sawmill bandsaw blade

[Pyromaniac]

Ok. I guy I know works at a sawmill and he just gave me a ton of the big bandsaw blades they use. My question is if this steel is good to use for blades. And yes, before anyone says it, I know it is better to work with known steel to be able to correctly heat treat it but this is free and I able to get it in large quantities. Thanks to everyone in advance.

 

[Jason Fry]

If you have it in large quantity, and free, get some tested. Then you have "known" steel.

Or, try some heat treating tests vs. performance tests, and see what you get. I'd start with 1550 or so and fast oil. Maybe 1600.

 

[Lethal Overdose]

I would venture a guess that they are L6 tool steel. I've forged out some nice Damascus knife blanks from old band saw blades, but that's as far as I took it. L6 is a great carbon steel for knives in my opinion. It rusts extremely readily though, so some type of blade treatment would be a good idea. The great thing about band saw blade Damascus is that you start out with a lot of layers. I found a link that may help you out for the heat treat. Good luck.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/857416-L6-heat-treat

 

[Pyromaniac]

Jason where would be a good place to get it tested and how much does it cost? I've already done a few tests and after a few a think normalizing at around 1600 then cycling it through thermal cycles before hardeining at 1575 gives the best results. I've already used brine and veg oil to quench and the brine seemed to work better but produced cracks sometimes. Sadly I don't have a caliper anymore so I have no idea of the thickness, but it seems thin to make something such as a camp knife from. Am I wrong here and just underestemating this steel?

 

[Jason Fry]

Not sure where you're from. I've heard that Fastenal offers testing, but haven't tried them myself.