Need Input 5160 way hard stuff

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pairomedicsfish

Well-Known Member
Guys, I could use some advice....I just picked up some 5160 rolled bar, annealed, from Sheffields. I bought a 72" section that is .256X2.......all good so far. Got to the shop an chucked it into the Ryobi chop saw with new blade.....this saw barely made a dent in it. Next, to the bench and the 7" side grinder and cutting blade.......wore the blade down like it was butter......tried the grinding wheel on it and ate that up too. I was able to make some headway but very tough going and NO precision.....I even gave a section an anneal cycle and still hard as heck. Is 5160 always this hard?
 
Hmmm, 5160 is usually easy to forge and cut when annealed/ normalised . It may not be 5160 ?.
I just cut a 1/2" x 4"piece of a bush hog blade with a chop saw and it was hardened . Maybe someone else can answer your question .
It does seem odd that it's that hard. Bubba
 
Sure it's 5160 or unhardened ?
I have about 50 feet of the annealed stuff and it cuts like butter especially in the band saw. I've cut a lot of big metal (3" x 6" S7) with my Makita chop saw and never ran into that problem. Could it be you bought an asphalt cutting blade by mistake ? Even hardened truck springs cut easily with it. Not sure what else it could be.:les: Hmmmm.

Rudy
 
I'm another vote for "are you sure you have 5160?" My experience has been the same as the other two guys 5160 cuts, files and forges pretty easy. What is your annealing process? Make sure your media you are using for annealing is bone dry.
 
Bought it from Sheffields knife supply, called ahead to make sure they had it...picked it up in person...they say that it is 5160 could it be my tools? The metal cutting disk was a Diablo from Home Depot....the grinding wheel was was a Harbor Freight cheapie....but they have pardoned ok in the past when grinding annealed rasps. This is my first step away from using Farriers rasps.....ugh....
 
Sorry I'm not more help, I can't think of a reason for your steel to be so hard to cut. I have used cheap zip disks to cut 5160 hard and soft without any problems
 
Maybe its just me......I do appreciate the input........just a thought? If its not 5160, I wonder what it might be....I will look at their book and see what else it could be....
 
Maybe its just me......I do appreciate the input........just a thought? If its not 5160, I wonder what it might be....I will look at their book and see what else it could be....ok....i looked at the book.....here is what it could be, based on steel that they offer in the dims that i got.....D2 hot rolled bar.....15n20......01 hot rolled bar.....would any of these seem super hard? If not, then I will go with poor tools and make some changes.....again, thanks for the help guys....I an trying to move from rasps to a more finished knife....
 
I can't imagine any of those standing up to a cut-off blade. I work with O-1 a lot, I've never seen 15n20 that thick but I don't know everything. D2 would be my only choice but I highly doubt it. I cut the carbides for my file guides with my angle grinder, carbide is way harder than any "annealed" steel you'll ever get. Maybe they slid you a full hard bar of BG42. (kidding)

Rudy
 
It sounds like you need better tools. There isn't any steel that my Mikita chop saw wont cut annealed or hardened.
Maybe you could give us a better idea of what tools you're using?
 
a chop saw should cut hardened steel, just slower. If you hit a hard spot in .25", it's going to take a bit of muscle to push the cut off wheel through it. We have some 1095 in .25" that is a real bugger to cut in some places.
My guess is that the steel isn't annealed all the way and has hard spots or is half hard. a bandsaw blade will go dull pretty quick when used on steel that has hard spots in it. We don't use a band saw to cut any carbon steel in our shop for that reason. We kept hitting hard spots and ruining band saw blades. We use a chop saw on almost everything.
 
Hmmm...well, I can't thank y'all enough for the input! Gonna upgrade some stuff and see....I would gate for this piece of steel to ruin my taste for knifemaking....I will post an update as soon as I grab a new side grinder!
 
As for your abrasives, I don't know what brand you're using but the Harbor Freight or "cheap" ones are likely to have some trouble. I can cut around a lineal foot of 3/8" 304 stainless plate with a 4" Norton cutoff wheel that's $1.85. The Forney brand from ACE hardware is ridiculously bad in comparison, it cuts less than two inches and is down to the hub, as well as being pretty much the same price.
 
There is a heavy fiber blade I purchased for my chop saw that would eat through any bar or round,it was 8" across and black composite. I don't have the name anymore because I gave it away with the old chop saw I had.

I purchased it at a Tru-value hardware store and it was USA made for what its worth.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
I agree with Bruce , I also use a 14" Makita and I have cut rr track (narrow guage) I also cut a piece of D7 which contain twice as much carbon and 4 times as much vanadium as D-2. I had no problem . It could be your wheels ? as a previous poster reffered to.
Buy some good dewalt blades from Amazon . There are very reasonable. I buy them by the box . good luck ....... Bubba
 
Grinding blades (either chop saw or angle grinder) can glaze if run to hard and heat up to much. If a blade quits cutting well turn on the saw or grinder and lightly bounce the blade on the steel. This way you can break off the glaze. It should then cut like a newly sharpened saw blade. If you have cut soft materiel (aluminum, brass, etc.) the blade can become clogged and won't cut well. I doubt that you need a new side grinder just a new blade.
 
Good info Wayne, thanks. My side grinder burnt up the other day, I have been using my 7.5 inch buffer/polisher....it is a high speed, but not as fast as a true grinder....I am hoping that by going to a proiper grinder again, and a better blade, that I can get through this stuff.
 
Looks like it was a tool problem!. Picked up new high speed grinder and some Diablo disks.....profiled two blades without a problem!. Thanks again for the support.....I was getting discouraged....back in the swing of things now!
 
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