Scarred L6 circular blades?

G

Guy Thomas

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
1,370
I've been buying appox. 24" diameter circular saw blades from a junk dealer here for $8.00 each, is this a good price, my understanding is that these large blades are still L6 steel. I recently bought a slightly larger one, same price because it was around 3/16" thick, however this blade, unlike the 1/8" blades I had bought previously, is covered with what appears to be deliberate scars done with either an oxy-acetylene rig or an arc welder. Was this done by the mill that used it to prevent its further use or because it had a crack (I didn't see any)? Should I be wary of this particular blade or is this commonly done? Any help here would be appreciated. I intend to carve these up with an oxy-acetylene rig for Knife blades unless someone knows of an easy way to anneal such large chunks of steel.-Guy T.
 
I just got a piece of a sawmill blade and noted the same thing. It is pock-marked but some areas are still salvageable.

C Wilkins
 
Shoot, you guys are just used to this nice clean smooth new steel. I've been cutting up and grinding old saw blade steel for 4 years, and never seen a smooth piece of it. I cut the blank out with a torch or plasma cutter and then knock the slag off the edges with a used 36 grit belt. Then I work all the pits out with either my Wilton or my 6 by 48 with a new 36 grit belt. Then just work it on down through 500 grit and grind the blade to it's final shape.Then grind the profile and send it off to heat treat. They might start out rusted and pitted, but if you take the time and do the everything right, they'll come out shining like a mirror. If you need any info on finishing this steel, lemme know. Take care! Michael

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
I use those Diamond toothed concreate saw blades you find on the walk behind concreat saw's I have never had any trouble out of them But I only use them when I run out of stainless Not too many people like the carbon steel anymore for some reason

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TbarK Custom Knives
http://vip.hpnc.com/~tbark Therefore I erge you brother's in view of God's Mercy to offer your body's as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship Romans 12-1
 
Boy, I must be the lucky one in this bunch. There is a guy here in my town that sharpens big saw blades. Some of them have broken teeth or something and are unusable. Those things pile up in his shop and he gives them to me FREE! The best part is that in most cases the steel is in great shape with very few pits or scratches. Most of the time rust builds up from being in my shop!

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"Boy, if ya don't screw up once in a while, ya ain't learnin' nuthin'" - An old cowboy
 
Yeah, I guess I am spoiled. Turns out this blade that I got was next to a pickling vat and some acid "kinda" got on it occasionally. I suppose that I could grind it down past some of the pock marks and use that portion of the steel for a perch fillet knife...LOL

C Wilkins
 
Is there a way to tell what type of steel was used on an old saw blade?


Also, if the steel is already hardened, does it still need to be heat treated after grinding?
 
"Most" steel from sawmill blades are L6. This is something that we take for granted I suppose. I honestly don't know of a way to tell, I am sure someone else does.

As far as heat treating goes, it all depends on how hot you get it during grinding. For the most part, it probably should be. I haven't done it yet but when I get ready to grind on a piece of the one that I have I am going to heat it evenly and leave it in a bucket of ashes for a day or two and anneal it. This should soften it up to ease the grinding. Vermiculite (don't trust my spelling, I have a Louisiana education) works as well as, if not better, than ashes I am told. This can be obtained from a tree or schrub nursery.

After that, it is off to heat treat.

C Wilkins



[This message has been edited by C L Wilkins (edited 02-07-2000).]
 
Hey, I wondered if the vermiculite I buy for gardening was the same stuff bladesmiths use for annealing steel, I guess it is... unless someone knows otherwise.

Also, I imagine if a cutting torch is used to cut out the knife blanks from the saw then heat treating would probably be in order, I also don't believe saw blades are tempered as hard as knifes generally are in the first place either, but I may be wrong on that note.-Guy T.
 
The saw blades aren't near as hard as a knife blade should be. For my first year or so I didn't heat treat, and never had a complaint, but I decided that if heat treating would give my customers a better knife, then do it. Now I send all me blades to Rob Simonich. He gets them to RC 60 and you wouldn't believe how much harder they are than the saw blade. You do need to watch out though. I mostly use the steel from the big lumber mill blades, like 3-4-4 1/2 feet diameter. Once I picked up some that were around 16" diameter, and I made a couple blades with them. I noticed they were alot softer than the big blades. Not sure if it was because they weren;'t hardened the same as the big ones, or if it was the type of steel. I stopped using the smaller blades. Take care! Michael

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
Tbark,

Are the concrete sawblades L6 steel also? I'm working on a large bowie from a concrete blade and am not sure of the alloy.

Cliff
 
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