gaps in your knowledge to fill. There are several good makers up around DC, it would be nice to get together with one and gain some observation and hands-on experience. I assume you are a student,how old are you? Your dad may have to go with you to visit another smith.

When you are ready to get started, use a known and simple steel ,like 1080 ( especially with your limited HT resources). 1095 takes a more complicated HT than you may be able to do for starters. Plan/chipper blades and other scrap steel should be left until you have much more experience, and can determine if they are usable or not.

Stacy
 
first use a file to verify they are through hard... I have made knives from chipper and veneer blades, occasionally they were edge hardened. Then grind your knife shape, yes lots of grinding (keep them cool by dipping in water, every grinder pass if nesessary). Lots of work, lots of fun, I've made them out of 5/8" veneer lathe blades (had them analyzed as A8 mod after the fact), and on a 32" blade probably used 75$ worth of abrasives. That sounds like a lot but that much S7 would cost as much PLUS heat treat plus abrasives.

If you are looking to build a high performance blade that can be depended on, buy new, known steel, but there's lots of fuin to be had with your old chipper blades.
 
I tried one chipper blade 10 to 12 years ago. I believe the one I had was case hardened. Never could get it to harden up. Now I know to leave them alone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top