Another Knife Blade Question

[GregC]

Hello,

I came across a "giant" hacksaw blade (32" long, 3" wide, 1/8" thick) made by the lennox corp. called "Hackmaster".

The blade says its "bimetal" high speed steel and "shatterproof".

How can I tell if this can be made into a knife blade?

 

[LRB]

Bimetal has a separate cutting edge welded to the the main blade. This piece is usually cobalt steel and very tough and abrasion resistant. It will hold a great edge, but also will be tough to sharpen. Think diamond stones. To make a blade, you would have to see, if you can see the joint, then design your blade accordingly. I used bimetal sawzall blades on a few penny knives, and gave them to friends. None have complained about them holding an edge, but did complain that they were hard to sharpen. I would recommend using stock removal only, and do not overheat. Some cobalt steels cannot be harmed by a little heat, but it would probably be best not to. I don't know how much cobalt this would have.

 

[longrifle78]

It will probably work but like Wick said very hard to work and sharpen.IMHO as cheap as good knife steel is i wouldnt mess with it, you can get 1075 in 5' length for around $15.00 from admiral steel, just a thought.

 

[crockett]

Hi Wick- is that what I call an industrial hacksaw blade? Have they changed over time? I got one about 25 years ago and made a pretty good blade, sort of elliptical- like the Canadian Belt knife style except I used a short section of black bear (Ontario) leg bone for the handle. The only thing I screwed up was a gut hook- I beveled the inside cutting part before the heat treat and the area warped just a little but not so much- so I just decided to live with it. The gut hook still worked okay. In any event, years ago did the steel on industrial hack saw blades have a more uniform consistency, and- along the same lines- are we seeing more and more saw blades today (or files) where the teeth area is different from the rest of the saw or file blade?

 

[dlpowell]

Next time your at the home center look at welding rod stock. There's flat stock there in decent widths that'll probably heat treat to a nice temper.

I've made a couple of small knives with it. Didn't heat treat 'em. They were ok.

 

[LRB]

Bimetal is different than just industrial, or could fall into the same term, but they are different in that the cutting edge is different steel, than the main body, which is usually too low of carbon for a good blade. You can usually see the joining line if you sand the surface a little.

 

[LRB]

It is always wise to know what the steel is before making a knife from it. That way you can find out how to heat treat it properly. I know little about welding rods or the various metals used in them. I would fully agree with Longrifle78. Good simple knife steel is cheap, and easy to find.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Hello,

I came across a "giant" hacksaw blade (32" long, 3" wide, 1/8" thick) made by the lennox corp. called "Hackmaster".

The blade says its "bimetal" high speed steel and "shatterproof".

How can I tell if this can be made into a knife blade?

If you have the time and a good supply of grinding stones or sanding belts it will work nicely. I have made several but you must cold work them and the cutting edge is a bear to sharpen. While you can buy good steel reasonable there is something to be said for making something usefull out of something scraped. In the old days things were reused until there was nothing left. An example was that during the 49 gold rush few knives were shipped to California but many many files. The miners would used the files until they wore out and then the local smiths would make knifes out of them.