Saw Blades

[Arco]

I recently acquired three saw blades, and after reading about new style blades not being tempered all the way through, I am wondering how to tell whether or not my blades are up to snuff. What's the proper method of telling whether or not a blade is tempered? I've heard that you use a file, and I tried this. All three blades scratched with the file...

[LAR43]

If they have carbide teeth inserts chances are they're not the steel you're lookin' for.

Cut a piece out of one of the blades. Heat it 'till it won't attract a magnet then quench it in some type oil. When cold, put it in a vise & whack it with a hammer. If it shatters it's good for knife making.

Make sure you're wearing gloves & especially safety glasses,sometimes the steel shatters in several directions.

Another way is to spark test the steel.
Cut out a piece & grind it. If the sparks are almost white & look like little starbursts the steel might be ok also. If they're orange or dark yellow,& look like the sparks from a piece of regular angle iron etc. it ain't worth your time . .
The file test is to see if you've hardened the steel properly after you quench it in the heat treat process.

Larry

[imskippy]

What type of saw blades are you guys using and where can they be found? Thanks Jason.

[Bobby Urban]

Skip - Look for older blades circa pre chainsaw.
Long hand saw blades of carbon steel like the old lumber jacks used are good and can be found @ Flee markets, garage sales, ****, craigslist, etc...  Also the old circular blades from saw mills, the big ones that are a bit rusty or have a good patina.  That is the kind of steel you want.  There are some good old steel blades for circular saws(Skill saw I think they call it) so look for some hanging on the wall in your grandpas shop/garage.  If they are old and do not have carbide teeth you probably are onto something.  Most modern saw blades use less quality in the body of the blade and add carbide teeth to do the dirty work.  
Good luck

[imskippy]

Yeah I talked my dad into giving up a few of the old circular saw blaeds he had laying around. you know the ones that he "may need" some day even though they're rusty and burnt up. I cut my first blank today and I think it's good steel the sparks were white and not orange like the cheap angle iron steel. I'm going to do some more reading and see what I can make from these.