Helpful Awl Sharpening Vid

[Oldtoolsniper]

I had some horn knife scales a Buddy gave me years ago in my box of junk so I used one for the hacksaw knife. I made them a little over sized top and bottom so the hacksaw blade is kind of encapsulated in the epoxy. I am hoping It will hold without pins but thank you for tip so if the epoxy fails I can pin the next one.

It looks awesome. You know your way around a camera too. Your worn out hacksaw blade looks like an old Japanese woodworking marking knife.

I collect (horde) old tools, I've got some old 1 1/2" power hacksaw blades I'm going to try next. I'm also going to try an old handsaw blade. I know most new hand saws are just edge tempered for cost savings unless it's an expensive saw. The old ones are full plate tempered. I tried drilling one to no avail. There are a gazillions of them out there in second hand shops for next to nothing. Cutting it without losing the temper will take some thought. I'm betting those old two man saw blades are full plate tempered too.

[Boriqua]

It looks awesome. You know your way around a camera too. Your worn out hacksaw blade looks like an old Japanese woodworking marking knife.

I collect (horde) old tools, I've got some old 1 1/2" power hacksaw blades I'm going to try next. I'm also going to try an old handsaw blade. I know most new hand saws are just edge tempered for cost savings unless it's an expensive saw. The old ones are full plate tempered. I tried drilling one to no avail. There are a gazillions of them out there in second hand shops for next to nothing. Cutting it without losing the temper will take some thought. I'm betting those old two man saw blades are full plate tempered too.

So I have a question for you and Leathertoolz. Now that I sacrificed my ready to be sacrificed hacksaw blade I have to get a new blade for my hacksaw. Is there some language or other indication I should look for on the packaging to let me know that after it has served its life as a hacksaw it will make a good knife or am I good grabbing whatever is on sale at Home depot?

Alex

[Oldtoolsniper]

So I have a question for you and Leathertoolz. Now that I sacrificed my ready to be sacrificed hacksaw blade I have to get a new blade for my hacksaw. Is there some language or other indication I should look for on the packaging to let me know that after it has served its life as a hacksaw it will make a good knife or am I good grabbing whatever is on sale at Home depot?

Alex

I don't know the answer to that. It seems as though the old ones were listed as "high speed steel" as are the ones I have. I can say without a doubt they never reach the "High Speed" part with me powering the hacksaw. The new ones have all kinds of crazy names and that leads me to believe that most of it is word smith marketing type stuff to get you to buy their blade. I'm going to did around and find a modern one and test it out. Without making a handle or polishing out the blade I should be able to bang one out in twenty minutes.

Here's a thought. Marking knives are sharpended on one bevel to keep the edge of the knife forced against the ruler or straight edge. I wonder if a single bevel hacknife will do the same thing when cutting leather. Kind of like a boat with only half a bow,

Edited February 23, 2016 by Oldtoolsniper

[shtoink]

Is there some language or other indication I should look for on the packaging to let me know that after it has served its life as a hacksaw it will make a good knife or am I good grabbing whatever is on sale at Home depot?

Alex

This one doesn't have a single answer, unfortunately. There are lots of blade types and purposes.

For the most part, the hacksaw blades get a differential heat treatment. This lets the teeth be hardened while leaving the rest of the blade flexible enough to hold up to cutting without breaking under normal usage. Older blades may have had different methods to harden them or may even have a uniform heat treatment. With the possibility of worn off paint and rust, it may never be known. There are even some that are stainless steel.

Unless it says anything about being Bi-Metal or stainless on the packaging, the blade should be uniform carbon steel throughout. The difference in hardness is in only due to the heat treatment. There are a couple things you can do to check to see if it'll be a sufficient steel for a blade. The easiest being to take a section, heat it to a bright red, quench it, then see if it snaps with a clean, brittle fracture. If it does, it should make a reasonable cutting edge after tempering.

A butane torch and some experimentation could get you the hardened cutting edge you want. That's a separate topic, however.

Here's a thought. Marking knives are sharpended on one bevel to keep the edge of the knife forced against the ruler or straight edge. I wonder if a single bevel hacknife will do the same thing when cutting leather. Kind of like a boat with only half a bow,

This makes sense. As long as your straight edge doesn't move, you should be set. It might make things... interesting when working though lines that aren't straight.

[Boriqua]

I still have the other half of the hacksaw blade and was thinking about making one with a one sided bevel especially after finally seeing leathertoolz vid on it but I have had terrible luck using other one sided grinds. I haven’t tried anything this thin but I have tried them on other knives and hated them... but .. since I have nothing to lose but one half of a broken hacksaw blade why not.

so if its says "bimetal" bad?

[Oldtoolsniper]

I use a marking knife woodworking and it's a single bevel grind, in theory it forces the blade back against the guide I'm using for the blade. Reality is that I'm only scoring the wood, I'm not cutting very deep at all so I doubt it helps much except that a flat back is easier to keep against a straight edge.

On leather we are cutting all the way through, seems as though it might work. On draw gauges you only sharpen a bevel on one side for the same reason.

As soon as I get a chance I'll give it a shot. I'm cleaning up a pile of leather working tools from an estate sale right now.

[Jors]

Thanks for sharing.

I purchased an bigger awl blade than my smallest, about twenty years ago and I only used it for marking as it did not penetrate leather easily.

After watching the video, I sharpened mine on two Stanley Arkansas stones an finished it on a leather strop with green rouge.

It now goes through thick layers of leather very smoothly.