Members Thumper Posted July 15, 2010 Members Report Posted July 15, 2010 Greetings, I'm pretty good with my hands and I hate having to pay full retail on a head knife when I can maybe find the metal blank and then make the handle and such out of wood for myself. Just looking to safe a bit of money and to contour a handle that fits my hand nicely. I'm a woodworking trying to learn and teach his kids leather work....so I'm just trying to gather up tools to get started. Anybody have a head knife blank that I can buy or know where I can order one from? Quote Thanks, Dennis
Members seveneves Posted July 15, 2010 Members Report Posted July 15, 2010 Greetings, I'm pretty good with my hands and I hate having to pay full retail on a head knife when I can maybe find the metal blank and then make the handle and such out of wood for myself. Just looking to safe a bit of money and to contour a handle that fits my hand nicely. I'm a woodworking trying to learn and teach his kids leather work....so I'm just trying to gather up tools to get started. Anybody have a head knife blank that I can buy or know where I can order one from? I saw on youtube how a guy made on a knife out of an old circular saw blade. It seemed to work just fine. Quote www.neveshorses.com
Members Thumper Posted July 16, 2010 Author Members Report Posted July 16, 2010 I saw on youtube how a guy made on a knife out of an old circular saw blade. It seemed to work just fine. I have a couple of those laying around in my shop. Should be hard enough steel to hold a decent edge. I'll have to look into that. Quote Thanks, Dennis
Contributing Member TwinOaks Posted July 16, 2010 Contributing Member Report Posted July 16, 2010 A circular saw blade is too thick to be a good head knife. They are also commonly a mild steel with carbide tips, and you'll find some very light lines in them which are actually cuts to allow expansion and contraction. They WILL separate if they have the opportunity. I suggest using an old crosscut saw/hand saw. The blade is much thinner to start, and that makes it easier to cut, grind, profile, and heat treat. I think it's Electrathon that was making some quarter-round knives that way, picking up the old saws from flea markets and yard sales. Check his posts or search for headknives along with his name. Quote Mike DeLoach Esse Quam Videri (Be rather than Seem) "Don't learn the tricks of the trade.....Learn the trade." "Teach what you know......Learn what you don't." LEATHER ARTISAN'S DIGITAL GUILD on Facebook.
Members Thumper Posted July 16, 2010 Author Members Report Posted July 16, 2010 A circular saw blade is too thick to be a good head knife. They are also commonly a mild steel with carbide tips, and you'll find some very light lines in them which are actually cuts to allow expansion and contraction. They WILL separate if they have the opportunity. I suggest using an old crosscut saw/hand saw. The blade is much thinner to start, and that makes it easier to cut, grind, profile, and heat treat. I think it's Electrathon that was making some quarter-round knives that way, picking up the old saws from flea markets and yard sales. Check his posts or search for headknives along with his name. Thanks Mike. Appreciate the info. I have an old handsaw around the shop I could use for that. I'll have a look-see next week when I get some time at home to look through the shop a bit. Quote Thanks, Dennis
gtwister09 Posted July 30, 2010 Report Posted July 30, 2010 (edited) The closest thing that I have seen to a stock blade similar to a round knife would be the Ulu blades. They are not round knifes by any stretch of the imagination but as I said before they are the closest "stock" precut blade out there. There are a few variations of them. I know Jantz carries them. Jantz FYI. Here's some thickness data. I miked several hand saws, circular saw blades, round and half round knives. See Below. Hand Saw / Thickness Stanley New Rip / 0.05 Stanley Old Crosscut / 0.04 Stanley Old Rip / 0.04 Stanley Old Crosscut / 0.05 Stanley New Crosscut / 0.05 Stanley FatMax / 0.06 Blade / Thickness Milwaukee Endurance / 0.05 Oldham Combo/Finish / 0.10 B & D Combo Rip/CC / 0.05 Dewalt Hardi-Plank / 0.06 Vermont Amer Smooth / 0.06 Dewalt Plywood Panel / 0.04 Amana Plywood Panel / 0.04 Dewalt Combo Rip/CC / 0.05 Amana CC / 0.05 Several of these circular saw blades had no carbide and no relief lines cut in them. The relief cuts are there to prevent warping as the blades heats and cools (expands and contracts). I also miked some round and half round blades that I could easily get to. Round Knife / Thickness Rose / 0.08 Rose / 0.08 Marlin / 0.06 Marlin / 0.06 Osborne / 0.06 Half Round Knife / Thickness Marlin / 0.06 Osborne / 0.07 All of these blades were measured at the top of the blade to show the actual thickness w/o the profiles. Most of them are profiled from the tip to the top of the blade. That gives you some data points to chew upon. Oh yes.... The thickest ones on the list are the ones I consider to be some of the best blades out there...the Roses. I know others consider them to be great steel as well regardless of their thickness. Regards, Ben Edited July 30, 2010 by gtwister09 Quote
Members BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted July 31, 2010 Members Report Posted July 31, 2010 I am also a member of iforgeiron.com , and they have a knife forum that has a lot of info on knife materials that can be scrounged. You may even find a smith in your area that can forge you a custom blade, or at least help you out some. I noticed that the saw blades Mic thinner than the head knives, which is understandable. When you are leaning on a knife you don't want it to bend-unless it is a fillet knife. A stiffer blade will give straighter cut, and veer off less. Quote You laugh at me because I am different. I laugh at you because you are all the same.
Members dangerdan46819 Posted February 28, 2013 Members Report Posted February 28, 2013 Actually a circular saw blade is the correct material to use for a head knife. Just not one that had carbide tips. The carbide tip blades are a lower quality steel because they are not using the steel to do the cutting just to support the tips. An all steel blade is made of 1080 steel the same stuff you can make knives out of. I am in the process of finding some blades drawing up the rough round knife blade and having a friend who owns a waterjet cut them out. I plan on tapering the tang just like a file and using a file handle. Also I am going to put a couple holes throught the tang so I can rivet the blade to the handle. I can probably get them cut out for 10 to 15 dollars per blank. I travel a lot so it'll take awhile...let you know how it goes. Quote
electrathon Posted February 28, 2013 Report Posted February 28, 2013 Wow, am I ever late to the party. I made a few playing areound a few years ago. Old handsaw blades are a pretty good economy choice, a fair amount of carbon, easily available and about the proper thickness without having to thin them down. Attached is a pic of the one I liked the most. Circular blades are pretty low carbon. Not sure if the 1080 mentioned is correct, but if it is it is definatly a bad choice. That would make a very easy to sharpen knife that would hold an edge for about half of a cut. High carbon is harder to sharpen and holds an edge acordingly. Quote
Members dangerdan46819 Posted February 28, 2013 Members Report Posted February 28, 2013 Carbon : Present in all steels, it is the most important hardening element. Also increases the strength of the steel but, added in isolation, decreases toughness. We usually want knife-grade steel to have >.5% carbon, which makes it "high-carbon" steel. 1080 has .75 to .88 carbon very high holds a very good edge and is tough. Quote
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