Large Bandsaw Blades, Are they any good?

pandaman1966

Well-Known Member
As a newbie, I wonder if this is worth messing with, my buddy emailed this ad he found on craigslist..

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Used Bandsaw blades. Stellite tipped 1/8 inch cerf. 7-9 inches wide up to 36 feet long. $3.25 per foot. Made of high quality Damascus steel. Great for making knives and ??? These cost upwards of $750.00 to have made. We have also had a few people that have used these for concrete forms for curved sidewalks and circular drives. Questions? feel free to email back
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not allot of money, but you guy have more experience than I do.

would you give it a try, what questions would you ask the person.

I have to travel about 50 miles to get the metal, not a big deal, its sound like they have several of them..


Thanks in advance for your wise reply's:1:


Andrew
 
I am sure someone with a lot more knowledge than me will come along to answer.

I have never heard of a band saw made of Damascus.My guess would be,it's no good,but I would ask what type of
steel is in it.I know it's not much help,but i'm sure someone will be along with more advice.Good luck

God bless,Keith
 
thanks, Keith

yeah the Damascus comment kind of thru me too, never heard of such a thing. Thanks for you input

Andrew
 
Yeah the guys doesn't quite know what he's talking about as far as the damascus goes. Why would they do that? I use steel from large bandsaws quite a bit and they make good filet knives. I would only buy some if they were really cheap, not for what he's asking. Just buy some good steel and know what you've got.
 
I agree with Wolfe's comment. I've never used on, but I know several guys who have used them for fillet knives with very positive results. I think where the guy posting the message may have been confused is that he meant it could be used "for" damascus. I know of a few guys who have used it for damascus.

If you are just starting out, it is alot easier to spend your money on known steel. I don't know of anyone who is going to volunteer to HT mystery steel and give you a guarantee of any kind. Most will more than likely refuse to touch it.
 
I have used some bandsaw blade for knives and it works pretty well. Like Murph said sometimes it's pretty good for fillet knives if it's flexy. A lot of the blade material is 15N20 which is good steel and is used in damascus quite a bit.
 
The guy must have been confused never heard of damascus being used in that nature.
 
I know a couple of makers who make knives from L6 sawmill blades, which make a really nice using knife.
Tough as heck when forged.
Blind Horse Knives make some very nice knives from bandsaw blades, and they have a pretty good rep.
 
jees they have a lot of saw blades there. seems kinda high on pricing for sure.
I have some old stuff from a local lumber mill I am going to try soon, at $4 a ft I didn't know I was sitting on a gold mine;)
if you really want try some PM me and we'll work something out, I love trades.
Chris3k63m03l25O25V15Q4a9m64b09bd11e65150b.jpg
 
no way at that price!! Most sawmills will give the old blades away to anyone who will take them. I use this stuff a lot for kitchen paring knives and it is pretty tough stuff. You will have to experiment with heat treatment and remember it is high carbon and will stain and rust.
 
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