Saw blade fofr a first knife

smitty0331

smitty0331

Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
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I have an old saw blade that has broken teeth and cannot be re-tipped, so I brought it home from work to use as my first blade, my question is can anyone tell me if it is a safe bet to use? Also, I'm wondering what the alloy is, or might be.
 
I think most of the responses you are going to get are: rather buy the real thing, and then you know exactly what you have and what temps to heat treat it at etc. These are very valid point as saw blades, lawnmower blades etc can be made of a wide range of material that arent particularly ideal for a knife. Probably the safest scrap to use if old files, but still not an ideal scenario.

Good luck and welcome to BFC

Lang
 
Hi and welcome.

Like Langchop said, people will tell you to get known steel- it does take out the guess work for the heat treat. I agree with both opinions. BUT the best argument for using it is...You already have it at the house, why not give it a try...no waiting for a shipment, explaining to the wife why you have to spend money to make something you won't sell. I believe in using what you have, especially to try new ideas out on. You will still have to shape, grind and heat treat the blade, even if you buy a known steel like O1. I always feel like I am not wasting good steel when I do a blade out of this stuff and really goof up- it was usually either free or cost less than a dollar a blank. Plenty of people have first knives made out of saw or mower blade steel. "$50 Knife Shop" and "Blade's Guide to Making Knives" both have Wayne Goddard making knives out of an old mower blade with a home-made grinder and some files- his view for the articles was to make a knife with what you had handy- the best equipment and materials mean nothing without skill.

Is it a circular saw or band saw or what? Thickness and diameter or blade width/length? width/length? Cut a few small pieces off, notch them and heat them to non magnetic (one at a time for the next step). Quench the first one, see if a file slides off it or bites (sliding is good-means its hard) and see if it snaps off in a vice at the notch. If it does, then the steel hardens. Get your oven up to 400 and temper the next one you quench for an hour-slight bite with file, straw color to the steel. Try different temperatures in the oven, maybe to 450 to temper the other pieces after you quench them. Take notes on the temps. Depending on the size of the saw blade, you can get quite a few knives out of it. A Dremel with heavy duty cut off gimmicks works great for getting the most blade out of a circular saw if you don't have access to a plasma cutter or torch.

Enjoy the experience and get known steel when you want. Of course, if you figure out the right heat treat temp, you have at least 3 blanks (or a lot more if you do partial tang or have a big saw blade) of known tempering steel, even if you can't name the actual type of steel.
 
second to what langchop and that other guy said, I find that a full tang constructing, as well as being sturdy and easy to make, are easier to grind because it has a greater flat area to take a "bearing off of". Keep it simple and have fun!
 
Like The Other Guy said, we don't have any idea what type of saw it came off of, so it would be impossible to tell if it would make a blade.
I never recommend a new maker using "found steel" as a starter material.
The info given is good , but you will still be shooting in the dark. With experience you can do those tests and understand the results. Right now you don't have a basis for deciding what "hard" is. You can get enough steel for several knives for $10. Try Fastenall for O-1 or spring shops for 5160.
Stacy

Welcome to the world of making knives!
As you have noticed, there are as many opinions on how to do it as there are knife styles.
 
Thanks for all of the good advice everyone, without all of this input, I would really be spitting in the wind. I had actually considered usind D-2 for my first blade based on an article I read. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? My first knife is going to be a drop point utility/hunter with a 3 1/4'' blade. Where can I find all of the common steels I might wind up using? McMaster-Carr seems to be a little limited on their selection.
 
Admiral steel, or if you want to take the plunge, get your steel directly from Crucible steel. They have a version of D2 if that is the route you want to go. The cheaper route would be to get a 10XX steel, it is less expensive and easier to HT on your own. If you spend the money for more expensive steel you might want to send it off to get HT'ed. Just in case you are not comfortable doing a home HT on an expensive steel. Paul Bos does a great job, albeit a bit expensive. but, you have the piece of mind that the HT is dead on. Every time.
 
D-2 is a little tough for a first steel.
Try O-1, 5160, or 1080. Most knife supply houses carry these, as do Admiral and other steel suppliers.
Stacy
 
what Stacy said, I love O1 personally. For the small extra cost, a flat piece of known steel is awesome.
 
okay, I did use saw blades for my first several knives. I also heat treted several times before I got anything decent, then I started using "'known steel" sawblades, O1, and 1084.

IMO, you won't waste your time, you'll learn a lot, but you might end up with something on the softer side of kitchen knives. *shrug*

O1 or 10xx is the way to go, I think, at first.

Several people on here sell steel, too. Al Bruno sold be a pile :)
 
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