planner blades?

rotor

rotor

Joined
Mar 18, 1999
Messages
184
my neighbor gave me some wood planner blades
they spark well and even in there hardened state are not to hard to grind the piece i have is 12x2x5/32 it has a YA srounded by a box it has HCHC and the #694zec. any help would be appreciated.
 
I'm sure someone on here will know what kind of steel that is, but I want to say something in general about using old planer blades, saw blades, jeep springs or anything else for a knife blade.

Sure it will work, if you're very careful about not overheating it, which is tough. Many tools steels are tempered in the 400F range, and it is very very easy to heat steel to that temperature while you're grinding it. That is especially true as you get the edge down to its final working dimensions, particularly when it is hardened steel and your belt is running hot as a result.

If you get any steam off that blade when you dip it in water, there is a good chance it got too hot. Steam is 212F, right? No problem, right? Wrong! Steam when you dip it in water means that it is above 212F when you got it to the water. That means it was way above 212F when it was on the belt, because the bulk of the blade is a big heat sink and will pull the heat away from the edge, so the edge had to be way above 212F.

Steel is dirt cheap, and if you're going to spend many hours making a fine knife, why try to save $10-15 when it may end up costing you a decent edge on that fine knife?

My thoughts...


------------------
Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
 
Amen to that Jerry. I had a piece of spring that I was going to use for one of my Journeyman knives and I forged and started to finish it,when little specks showed up.I guess it was rust forged into the blades.It is cheaper to buy new steel than clean out the junk yard. Later Robert
 
I like working with junk steel for some things but the advise above is right. Most junk won't make a good cutting tool of any kind, in my experience. Car or truck springs are no good. They have not been made of 5160 in a long time. I made my first knife out of a piece of old harrow disc and I never did get the pits out. On the other hand, I've heard good things about planer blades. They should be good for knives and might be worth a try but I would do some experiments before making a finished blade. Good luck!
 
Older planer blades are D2, newer ones are D2, with a speckling of A2 from some companies.
You can often find them secondhand and unused, if you're lucky. I've made one knife from a D2 blade, and it's one of my better ones.
A2 and D2 both are air hardening, so everything that Jerry said goes double. They'll work harden and laugh at your most expensive belts. If you're forging, you have to be very careful with temps, or it develops cracks all through them as fine as spiderwebs.
Makes great knives, though.

------------------
Oz

"I'm politically opposed to the word 'Impossible'."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
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