Saw Blade Steel

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kvolle

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Jan 24, 2008
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My father gave me some very old circular saw blades. They actually say Carbon, Chromium, Vanadium and Molybdenum on the blade. Sizes range from 8" to 17". I can't find a manufacturers name on any of them and doubt they would still be in buisness as some of these were my grandfathers.
I made 4 knives out of it. Stock removal. I quenched in oil and HT my first one at 400 degrees for one hour. I put it in the vise and flexed and it snapped in two. This steel is hard. Don't want to ruin the other 3 so I would appreciate any advise. I thought of going off the four main elements but don't know the percentages of each and don't know if these are the only elements.
Anyone know what steel this is? Or if not any recommendations on what temp to HT this? If not I think I am going to try my torch and watch the colors and see if I can do it that way but I don't usually get real consistant results that way. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks in advance.
 
My guess would be L6 steel but just a guess. More knowledegable folks will chirp in and give you more information. I would think the first thing would be to anneal the steel prior to grinding, but others hopefully with more experience should guide you through the process.
 
The two primary sources of L6 in the U.S, Carpenter and Crucible, do not
list Vanadium in the analysis for that steel.

The only way to be sure what it is, is to have it analized.
 
Do a longer soak at 400 degrees for a couple hours. I'm pretty sure your hour soak wasn't long enough. If it still feels to brittle raise the temp up another 25 degrees and soak again. Sounds like your saw steel is Brand XI. :D
 
Circular saw blades are not usually any good for knives. The chrome-moly steel is made for toughness, not hardness. The teeth are hardened or carbide, but the main blade is not suitable.
One thing for sure is they are not L-6.
Stacy
 
Some circular saw blade steels are terrific for knives.

A2 has C, Mo, Cr, V. Though some larger blades are A2 yours probably aren't but I would treat them like A2 as a starting point and see what results you get.
http://buffaloprecision.com/data_sheets/DSA2TSbpp.pdf

Experimenting with saw steels is a lot of fun. With a tiny bit of effort and research you'll find some excellent steel. When you do there is literally tons of it.

Scott

Saw steel tools and knives
 
Thanks caribooblades. These are very old and was used by my grandfather. He worked in many sawmills and carpentry shops.
I thought about A2 but certainly did not treat it as such. I quenched in oil. and it hardened up very well. But did not draw the temper very much at 400 degrees.
In the anealed state it was not too bad to work with although it put a hurting on my belt. But after HT it was hard as all get out. I will treat this as A2 and see what happens. I have my fingers crossed. I'd hate for all these saws to be useless. I have around 40 of them and the one I cut up was a piece of a very large blade that had broke. I was thinking if any of them would work it would be this one because it came from a very large circular milling blade.
I thought it would be L6 but it wasn't. I hope your right about the A2. I'll let you know after I experiment with it this week end. I will let it air quench and see what happens. Maybe the oil quench is the reason for it being so hard.
 
I cut up a few hundred old saw mill blades and made many knives from them, years ago.
None acted like L6 or A2 or any other high alloy stuff.

Most likely they are like 1075 to 1085 simple carbon steel and will make very good blades.
 
Saw mill blades and chrome-moly circular saw blades are very different things. I agree, that with testing to find the alloy, a large saw mill blade can provide a lot of good steel. I was referring to saw blades for skill saws, Table saws, and radial arm saws. These run from 7 to 18 inches and are usually not a good knife steel.
Stacy
 
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