Steel Asphalt cutting blade for knife making question

ACLakey

Well-Known Member
I was given around a dozen of these PR Diamond Asphalt cutting blades and would like to use them for knife making stock.  Each blade measures just under 18" in diameter and are .125" thick.  I called the company and they told me they were high speed tool steel with molybdenum but didn't have any more information than that.  Would these blades be a good material for making knifes?  Anything I should consider or processes I need to consider?  Thanks for the time.

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'IF' I had to use it without knowing all the specs except the ones mentioned, I'd treat it as A-2 with a plate quench. Modern saw blade alloys are usually used because they're cheap and could be one of many mixes not neccesarily prone to hardening.


Rudy
 
Something to keep in mind is the fact that the company doesn't need an alloy that has hardenability...especially when they're going to be brazing diamond segments to it. A hardened blade could be deadly if it shattered (dayooby, dayooby)...sorry couldn't resist. Toughness and stability is preferable in a saw blade application.


Rudy
 
Rudy is correct. Since the diamonds in those blades are what did the actual cutting, the body of the blades probably wont make a decent knife. If you can't get an actual spec. sheet from the maker, you can cut a small section and have it tested for its composition. Fastenal and a few other places will do it for you. I think its $75-$100. If they are decent steel you will still have to cut it up, anneal it, & thermal cycle it if you'll be doing stock removal. If its scrap iron you will be out enough $$$ to buy several bars of a quality blade steel.
 
Ditto what Rudy and Darrin said!

I've been talking about this for a while, but it's worth repeating. For a number of years now, the majority of industry has used whats known as "spec manufacturing"....once upon a time, designers/engineers would specify a particular steel type for a given item. With "spec manufacturing" those days are long gone. Now a days they basically state what a particular item/tool must do, and then have it made out of the cheapest materials available. (less $$$ to produce, but they still sell the items for the same or higher price, meaning more profit) What this means is that you could have several different steels/materials within those dozen blades, even though they are the same brand....different runs COULD be made out of whatever steel/material was cheapest at the time of production (and would do the intended job).

So in reality, it might be more of a "crap shoot" then you realize..... you could spend the money to test one, and if the others are not made out of the same steel/materials, you're right back where you started from.

If it were me, they would go off the scrapyard, and the money would get turned into buying new/known blade steel.
 
what they all said. having a known steel makes the knifemaker's job a lot easier. basic steel is not expensive, using 1084, 80CrV2, O1, or AEB-L the steel for an 8" knife with 4" tang will be about $3 or $4.

 
Thank you for the replies and information...I will use these to make some decorative law art for the wife. :)
 
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