Not the last cut

I never did mention on this post: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=449613 That this knife was from a piece of rusty 3/16" saw steel that I'm pretty sure is L-6.

Pre forms are what Robert thought I ment by starting with a ruff profile but I even went with a pre form of the tang that was around 2" in length. Alot of what I did with saw steel in the past is I forged in the tangs that would give even more distortion. After the forging I will either go ahead and grind the whole blade or I may just clean up the profile, do the heat treating and grind the blades. As far as pits go using this method I may get 1 or 2 pin point pits but most the time there are none.

Soaking in vinegar will work even better if the vinegar is heated up. I have several electric skillets I've picked at Goodwill or Salvation Army and one that I borrowed from my wife that come in handy for a number of things.
 
Thanks Robert, and thank you too Raymond, I thought that was what you meant. It sure is good to have such a wealth of knowledge at you finger tips. Ya'll are the best .
jc
 
Beautiful knife Robert, the rest has been said. I like working the sawblade steel even though it's a thin start sometimes. L6 and 15N20 seem to forge easy and behave well in the HT process. Make great cutters. Have you tried going for a longer warm etch with the vinegar, then a light sanding with 2000 grit? Sometimes you get some of the interesting grain exposure pulled out similar to what Raymond does on his shear steel, just more subtle.

Have always heard that there's enough nickel alloy in them to reduce the rusting potential making good kitchen knives. My wife sure likes them as does the local Japanese steak house and my buddy Henri', owner and chef at Henry's Cajun Resturant.

JC...short term memory getting away from you? We (Mark and I) covered pre-profiling in that experimental weekend class at Trackrock a couple of years ago........Kaint teach the boy nuthin!
I almost always do that on thinner stock to avoid potential rollover and distortion as Raymond and Robert mentioned above. Too much distortion can lead to warpage problems as well.
 
[QUOTE=Sometimes you get some of the interesting grain exposure pulled out similar to what Raymond does on his shear steel, just more subtle.

Crex, Grain and subtle patter will vary a lot from the same saw steel depending where it was in the same saw blade. Wayne Goddard tells me that the old saw blades were rolled out simular to a pie crust. I've done a number of blade out of one that I'm sure is L-6 and they all are different.
 
Ray,
That Nessmuk is beautiful, however, from the looks of it, your starting piece of sawsteel was not as rusted and pitted as mine.

This piece that I used had some serious pitting.

Robert
 
Robert, When I first got that saw blade it was perfect and even though it went threw the shop fire its still in pretty good shape. I know what your talking about when you say deep pits. The first saw steel I messed with I'm pretty sure it was in a Williamutte River for at least 50 years. It looked like the surface of the moon.
 
Rust and pitting just add character to the patina, unless you're going for the "high shine".
Day was beautiful, so once I finished my chores I got to forge a little. Went for the SB slabs I already had cut (just 'cause of this thread) and knocked out four blades for HT tomorrow. Would have done more but it got dark on me early when the clouds rolled in. Maybe I can get one of them to turn out purty as yours, Robert.
 
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