Old saw mill blade analysis - 1086?

Lon Aguiar

Lon Aguiar

Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
96
I have an old circular saw mill blade that I picked up a while ago.
It's about 23" in diameter and 1/8" thick.
Finally decided to send a piece off to a local metallurgy lab for analysis.

Here's what I got back:

C - 0.871
Sn - 0.015
Mo - 0.001
Cu - 0.081
Fe - 98.33
Mn - 0.287
Cr - 0.074
P - 0.019
S - 0.018
Si - 0.151

The lab said it's similar to 1086 except for the manganese.
Any opinions on if it's 1086 or maybe something else?

Thanks,

Lon
 
That looks pretty close to it 1086..The only 1086 specs Ive got are Howard Clarks 1086m specs and that steel came from a trowel company, I just cant remember them off the top of my head right now.I know its has about .22 vanadium. I have one that's 8670m or very close to it because its got moly and will air harden to a good degree.Even annealed in ashs overnight you cant drill it..I have four more that I have not tested but are all very good steel.No moly but are good high carbon steel like yours..
Im actually glad you posted this, so many rumors out there of every saw blade being l6 and its just not true. Ive only seen very few blades spec out with anything close to l6 and they were more like the 8670m I already mentioned...Great steel! just not l6..
 
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It is a simple and tough steel. It is basically 80CrV without any V.
.87% carbon, just below .3% Mn and about 1% Cr. The rest is basically iron. It should harden easily in fast oil. Use 1084-1086 HT specs. It might even take a hamon.
 
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Manufacturers often go straight to the mill with chemical and/or mechanical specifications, rather than buying a 'type' or grade of steel. It is perfectly normal to see 'abnormal' results such as this.

As a basis for comparison, the 8670 I buy is:
C: 0.71
Mn: 0.47
Ni: 0.77
Cr: 1.34
Mo: 0.07
 
Where did you get it tested at. I have a huge coil of bandsaw blade steel that's 2" wide and about .07 thick and would like to know what it is. It's a bi-metal blade bug I have tested and made blades from it and it's very fine grin and hits 62-63rc with oil quench. I would to love to know what it actually is.
 
Very similar to 1086 & very good steel. The low Mn will make some nice hamon.

I also have a bunch of Howard Clark's 1086M. Specs are just about identical except the 1086M has .22% vanadium and a bit more manganese..
 
Depending on the age, they can be shear steel or blister steel. I had one about 36" diameter that was shear steel.
 
Actually it doesn't have almost 1% chrome. More like almost .1%. I would expect it to be some pretty shallow harding stuff. Could it be W1 in the lower carbon range?
 
Don Hanson III said:
This is also just another example of saw blades Not Being L6. :D
Click to expand...

Exactly why I mentioned it..I had a guy on iforgeiron one time basically call me a liar when I said that..Even after I produced several spec tests results he just said "yes they are"...maybe because he told me people that all the knives he sold them made from saw blade were l6 :rolleyes: saw blades like the op showed above are great steel, just not l6..Id be happy as can be carrying a knife made from the saw blade listed above..
If fact is he ever wants to trade on a knife sized piece of it id like to know :D via PM of course :thumbup:
 
Thanks for all the feedback!
Glad I spent the money to find out what it is and not just guess at it.
Looks like I got lucky that it is very similar to 1086 and should take a hamon.

I had it tested at a local lab here in MA called Sturbridge Metallurgical Services.
Price was about the same as some other places I checked with. I went with them because they were local.

Now I need to section it up and anneal it, or maybe send it out for waterjet cutting?
 
If you have access a plasma cutter is good to section them up with in to good sizes for annealing..waterjet would also be a good way to go if not to costly.
 
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