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Old 01-19-2010, 01:08 AM
reefera4m reefera4m is offline
Steel Addict
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 102
Re: more chain saw bar blades

I guess it really comes down to why you make knife and for what purpose. While I like to make my knifes as aesthetically pleasing as possible I also want to make them as utilitarian as possible. I also like the 'old school' approach - making something useful out of something recycled. Leaf springs, chain saw bars, old files, old saw blades, they all fit the bill. Whether the steel is 1080 or 1084 seems to me immaterial - any steel that has a high carbon steel, properly forged, shaped, heat treated (all the steps) and finished can make an excellent knife.

This weekend I saw some of the chain saw bar knives at a local 'Hammer-in' hosted by an ABS Journeyman. The maker of the chain was knives also brought a blade to be heat treated. Proceding with the premise that the steel was 'high carbon' the blade was 'normalized' twice and then hardened, edge-quenched and tempered at temperatures (using a pyrometer) that one would use with 1084. 1084 temps were used as the chain saw bar was obviously HC (harder that the hardest RR Spike), and these temps would be appropriate for a reasonable range of HC steels. The initial results were what one would expect of 1084 steel. I expect to find out the final result when the maker completes his test.
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