mechanical hacksaw blades

J. Neilson

J. Neilson

Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
3,621
Hey all. Making damascus in the new shop now (I'll have pix soon). During the switch I came across some metal cutting blades for an old machanical hacksaw. They're about a foot long, 1 1/2" x 1/16" thick approx. I was thinking about throwing it into some damascus if I ould find out what it is. I sure don't think they're L6 like wood cutting blades. Anyone know?
 
J. If you can't find out, bring it with you next weekend and we will put it into a quick billet. Worst comes to worst you may use it for guards and bolster material.
 
J.,I made some knives using the big yellow Sterrat metal cutting blades, ground them down and put a diamond compound mirror polish on the blades. This is when I just started making. The .100 blades made pretty good blades, beleive it or not. I am gonna get flak for this, I know. Anyhow, the alloy content is of course HIGH, and the guys that bought the knives are still using them, and are happy. The stuff will rust like crazy if good care is not taken. I also made a good sized kitchen knife with the stuff for our HQ at work. Dang thing gets lots of use, and I sharpen it maybe once a year. The blades I used were not bi-metal, by the way. You would probably have pretty decent stuff for the entire blade if it was bi-metal. The softer part of the bi-metal saw blades does not seem to be much softer, just more flex and impact factor. The same company sells a thinner blade that measures .088, which makes a pretty good smaller blade. I did get to try out one of the blades of .100 on a road injured deer. While on duty I put it out of it's misery, but we could not find anyone to take it, not even the guy that hit it. After work I field dressed it, and the blade did a great job of going right up through the brisket of the chest cavity, even without a handle or guard on the knife. The customer that later received the finished knife with that blade was satisfied by the field test, too. Ol' Mike has dressed out several deer with it. The deer I field dressed? It was pretty good eating.
 
I'm with John. I've used them in damascus and by themselves. I have no idea what they are made of but they worked well. I have a dozen or so left and have been thinking about a new field knife myself. If you weld them up though make sure you grind all the paint off. They don't seem to weld as well if you burn it off.

Now on the other hand, The same place I got the hacksaw blades, I got a few dozen industrial paper cutter knives. I think they are D2 and I can't get them to work with anything!:eek:
 
Plain blades marked high speed are typically M2. If the plain blade isn't a high speed type it could be anything.

Bimetal blades are typically an M2 cutting strip welded to a ~1060 backing.
 
You can give the blade a rough test heat up the first 1/2 inch or inch then qhench it hit it with a hammer if it is hard and brittal the will snap off that will give you an idea is it is going to harden when finished.

My mate has even used his normal hack saw blades to make damascus. He puts layers of 3 blades side by side then a layer of something else, even thin mild flat bar from the hardware store. His always hardened ok but it you did not want to risk it it is good practice material for the bigginer to experiment with his welding heats etc.

I alsow use a fair bit of 1 inch wide band saw blade. I get it from the saw doctor. All the little of cut up to 3 feet long. Makes a good knife.
 
Depends where it came from, when etc. (:rolleyes: the joys of recycled materials...) But usually M2 as it has to be a high-speed steel to withstand heat buildup. I have seen some experienced makers and engravers who use a chop-saw and cut little slivers 1/8inch wide off these saw blades to make into engraving tools. Very cool. Jason.
 
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