saw blade and file knives?

[arrowlauncherdj]

I know most of you guys forge most of your knives and I have been looking into a forge in the future when I can work in a shop instead of my garage... but what kind of knife would you get out of a table saw blade for example? Any kind of quality there?

Also, I have access to a plasma cutter to cut the profiles out, any advice there. I have seen videos about guys making them like I am talking about, but never had anyone go into the heat treatment side very much. I assume you'd have to soften it up a bit to get it ground and start the edge and then harden it back up??

Please excuse my dumb questions but any help would be appreciated.

Dave

[gables]

Hi Dave,
Welcome to the journey. A search of this forum will reveal a trove of related topics to your questions.

My points of advice would be to order some 1084 steel, buy Wayne Goddard's book The $50 Knife Shop and to find a knifemaker who can help you heat treat the 1084. Most factory steel comes annealed (softened) and can be ground and shaped as is before the heat treating to make it hard. You might  look through a Jantz knife catalog for some supplies.

[gables]

This may help

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=110;t=002144

[Lin Rhea]

Not all saw blades are the same steel. So there is not a very good way to answer that question. If it's a very old circular type blade that does NOT have the carbide teeth or inserts, it's probably usable for blades.

Gables has some good information in his post.

[Bongos]

I've been having fun for the last few weeks making files into knives. It's a lot of work but it's also fun and satisfying.  You can put a price on fun and satisfying. I'm not going to go into the process of making a knife as there are a lot of info on the subject. I'm a beginner so take it for what it is worth, but some of the tips I give are green horn tips:

Files:
I've been searching swap meets for files with brands like Grobet and Nicholson, these apparently are the best ones for this projects...

Forge:
A blow dryer is your best friend, it will heat the coals up to get the knives up to non-magnetic in no time!

Quench!
I saved up oil from my fried chicken for this process, I find it saves me a lot of headaches from the Mrs. as when you temper the blades after re-hardening, your oven does not smell like motor oil.

Handle:
the handle itself is an Art! I went with paracord style as it's simple and I'm just wanting a basic knife.

Notes: in the re-hardening there is a chance your blade will warp, DO NOT bang on it, either un-harden then rework the metal or clamp to a solid piece of steel during tempering process.  The longer the blade, the better chance it can warp

Good luck