more questions....

[inthere10x]

I'm still gathering information and materials to make our first knife is chrome-nickel-molybdenum saw blades good steel. My uncle just gave me eight old craftsman 10" Kromedge (steel name above) saw blades and a few files.
He also gave a piece of what he called A-36 standard cardon steel (non-hardened??) 3 1/4" x 1/4" x 8' any good for a blades??
He also gave me a combo sander 9" disc and 6"X48" belt. Is the belt to large for angling knife blades??
Thanks in advance for the answers.

[Lin Rhea]

The sander will work, but have extra belts on hand. The A-36 carbon steel sounds like air hardening steel, most of which will make a good blade. I dont know about the saw blades without testing them.
    Holler, if you need some help with the heat treat. Lin

[Wampus]

A36 is a mild structural steel with about .26% carbon.  It won't harden enough to make a good knife blade.   http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php?t=96570


Check out  http://www.trugrit.com/belts6.htm  for decent belts for your sander/grinder.

[KHALVERSON]

10x
i have tried the krome edge blades on a few ocassions with no success  to much nickel i believe  they are real gummy and will not hold a good edge. dont get me wrong they will make a knife just not a real good one   (just my 2 cents)
i have had good success with the cheap master mechanic blades though they make a real good knife

[Lin Rhea]

I learned something about the steel. Thanks Wampus.

This is why I generally stick to known steels. Even if I make a blade from junkyard steels, I usually can narrow it down to where I'm not using up a lot of time for nothing. Lin

[Wampus]

It's annoying that they came up with that A36 name for mild structural steel when A2, A6, A7, A10, A18 etc are all air hardening tool steels.  It just adds confusion when trying to figure them all out.