power hacksaw blades for steel?

[Seanski]

Looking for some metal to make into whittling knives.

Power hacksaw blades I hear are not too bad?
Do I look for carbon steel only?
Is a bi-metal alright to use? What is Bi-metal exactly?

thank you,

Sean

[Dull Knife]

Originally Posted by Seanski

Looking for some metal to make into whittling knives.

Power hacksaw blades I hear are not too bad?
Do I look for carbon steel only?
Is a bi-metal alright to use? What is Bi-metal exactly?

thank you,

Sean

Hack saw blades are brittle .....so you won't want to do much bending of the blade when carving.
I'll let one of the xperts answer about what is Bi-metal.

[Seanski]

dull knife,

thanks, I would go for the warren blades or buy some already shaped but would like to try different shapes and make a homemade knife. hacksaw blades are readily available but am not sure which one's would be the best? I hear people talk of the power hacksaw blades so thought I would pop the question.
thanks for your input.

sean

[Dicky]

Warren blades are good but I would recommend power hacksaw blades in a heartbeat. By power hacksaw blades I mean a blade approx.15" long by 1" by 1/16" thick. These things are so hard that regular hacksaws and files just slide over them. Being metallurgically challenged, I just shape them with a fibre disc on a Foredom being VERY careful not to overheat them.

[Capt. Bandaid]

Old power hacksaw blades were high carbon tool steel and if you can find them they make great blades. The bi-metal blades are tool steel teeth welded to a spring steel back. The spring steel is not heat treated hard enough to make a good blade but if you care to learn, you can heat treat it up to a fair hardness. However, I agree about using Warren blades for a first attempt.

[Seanski]

thanks guys. the only problem I foresee with the warren blades is the tang is so small on them I really am not all that sure I can fit them into my homemade handle and make them stay put.

[bigEd_H]

The Warren blades make very nice knives. The tang is a bit short, but they all have a hole near the end that can be used to set a rivet or dowel through to hold the blade in place.

Ed

[Ron T]

Hi Sean,

I'm shaping several blades now out of a power hack saw blade and, yes, they shape nicely. I also have several metl cutting band saw blades that I'm going to use to shape into some detail blades. The stock is thinner that the power hack saw blade stock.

Take a look at my tutorial for help on making small tools and heat treating steel. I hope it helps.

[Dicky]

Thats a real nice tutorial Ron. I will give it a try when I get some stock. Soft metal is much easier to work. Thank you for the advice and thank you for taking the time to make the tutorial. Cheers

[Seanski]

that is a nice tutorial! thanks to all who've contributed their advice.