[Greg C]

I have come across a section of what appears to have been an industrial bandsaw blade. This piece of blade is about eight inches wide and about thirty inches long. It is quite stiff and very hard (as in very difficult to drill or cut). I was hopeing someone here has had some experience using this material for making carving knife blades and would care to comment.

This would be my first attempt at making a carving knife.

Thanks,

Greg

[TOEKNEE]

i have made blades out of a blade the size and type you described, it worked out well. i cut the blade on a metal press/shearing machine. i cut all the teeth off the blade with the shear, and then used metal from the "teeth" side of the blade. i used the shear to get the rough dimensions of the blade size i wanted, then used a bench grinder, quenching about every 3 seconds with ice water to do the rough shaping of the blade. i then used a belt sander for the final shaping, still using water to quench. then, i mounted the blade in the handle, and sharpened it up. it holds a strong edge. i have sold several of these to carving buddies, with request for more. just quench often, and don't let the steel get super hot while grinding. good luck!!!

[Greg C]

I managed to cut out a piece about 1/2" by 3" using an angle grinder with a thin disc. I tried cutting it using a jigsaw and sawzall with bi-metal blades and got nowhere. The metal I was trying to cut was at least as hard as those blades. Trying to drill it was also a waste of time. The piece I cutout ran length wise with the blade. There is ever so slight a curve to this piece due to it being a bandsaw blade. I will cut across the blade on my next effort. I was able to grind the piece to the shape desired using a bench grinder and rouch out the bevel of the blade using a belt sander. This is a far as I have gone so far. The cutting edge is to be 1 1/2" long. I hope to post a picture of the knife when complete.

Greg

[ChrisS]

I have never use bandsaw blades. I have made several carving tool along with other tools out of old files and leaf springs. I would think that bandsaw blade material would be great for making knives.

How wide a bandsaw blad do you need. I have 5 band saws. 3 for wood and 2 for metal. I have the Hitachi resaw with a 3 inch skip toot carbide blade on it. From time to time I have old used blades. For that matter I have rolls of bansaw stock. I can sheer them to any size and send anyone blanks if the need them. Just give me another couple of weeks to get over my surgery. No charge ,they will be on me if you can use them. I also would think any machine shop would be glad to give you a worn out blade.

[DanBillings]

I use hacksaw blades from a sawsall they work great they allready have a hole drilled in them. You can also heat where you want to drill W/a small craft tourch.drill while its still red then quench it ...........

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

If I remember right, Ron Wells made his knives from industrial bandsaw blades....I cut hard steel with my "abrasive cutoff saw"....but you need some water standing by and splash some on the cut every few seconds to keep from getting too hot and taking the temper out.

[millhoused]

I have made several and they work great.

I used my dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut the blade blank out.
I would cut for 2-3 seconds and then quench so it did not get too hot.

It takes me several cutoff wheels to cut out 1 blank. They wear down and break pretty easily.

The metal I used was Starrett Red Stripe power hacksaw blades.

Thanks,
Don

[Greg C]

Knife is Complete! I just uploaded pictures to my Users Gallery. Not sure how to create a kink to it in this post. I am real happy with the results. The blade is 1 1/2" long. Handle is made from an old peach tree trimming I've had laying around for years. I put a light coat of boiled linseed oil on the handle to bring out the grain. The whole project took about three hours.

Greg

[Greg C]

Since I figured out how to post a picture, here is one of the bandsaw blade I used to make the knife blade. I can get a whole lot of little blades out of this beast.



Thanks for looking,

Greg

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Good looking knife! How did you end up cutting out the blade shape?