Crosscut saw knife stock

[BillinOregon]

I have a chunk of crosscut saw blade as well as a rusted old original that I had hoped to use to try making knives using the stock removal method. I guess the first thing I need to do is anneal as much of the blade as I can heat at a time, then chisel or saw out my blanks? Any help appreciated on getting out some useful pieces.

 

[Bob Gular]

I use a diamond disc on a Dremel tool. Draw the pattern on the steel, put on your goggles, and use a succession of shallow cuts until you cut through. Then dress up the profile with files or a stationary belt sander. Usually saw blades don't have to be annealed using this method unless an industrial hacksaw or hardened metal cutting type. Hope this helps.

 

[BillinOregon]

Bob: Thanks. I always seem to forget about the Dremel, even if it isn't PC ...

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you do heat the blade where you want to drill or cut, it will cut like butter while red hot. If you just anneal it and cool it, it will still be pretty tough stuff to cut. If I had a bandsaw, I would heat the blade at the places I wanted to cut, and then run it into the bandsaw and make the cuts, but do it in stages so I don't anneal the band saw blade! It goes faster than it takes to describe it here.

 

[J.M.]

I'm going to chime in and suggest annealing if possible. Once annealed most steels are relatively soft and workable. You can cut and grind to your hearts content without worrying about ruining the temper (its not temepered yet). When you are done grinding and cutting you can normalize a couple cycles to take out any stress you put in and then give a proper heat treat and temper, and have an excellent usable knife.

 

[2172]

Bill, the dremel tool plus a cutting wheel worked for me..I took the temper out of the tang, and drilled through the antler I was planning to use for my handle...so far, I've gotten 5 patch knife blades out of one old flea mkt crosscut saw blade..it's fun. Hank