Making Head Knife

[colttrainer]

This question is directed at the knife makers on here. Would the metal in a hand saw (wood) make a good blade?

Al

[DCKNIVES]

  On 6/12/2011 at 2:56 PM, colttrainer said:

This question is directed at the knife makers on here. Would the metal in a hand saw (wood) make a good blade?

Al

Generally no, while there are some old saws that may make a reasonably good knife, it is still an unknown steel as many makers pick their own alloys.The ones with carbide teeth are mild steel and will not hold an edge,the same applies to circular saw blades.Your better off purchasing a known good quality steel with a proven track record and the ability to heat treat properly.1080,1084,1095, and O-1 come to mind, all good steels,reasonably priced and good edge holders when HT'ed properly.Dave

[colttrainer]

Thanks Dave won't waste a good saw then.

  On 6/12/2011 at 3:23 PM, DCKNIVES said:

Generally no, while there are some old saws that may make a reasonably good knife, it is still an unknown steel as many makers pick their own alloys.The ones with carbide teeth are mild steel and will not hold an edge,the same applies to circular saw blades.Your better off purchasing a known good quality steel with a proven track record and the ability to heat treat properly.1080,1084,1095, and O-1 come to mind, all good steels,reasonably priced and good edge holders when HT'ed properly.Dave

[evandailey]

I made one from a circular saw blade, one that did not have carbide teeth, figuring that if it would hold an edge for the saw teeth it would hold an edge for the head knife. It did reasonably well. I don't have a reliable way to heat treat so i did it with a torch. This is not the most uniform way to do it but it worked ok. The edge retention is not as high as I hoped for but useable. I am going to try and make another one someday with O1 or A2 steel as I love those steels for woodworking plane blades. It's tough finding thin pieces big enough to make a head knife from though. Most places only have hunting knife sized bars.

[Art]

A2 is a good tool steel once you have something made, but getting there is a pain. If you have to work it, like grinding or drilling, cooling is a definite necessity, get even a micro layer of it hot and back off and you won't break through it again until you anneal it. Once you learn how to work it you will be fine, but it can be a steep curve. It is the most "air" hardening steel of any of them.

Art

  On 6/12/2011 at 5:36 PM, evandailey said:

I made one from a circular saw blade, one that did not have carbide teeth, figuring that if it would hold an edge for the saw teeth it would hold an edge for the head knife. It did reasonably well. I don't have a reliable way to heat treat so i did it with a torch. This is not the most uniform way to do it but it worked ok. The edge retention is not as high as I hoped for but useable. I am going to try and make another one someday with O1 or A2 steel as I love those steels for woodworking plane blades. It's tough finding thin pieces big enough to make a head knife from though. Most places only have hunting knife sized bars.

[DCKNIVES]

Actually finding the steel is the easy part, there are quite a few places carrying knife blade steels.Here is where I shop alot Admiral Steel.A2 is a great steel, but being an air hardening steel and the fact it has a fairly narrow range of crtical temp makes it hard for the hobbiest to do without a good HT oven.Texas Knifemakers Supply will HT air hardening steels for you if you don't have a oven. Dave