Head Knife....i Want To Make One

[Krakenfan69]

subbed for reference. Good work guys! Looking great!

Kraken Fan #69

Edited December 14, 2015 by Krakenfan69

[Kulafarmer]

I already had a circular-saw blade head knife roughed out when I first ran into this thread back in '13. I was just beginning my leatherwork adventure and thought $90-150.00 for a blade I'd seldom use was an unwise investment (silly me). So.... armed with pictures of round-knives and ancient brain surgery implements I went rooting around in my tool junk. I emerged with probably one of the first 5 1/4 carbide toothed skill saw blades (note the diamond arbor in the pics), my Grandfather gave me, ever sold (bear in mind I'm a grandpappy myself) more'n 25 years prior.

Like Switz, never expecting this to be more than a utility knife, I carefully roughed out the blade profile (minding the temper) by-guess-and-by-golly with an edge grinder, a bench grinder and finished with a belt and disk sander. More by luck than good planning it turned out almost the same as our beloved Osbornes. Note: the Osborne has a more elliptical curvature whereas the diy has an almost perfect arc.

Version 1.0 got equipped with an Oak handle from a salvaged 1" dowel rod. You'll note the wicked pointy tips. Thinking these would facilitate tight inside curve cuts I thought they would be a good idea.

They are not.

They stick you in the wrist at the most inopportune times.

Version 2.0 corrected this and got a new handle (Rosewood). By this time I had procured and rescued a vintage Osborne and had a better idea of what fit my hand.

The third picture shows the Osborne sbs with my diy saw-blade round knife. The other two.... ummm, edged implements(?!!?) were made with scraps left over from the saw blade. The little skiver is tang-less unfortunately, but it works very well. The weird pocketknife/straight razor looking thing was just for fun. It's dangerous but cuts well, I use it for trimming edges. I may one day re-profile it into a single bevel fold-up skiving knife,

Okay... so how do they work???

Pretty well. The head knife when struck, rings like a chime. It sustains a ring longer than the Osborne ( if that matters).

Holding an edge:

The diy Round blade is a little more robust than the Osborne (both are mol .060" (+/- .001) at the handle but the Osborne tapers to about .046" (+/- .002) at the meat side of the bevel while my diy is .055". Both are convex beveled. The diy is better balanced.

I find I don't sharpen the diy Round as much as the Osborne but do sharpen the little diy skiver (same metal) more than my right handed Al Stohlman English skiver (which has nearly 2.x the cutting edge).

Usage:

I use the diy Round for heavier weight / stiff leather and the Osborne for thinner 2-6oz veg tan and most all the chrome tanned stuff. The Osborne works best when guiding around a template but the diy rocks free-hand thick work.

Net-net... they all hold an edge well and don't lose them when not in use. Considering there has been no heat-treatment applied... I'm very happy with the results. I've ended up with three knives from one worn out circular saw blade that I use as much as my store bought knives.

Real helpful post, Thank you,

Had been searching for blanks to make a round knife but didnt have any luck, then on a knife making forum read about guys using old circ saw blades for regular knives,

That urgency passed and been using my utility knife,

But then found this topic here this morning, got me thinking about all the 10" saw blades i have in my knaak box that i cant use since i got my 12" table saw.

Thanks mostly for the status report on the sharpness,

Im wondering about using the plasma cutter to cut the shape, i know grinding wont heat as much but the plasma may heat it less overall, then grind shape clean and heat treat in the oven,,,,, may be tough without knowing the type of steel the blade is.

[Trox]

I already had a circular-saw blade head knife roughed out when I first ran into this thread back in '13. I was just beginning my leatherwork adventure and thought $90-150.00 for a blade I'd seldom use was an unwise investment (silly me). So.... armed with pictures of round-knives and ancient brain surgery implements I went rooting around in my tool junk. I emerged with probably one of the first 5 1/4 carbide toothed skill saw blades (note the diamond arbor in the pics), my Grandfather gave me, ever sold (bear in mind I'm a grandpappy myself) more'n 25 years prior.

Like Switz, never expecting this to be more than a utility knife, I carefully roughed out the blade profile (minding the temper) by-guess-and-by-golly with an edge grinder, a bench grinder and finished with a belt and disk sander. More by luck than good planning it turned out almost the same as our beloved Osbornes. Note: the Osborne has a more elliptical curvature whereas the diy has an almost perfect arc.

Version 1.0 got equipped with an Oak handle from a salvaged 1" dowel rod. You'll note the wicked pointy tips. Thinking these would facilitate tight inside curve cuts I thought they would be a good idea.

They are not.

They stick you in the wrist at the most inopportune times.

Version 2.0 corrected this and got a new handle (Rosewood). By this time I had procured and rescued a vintage Osborne and had a better idea of what fit my hand.

The third picture shows the Osborne sbs with my diy saw-blade round knife. The other two.... ummm, edged implements(?!!?) were made with scraps left over from the saw blade. The little skiver is tang-less unfortunately, but it works very well. The weird pocketknife/straight razor looking thing was just for fun. It's dangerous but cuts well, I use it for trimming edges. I may one day re-profile it into a single bevel fold-up skiving knife,

Okay... so how do they work???

Pretty well. The head knife when struck, rings like a chime. It sustains a ring longer than the Osborne ( if that matters).

Holding an edge:

The diy Round blade is a little more robust than the Osborne (both are mol .060" (+/- .001) at the handle but the Osborne tapers to about .046" (+/- .002) at the meat side of the bevel while my diy is .055". Both are convex beveled. The diy is better balanced.

I find I don't sharpen the diy Round as much as the Osborne but do sharpen the little diy skiver (same metal) more than my right handed Al Stohlman English skiver (which has nearly 2.x the cutting edge).

Usage:

I use the diy Round for heavier weight / stiff leather and the Osborne for thinner 2-6oz veg tan and most all the chrome tanned stuff. The Osborne works best when guiding around a template but the diy rocks free-hand thick work.

Net-net... they all hold an edge well and don't lose them when not in use. Considering there has been no heat-treatment applied... I'm very happy with the results. I've ended up with three knives from one worn out circular saw blade that I use as much as my store bought knives.

Hi, your Osborn knife you comparing with, is it a Harrison stamped one?

Thanks

Tor

[Ole South]

@ Tor: Yep, Harrison N.J. stamped.

@ Kulafarmer: grinder spark test will get you in the ballpark. Friend of mine has plasma cut blanks from old large diameter lumber mill saws.

[Kulafarmer]

@ Kulafarmer: grinder spark test will get you in the ballpark. Friend of mine has plasma cut blanks from old large diameter lumber mill saws.

Cool beans, im going to give it a try

[Harry Marinakis]

I tried to make a round knife from a circular saw blade, but I was going to re-harden and temper my blade.

I discovered that with a blade 0.07 inches thick, it really difficult to keep the blade from warping during the hardening quench.

While there are some advanced tricks to successfully quenching thin steel without warping, my advice is to stick with stock removal. Cut and grind very slowly, and cool often, so that you preserve the original hardness/temper of the saw blade. 

Eventually I successfully made a round knife by stock removal, and it's perfect. Because the metal is so thin, grinding slowly doesn't take that much longer than it did with my first attempt, and I saved myself all of the hassle of firing up the forge, filling the quenching tank, and trying to straighten a  warped knife blade.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Harry Marinakis

[Cavalier]

I too followed the tips in this tutorial & made a head knife from a hacksaw blade. I was careful while shaping to avoid overheating the blade & losing its temper. It has come out well & is quite hard & cuts well.

[Cody C]

Both made from an old circular saw blade. why make one when i could have 2. Both work very well.

[Rob Weber]

If the head knife is made from an old circular saw blade, and you do not overheat the metal while making the blade, is the blade satisfactory without heat-treating?

[KWosnig]

The blade material works satisfactorily for me. I just run a cheap diamond sharpener over it and drive on. It stays sharp for quite awhile.

I have another blade I am going to turn into a couple straight blades and  recycle old junk rather than throwing it away.

I like the methods in Al Stohlmans books. Not spending a lot of money feels right to me. Also I am more of a hobbyist than full time worker.

Good luck with blade. I think the saws are a bit thinner than most blades. 1/8" maybe I don't recall the thickness, Not out in shop right now.

Edited April 14, 2020 by KWosnig

[MarshalWill]

I'm going to add to this old thread. When I worked in a saddle shop as a young man, I made a leather knife from a power hacksaw blade (bottom row, second from the left). It was copied after the knife that the saddle maker I worked for used. I made a few others for different purposes and they have been outstanding knives. I never felt the need for a round knife but one day I decided to try one. I made that one from a circular saw blade. It's a great knife but I don't find much use for it. Over the years I've made a handful of knives from saw blades (bottom row of knives) and they all hold an edge beautifully except for one. These knives were ground slowly to not over heat the steel and have not been heat treated. Yeah, they take a while to make but I get exactly what I want that way.

The third knife from the left is a great shape but the saw blade I made it from was not good quality steel so it won't hold an edge and it's now discarded. It is the only one that won't sharpen properly. I'll have to make another one that shape.