LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Project Information

Well the handle scales are wood! Blade is from a 10" Delta saw blade, cut to shape with cut off wheel and ground to final shape. The handles are padauk. She's sharp as a razor. The steel is already hardened so you have to be careful not to draw the temper while cutting and grinding so I frequently had to to stop and cool the blade, it's a slow process. The steel is too hard for drilling so the scales are only epoxied on.

The handle was shaped with a combination of disc sander, spindle sander and by hand sanding. Then I hand sanded starting with 120, 150, 220, 320, & 400. The blade was hand sanded similarly but to 600 grit. I stopped there because the steel had some deep scratches that weren't going to come out.

More pics:
http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/2015/09/making-saw-blade-knife.html

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
Joined
·
4,714 Posts
OK, it's too hard to drill, then it must have been a devil to cut out even with a cutoff wheel!
You should be able to drill it using very low speed and a diamond bit. If not, how about a Greenlee punch?

Many many years ago my cousin made a fillet knife out of a hacksaw blade because he didn't like the flex of the ones available at the time. It wasn't SS steel but then with all the fish oil it didn't really rust that bad!

Anyway, that is one hell of a knife and it looks extremely sharp!
Can I ask what made you do this project?
 

· Registered
Joined
·
11,255 Posts
It was slow going with the cut off wheel. At the edges where the steel changes color to dark grey, the cut off wheel wouldn't touch it. So I had to cut the center then snap the edges. I don't really have any metal working tools like punches and carbide or diamond bits so I went with epoxy. I did try spot annealing the handle where I wanted to drill but it didn't work. As for why-well it started when I discovered a youtube channel called Trollsky and then I saw people like John Heisz making saw blade knives. A cut off wheel for my chop saw cost $3.28 and I was in business making a knife.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
104 Posts
Can you win an upcycle award for this?

Maybe you can just win the internet. ......

This is simply amazing! :)
 

· Registered
Joined
·
4,477 Posts
Dang Son! That's a real nice knife! I have several old saw blades that I was considering throwing away. Not any more! :)
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7,502 Posts
That's a large accomplishment is that fine knife.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
841 Posts
You've done a very nice job on a very challenging project. Thanks for sharing.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
3,466 Posts
Looks good Rick. Why didn't you heat the blade before cutting/shaping it and then temper it?
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7,180 Posts
Very cool, Rick! I make these from old TS blades, too.

You can always heat the steel and let it cool in air to soften it, then drill. Of course, you'll have to heat treat the cutting edge next, but I think you know that.

Actually, I've been unable to find any maker's recipe for TS blades, so I'm not sure how much carbon there is to begin with in the blade. Few sparks in my shop, so I assume low carbon. Still, the knives are tons of fun to shape!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
11,255 Posts
Looks good Rick. Why didn t you heat the blade before cutting/shaping it and then temper it?
- mrjinx007
Actually, I ve been unable to find any maker s recipe for TS blades, so I m not sure how much carbon there is to begin with in the blade. Few sparks in my shop, so I assume low carbon. Still, the knives are tons of fun to shape!
- terryR
I don't know the steel type for certain. Many people say blades are made from L6, while others say it is something else and they name all sorts of alternative steels. People have sent saw blades off for testing and the results were similar to the alloys in L6. So take from that what you will. Based on the reading I've done, I believe it is L6 or a similar steel but there is no definitive test or database of steels used in saw blades.
L6 is a high carbon steel with around .7 % C.

Since I'm not a metal worker, don't have proper heat treat equipment, and don't know for sure what steel I'm working with; leaving the existing heat treat and working around it seemed prudent. Matter of fact, if going the heat treat route it's probably just better to buy some known carbon steel that is already annealed and go from there; which is what I hope to do in the near future.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,584 Posts
Great work in making the knife. I wish I could get myself to do a little metal work with my projects.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
3,604 Posts
Well done, looks great. I've been wondering about the quality of the steel in saw blades as I have some extra. Do you think you could keep the blade cool in water or something as you heated the handle part to anneal it?
 

· Registered
Joined
·
11,255 Posts
Well done, looks great. I ve been wondering about the quality of the steel in saw blades as I have some extra. Do you think you could keep the blade cool in water or something as you heated the handle part to anneal it?

- Tim
Saw blades are subjected to way more stress than any knife will ever be, so my feeling is that if the blade is from a good company then it's probably good steel. John Heisz (youtube) has done more testing on saw blade steel and saw blade knives than anyone else I know of and his results have been positive. But the reality is you are recycling so there are no guarantees.

I considered ways to keep the blade cool, maybe wrapped in wet towels or submerged in water, it should work. I have never annealed steel but when reading about it they say to keep the steel at temperature for awhile then very, very, slowly allow it to cool. I suppose that even if you don't get it exactly right, it will still be less hard.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
955 Posts
Check out Mafe's Blogs. He's the blacksmith in the LJs family, now. He has a little forge that, evidently, isn't very expensive. He can probably tell you a lot about making knives, inasmuch as he's made a buttload of them. Also, there are YT videos on building one's own forge. Sweet little knife, Rick.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
11,255 Posts
Thanks. I won't be forging knives, stock removal is good enough for me.

FYI, I'm still using this knife everyday in the kitchen and it has become my favorite. I'd love to make a slightly longer version from stainless but I'd have to send it off for heat treatment and that might make it too expensive.
 
Top