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Thread: Odd question about saw blades

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    NE Ohio
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    6,976

    Odd question about saw blades

    Hello,
    What do you do with the old ones that aren't worth having resharpened or are beyond restoring?

    I have a few old ones that I hate to see get tossed. Seems like a waste of decent steel.
    The OEM blades that came with a few of my tools - TS, CMS, Circ saw - are beyond help, and I can't see laying out good money on them.
    OTOH, the steel seems to be pretty decent.

    Would heating them "cherry red", to remove the temper make it easier to work w/them? I'm worried it might warp if I do that though.

    I'd like to cut out some knife or chisel or scraper (kind of a super-card scraper) blanks from them.
    I spent a few min with a file on one around the arbor hole and didn't even scratch it. Ditto a metal blade in the jig saw - all it did was "smooth" the teeth of the jig saw blade.
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Rutherford Co., NC
    Posts
    1,126
    Rich,

    I keep them around for a while to hack through junk. A lot of times I have scraps of ply or junk wood (lots of paint or glue) that I won't burn in the fireplace and I just need to hack it down to size to throw away. Never done it, but I think I read about using then to make blades for hand tools like marking knives and molding planes. Not sure what grade of steel you'd want to use. You may want to post this question to the Neander Haven too.

    If you want to anneal it to make it more workable, heat is slowly and evenly to a dull red. If you push to cherry red and raise scale you run the risk of over-annealing, making it difficult to get and maintain crisp details like a sharp edge. But then you have to re-harden the metal once you have worked it.

    If you want to get into this, I suggest taking a look at Make Your Own Woodworking Tools by Mike Burton. You might also find it in a library near you (http://worldcat.org/oclc/69019404)
    "Live like no one else, so later, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!"
    - Dave Ramsey

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Cave Creek, AZ - near Phoenix
    Posts
    1,261
    I use old blades to make shop clocks for my friends. Buy a battery operated clock mechanism and install it in the arbor hole. On some I have added numbers or dots to mark the hours. Easy and fum. Makes a nice Xmas gift too.
    Dave Falkenstein aka Daviddubya
    Cave Creek, AZ

  4. #4
    I give circular and bandsaw blades to a knife maker in town.


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Tacoma, WA
    Posts
    731
    This question came up at Weyerhaeuser about 25 years ago. It was BS’ing over coffee. Best we came up with was clocks, paint on them or make tools. Problem with tools is that there at a great number of different saw steels out there. It might be a better deal to get new steel so you know what you have.

  6. Make speed bumps that work?

    Sorry, really shouldn't have said that.
    Vietnam Vet With No Apologies

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Some where between Buffalo and Rochester NY
    Posts
    470
    We have a local painter that paints scence on them and sell them at art shows.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Rochester, NY
    Posts
    4,717
    The last time I had a collection of circ saw blades going, I ended up using them to cut out a section of our driving that needed patching. Not saying it was the best idea, but it worked well.
    Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

  9. #9
    A long while ago I saw that somebody had taken a handsaw handle and mounted a circular saw blade on it. He hung it on his wall and waited for people to ask what it was for.
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