Need Help Identifying Steel

J

JacobLeSann

Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
17
Don’t want to paint myself as a newbie or anything but I like to use recycled steel from old tools and so on for my blades. I know the processes involved and the cost-benefit ratio being worse than just buying new steel but meh I’m just like that haha.

Anyhow I have a planer blade I was given a while back and I’m not sure what to do with it. I had two and one of them I cut up for testing. Very hard, very brittle, easily chips.

Don’t have pictures but the blade is labeled “PMO” with a circular saw blade as a logo, to the right of it is “No. 6”.

I’ve heard these are A2 or D2, which I probably shouldn’t mess with. Is there a chance it’s something I could work with?

Any help greatly appreciated.
 
A2 D2 carbide ????? you don't know … do you? haha

The point is that it could make a blade, and you could try and HT it, and it could come out OK … but you should get a known steel if you want a good blade.
 
Years ago I tried to make a knife out of a commercial planer, chipper blade. It may or may not make a good blade, They are very hard to grind and will use up a dozen belts to profile and grind the bevels. I tossed the rest of the blades in the recycle bin because I had no way to anneal or heat treat, Good luck.
 
Craig Daniel said:
Years ago I tried to make a knife out of a commercial planer, chipper blade. It may or may not make a good blade, They are very hard to grind and will use up a dozen belts to profile and grind the bevels. I tossed the rest of the blades in the recycle bin because I had no way to anneal or heat treat, Good luck.
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Dozen belts to grind one blade ?? Well , speed UP your grinder and use ceramic belts my friend :) In this part of the world , most planer blade are made from T1 18% Tungsten HSS steel....:D
Quality planer blade are made from premium steel .........
Each one is forged from a premium grade of European D2 High Speed Tool Steel which is produced in the famed Bohler Steel Mill in Austria. We specify a Rockwell hardness of 60 HRC to maximize abrasion resistence
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make search about them ;)
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
That may be true for one brand, but others vary, and carbide is common here in the USA.
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It will be cool to make knife with carbide edge .They last ten times more then HSS blade :) Too bad that I still have not find one ...for light use on food will be great knife :thumbsup:
rW37v2N.jpg
 
I do have a known steel, or a few of them. I commonly use 60” sawmill blades that I find at yard sales etc. I otherwise use leaf springs. L6 and 5160 I think, I enjoy working with those steels.

The steel does not have a carbide edge, but it is still very brittle. Not enough to smash in half but enough to chip easily. 70 Rockwell sounds correct. I’d like to try and test it but I’m not sure if it’s an air hardening steel or not.

A shame that I can’t use it though, nice dimensions for a knife or maybe a chisel.
 
Natlek said:
It will be cool to make knife with carbide edge .They last ten times more then HSS blade :) Too bad that I still have not find one ...for light use on food will be great knife :thumbsup:
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Unfortunately, just the opposite is true for tungsten carbide. Way too hard (most around 92-94Rc) and chips out like crazy. A modern powdered metal will get plenty hard & hold an edge much longer.
 
Natlek said:
What if I sharpen knife like this ? One side of edge steel other carbides ?
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All conventional information I'm aware of says tungsten carbide won't work worth a crap for a knife.... However, there was also a point in time when people were laughed at trying to say the earth was round.

I say go for it! Just let us know how it works out!
 
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