carbide saw HELP??

graveyard

Well-Known Member
:biggrin: carbide grit rod saw, has anyone ever used one of these to cut some knifesteel & possibly brass 3/16 THICKill use for fitings ill wount to cut some curved areas HELP anyone
 
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Did it once to cut some steel for a gouge and it took me longer than using a hacksaw, but it does allow for better control and contouring.
 
In my experience, it's best reserved for ultra-hard material applications.

I like a narrow metal-cutting bandsaw blade for your application. But then again, not everyone has a bandsaw.
The rod saw is not quite as good for control of a straight cut as a regular blade, but it really shines on contours.
Again, this is just my limited experience with it.
But they're not too expensive, and are handy to have in a jam.


BossDog, I think he's talking about the type of blade that masons/tile workers put in a hacksaw. It doesn't have any teeth, it's kinda like a wire imbedded with carbide particles. Kinda think of it like a specialized sanding wire. So it cuts in any direction.
http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-15-410-Rod-Saw-Carbide/dp/B000FK5DH0

Graveyard, please correct me if this is not what you're talking about.
 
I've used one to cut tile. I usually just use my hack saw to rough out the profile. The wide kerf of the carbide grit blade provably removes 1.5-2x times as much metal, which is more work. I can go through 1/8" annealed 01 pretty fast with a good bimetal blade.

ric
 
I've used those blades for years to lighten tangs.
You'll find that the more you cut with it, the blade bows more and more which makes it hard to control. It does come in handy on certain things. It's basicly a file with a frame to hold on to.

View attachment 25452

Rudy
 
ROB45 your right ,, // RUDY JOLY you know of a way to cut out closed holes liketo lighten tangs without a bandsaw??
 
ROB45 your right ,, // RUDY JOLY you know of a way to cut out closed holes liketo lighten tangs without a bandsaw??

OK, at least I know we're on the same page regarding the type of blade being discussed.

I'm not Rudy, but there are many ways to obtain the interior cutout using power or hand tools. As always, there are compromises with each method.
Which method works best for you will depend not only on the accuracy required, but also on the type and thickness of the material with which you are working.

While we would all like to use a milling machine, the majority of us don't even own a contour saw.
So the subject of how to do it with simple tools comes up from time to time. I'm pretty certain I haven't tried all of them, but I'll go over the ones I have tried.

1. A cutting wheel in a rotary tool. (Hard on the tool, and requires more wheels than you would think.)
2. Drilling out multiple holes and then finishing to the lines by filing, grinding, etc. I personally don't like this method, but many do this because it's the method that suits their tool availability.
3. Cut with a hand saw. Drill a hole large enough to thread the blade through, then attach the blade to the frame. (This is why a contour saw usually has a blade welder attached.)
For fast work on thick material, a hacksaw works great, but it's kind of "unwieldly" working in the relatively tight confines with the hacksaw frame and blade. Reminds me of using a sledgehammer to squash a bug. This is where the rod saw shines, because it allows a smaller blade, therefore requiring a smaller hole to fit the blade through. But as Rudy mentioned, eventually the blade stretches and control becomes difficult, and there is only so much adjustability on a hacksaw frame.
Another option is to use a jewelers saw in conjunction with a bench pin. It will allow ultimate control of the cut, but cutting stock of the typical thickness used in making knives will make the process seem slow. I like using the jewelers saw, but using one properly certainly has a learning curve.

Try 'em all and see what works best for you.
 
OK, at least I know we're on the same page regarding the type of blade being discussed.

I'm not Rudy, but there are many ways to obtain the interior cutout using power or hand tools. As always, there are compromises with each method.
Which method works best for you will depend not only on the accuracy required, but also on the type and thickness of the material with which you are working.

While we would all like to use a milling machine, the majority of us don't even own a contour saw.
So the subject of how to do it with simple tools comes up from time to time. I'm pretty certain I haven't tried all of them, but I'll go over the ones I have tried.

1. A cutting wheel in a rotary tool. (Hard on the tool, and requires more wheels than you would think.)
2. Drilling out multiple holes and then finishing to the lines by filing, grinding, etc. I personally don't like this method, but many do this because it's the method that suits their tool availability.
3. Cut with a hand saw. Drill a hole large enough to thread the blade through, then attach the blade to the frame. (This is why a contour saw usually has a blade welder attached.)
For fast work on thick material, a hacksaw works great, but it's kind of "unwieldly" working in the relatively tight confines with the hacksaw frame and blade. Reminds me of using a sledgehammer to squash a bug. This is where the rod saw shines, because it allows a smaller blade, therefore requiring a smaller hole to fit the blade through. But as Rudy mentioned, eventually the blade stretches and control becomes difficult, and there is only so much adjustability on a hacksaw frame.
Another option is to use a jewelers saw in conjunction with a bench pin. It will allow ultimate control of the cut, but cutting stock of the typical thickness used in making knives will make the process seem slow. I like using the jewelers saw, but using one properly certainly has a learning curve.

Try 'em all and see what works best for you.

Hey Rob,

What size saw blade do you like to use in the jewelers saw?

Thanks,
Charles
 
Pretty simple steps:
I mark out the part I want to cut out.
Drill a 3/8" hole in each corner.
Slide the rod saw through and attach to the saw frame.
Have at it with wild abandon...connecting the holes.
Remove rod saw and touch up with a chainsaw file.

It took longer to type this than to actually do it. lol.
Of course this is all done in a vise of some sort. I cut out a 2" hole to make a flange for my blower this weekend.....it took 8 minutes with the rod saw. If I used my mill, it would have taken at least a half hour with set up. Make sure the blade is there as tight as possible, I use pliers to tighten the wing nut.

Rudy
 
Hey Rob,

What size saw blade do you like to use in the jewelers saw?

Thanks,
Charles

I like to use the largest (coarsest) possible for the thickness of the material being cut. Using a coarser blade effects a faster cutting action.
For the overwhelming majority of metal used in this application, the thickness of the material will be above .100".
So the largest (size 8) blade will still work well. I don't have my chart handy, but I think that is the equivalent of 28 TPI.
On those special occasions where a really tight and intricate cut is needed, I'll use a finer blade, but it is solely to get the reduced blade dimensions.

I do have a selection of smaller blades that are used for the very thin-gauge copper, brass, etc. But those thicknesses are not applicable to the material discussed in this thread.

Back to the discussion of the grit/rod saws, they make them for jewelers saws, too. I found this out while trying to solve a peculiar problem.

A while back I made my son a fillet knife out of 1/16" 440C. He favors a large handle, and wanted me to use some of the lignum vitae.
After a preliminary fit, he said that the entire knife felt very unbalanced to him. For a fillet knife, it felt great to me. I realize this can be subjective to each individual, but considering the type of wood, I guess I could understand.
We decided to skelotonize the tang and do some minor hollowing on the inside of the wood, too. (Yes, this reduced surface contact, but three mechanical fasteners (Corbys) made up for it. That wood isn't exactly famous for holding glue, even epoxy, anyways!)
My problem was that the blade was already hardened, and I had my doubts that the saw blades would hold up. That's when I found out about the rod saw in a size for the jewelers saw.
They were expensive, nearly $10 each! But, they were diamond-impregnated piano wire.
It worked great. The saw design has enough "give" so that it flexes before the wire itself stretches. Since the blade doesn't stretch out, this maintains constant tension on the blade and allows the control. And of course the fact that it was diamond grit meant I didn't have to worry about the steel already being hard.
The hardest part about all of it was trying to drill a starter hole for the saw. So we eventually ended up starting the saw off the existing center hole (for the fastener). The narrow kerf still allowed use of the hole for the Corby, too.

Probably one of my more "backyard-engineered" projects, but it forced me to think outside the box, and I learned a few things in the process.
Probably the most valuable lesson learned is that my son wants me to make him another one, and it's high time he make one himself.
Why? Because that knife is somewhere in Reelfoot Lake!
 
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