Potentially Stupid Question

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ConneA98

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My dad has a sawzall (large reciprocating saw) he has used to cut mufflers. If equipped with a metal cutting blade, will it be sufficient for cutting A2 steel, or is it best just to stick with a high tension hacksaw?
 
Stick with the hacksaw. I have used a reciprocating saw, and, if I don't miss my guess, it would be a bear to control with any precision. The hacksaw is almost built for this.
 
Alright, I'll stick with that! I may need to buy a hacksaw, though, but they only tend to cost about $20.
 
Best with a high tension hacksaw. Cutting A2 would burn through blades on the sawzall pretty quickly. The sawzall would do okay at cutting the A2 into lengths, but not as well at profiling.
 
Make sure the hack saw you get says "High Tension" on the label. Also get a 10 pack of 24 tooth Lenox (or similar) bi-metal blades for it. The pack of blades will cost about the same as the frame, but the combo will last for years of metal cutting.
 
ConneA98 said:
My dad has a sawzall (large reciprocating saw) he has used to cut mufflers. If equipped with a metal cutting blade, will it be sufficient for cutting A2 steel, or is it best just to stick with a high tension hacksaw?
Click to expand...

now this was NOT a stupid question! good for you!

jake
 
bladsmth said:
Make sure the hack saw you get says "High Tension" on the label. Also get a 10 pack of 24 tooth Lenox (or similar) bi-metal blades for it. The pack of blades will cost about the same as the frame, but the combo will last for years of metal cutting.
Click to expand...

I checked amazon, and they have two kinds. One for "medium" metal and one for "heavy". Which do you think would be best?
 
Get the Heavy Cutting hack saw.

Your not going to end up doing precision work with a hack-saw, that's what your grinders and files are for.
 
Good for you ,asking a question that you think might be stupid. I have used a sawzall for this type of thing and unless you use them all the time they are a pain in the ass to cut where and how you want.
 
I tried a recip for 1/8" annealed 1080 once. I'm not sure I even got all the way through it once before throwing away a second blade and deciding it was a complete and utter waste of time and money. I can only imagine if the steel was thicker. Personally, as far as cheap options go, I think an angle grinder is the best. You can get them for the same price as a decent hacksaw if you go to somewhere like Harbor Freight, and for our uses the cheapo works fine for a long time.
 
I agree the reciprocating motion makes it difficult

Have a look and see if your dad has one of these

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i'm not sure i want to throw this out, but does you dad have an angle grinder? if you get a cutting blade they make quick work of roughing out blades but they can be very dangerous! if you go this route use caution!

jake
 
I use a 4.5" angle grinder that I got from Harbor Freight for 10 bucks. They have 10-packs of cut-off wheels for 10 bucks as well. They do make it very quick and easy to rough out the knife's profile. Like Strahd71 said, though, be very careful.
 
At age 15 and untrained in tools, I think an angle grinder is getting ahead of ones skills. Stick with things that don't move any faster than you push them.
 
The tools my dad owns are a power drill, jigsaw, sawzall, a crappy hacksaw, a few files, and sandpaper of almost any grit imaginable. Just to fill you guys in on my situation.
 
Go for the high tension hacksaw. There's no shame in using a little elbow grease and sweat to cut out a knife. I still use a hacksaw to cut my blades out.

Power tools can make the process go faster, but they can also make mistakes faster.

Ric
 
ConneA98,
Also, if you have read the "How to make a Knife" sticky, you will have learned that the "sandpaper" we use is metal working paper. Wet-or-Dry is the most common brand, but there are other very good brands. The sandpaper used for doing woodworking and sanding paint is not the right type.

A good file is the primary shaping tool for many people. It is also covered in the sticky.
 
That's the brand I have. I have woodworking paper up to 220 grit, but my metalworking paper goes multiple times higher.
 
I once split a w2 billet in half with a hacksaw (5/8" think by 14" long) works pretty good, but do as Stacy says and buy GOOD blades (lennox, KAR, Sandvik,)

it'll munch right through your A2.
 
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