Saw Mill Blades

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wadeblade

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Mar 3, 2006
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My dad gave me three huge sawmill blades today. They are about 30 inches in diameter, and about 3/16 of an inch thick. My dad has had them for a long time, and he says they are at least 50 years old.

Not knowing exactly what kind of steel they're made of, would I be wasting my time trying to use them for blade material? Could anyone possibly narrow down what type steel they may be?

Thanks!
 
Hi

I used a band saw blade of a simmilar age, for my first knife the other day, it seems to hold a good edge, but not being very experienced in knife making, I can't really tell you much!

Cheers

Dave
 
I would use the steel. Most Mill blades like that are good steel. I have used old saw blades in the past and they worked great.
 
More than likely they are made from "L-6".

Click HERE to see one example of what can be done with old sawmill blades. Ray Richards recently posted a beautiful example also.

If you decide not to use them, I will gladly take them.

Robert
 
Without getting a test done on the steel, it is a guessing game at best. Some of the steels that I have seen used for saw blades includes L6, L7, L3, 8670M, 15n20, and several brand name steels that may or may not be one of the above (Sandvik, Uddeholm, Krupp) Add to that list some steels that are softer, and less expensive used for saw blades with tungsten carbide teeth. Being over 50 yrs old you probably have a good blade that is hardenable. Chances are that the steel should have .7-.9% carbon, and about 1-2% nickel. Unfortunately there are quite a few other alloying elements that can change how it hardens, and anneals.

Now, I don't want to discourage you from trying, I have a pile of sawblades myself that make excellent knife blades, but it took a while to develop a way to forge and heat treat them(and I did break down and got the steel analyzed, but that's just me). :)

If you want to jump right in, I would suggest profiling a blade with a torch, and then grinding the blade the rest of the way. if you take care not to overheat the steel you will keep the temper that the blade had. The holes for pins may be difficult to drill, but it will give you a good serviceable blade.

Good luck
Ken Nelson
 
Wadeblade,
Interested in a trade? If you would like I would be willing to analyze your steel in exchange for a piece large enough for me to make one blade form. Matt Doyle
 
Great steel for knives but not likely L6. Saw blades got labelled L6 years ago because most have a little nickel added but most are just good old simple carbon steel. I don't use it much anymore but I have made many, many knives from saw steel and I do like it.
 
Mdoyle and Roosko;
I would be happy to send each of you a usable sized piece of this. Send me an email with your addresses. It'll be about a week before I'm able to send it out. Also, I hope you don't mind that they have a little rust.:barf:
 
Spark test a piece. It won't tell you specifically if it's L6 or not but you can get an idea of the carbon content. Compare the sparks to a known piece of L6 if you have it. Also, take a piece up to about 1500 and quench it. See if it hardens enough that a file doesn't have much effect before tempering.
 
have you tried to soften up any of these blades? The last 15-20 knives I've made have also come from old wood mill saw blades. They take a long time to grind an edge on and even longer to polish out. Its nice to see a good looking steel blade rise out of a severly rusted nasty lookingold saw blade though.New steel is by all means quicker to work with, but sometimes quicker isn't everything...just a thought. Some one told me you should try to anneal a piece and try it...wonder if anyone has tried it ?
 
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