Now this is a band saw.

cv3

It is in a lumber mill in Organ

Gene Howe

The family and I visited a mill in OR in the early 90's that used a saw like that. The carriage was semi automated and turned the log, returned it for the next cut until it was squared. then it sent it through until produced all the 2Xs that could come out of the log.

They wouldn't let us in the shop, though. I would have liked to see their sharpening operation.

beeg

Now what do they use. Cool blocks or ceramic blocks.

zacker

geeze, id hate to have to pay for new blades!

tkhudson

The really cool ones have teeth on both sides so the log can be sawn in both directions! Wow lots of memories there. Ive seen a few saw blades explode and pieces fly all over. Amazing how a small piece of rebar or an old insulator can destroy one of these huge saws in the blink of an eye... real scary thing to see happen...

boostfan

I heard Norm Abrams was getting one like that for his shop

Ed in Tampa

tkhudson wroteThe really cool ones have teeth on both sides so the log can be sawn in both directions! Wow lots of memories there. Ive seen a few saw blades explode and pieces fly all over. Amazing how a small piece of rebar or an old insulator can destroy one of these huge saws in the blink of an eye... real scary thing to see happen...

Hey thanks I thought the teeth on the other side was so they could flip the blade to get twice the life. Never thougth about sawing from the other direction. Which now after thinking about it make perfect sense.

Thanks

Ed

dasgud

I would love to have one of those after it brakes to make knives and scrapers with.

Ed in Tampa

dasgud wroteI would love to have one of those after it brakes to make knives and scrapers with.

I wonder if that be true. What I mean is do we know the metallurgical properties of the steel in the blade is. I would guess the main body is a flexible metal with the teeth portion being more hardened and less flexible. Since I imagine you would use the main body of the blade for knife is flexible a desirable quality?

I readily admit I don't know and that is why I'm asking.

I was always told the best knife blades were made from file steel that was left outside for about a year.

dasgud

Ed in Tampa wrote
I wonder if that be true. What I mean is do we know the metallurgical properties of the steel in the blade is. I would guess the main body is a flexible metal with the teeth portion being more hardened and less flexible. Since I imagine you would use the main body of the blade for knife is flexible a desirable quality?

I readily admit I don't know and that is why I'm asking.

I was always told the best knife blades were made from file steel that was left outside for about a year.

I was thinking about filet knives where flexibility is desirable. I use bandsaw steel for draw scrapers/shapers now and it works great for that.

Of course, that's more steel than I would need for a lifetime of scrapers, but I share 🙂.

Do you know why file steel should be left outside to make a good knife?

Ed in Tampa

dasgud wroteI was thinking about filet knives where flexibility is desirable. I use bandsaw steel for draw scrapers/shapers now and it works great for that.

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Of course, that's more steel than I would need for a lifetime of scrapers, but I share :).

Do you know why file steel should be left outside to make a good knife?

Nope

I just had a friend, that I have since lost touch with, that always said the best steel for a knife came from a file that was lost outside for a year then found.

I know at one turners expo/lecture one of the speakers said he often took files and put them outside for a year or two and then ground them into lathe tools. I can't remember the reason just that he did it.

beeg

I wood think that a file WOOD KNOT be any good for a knife or a lathe tool. To BRITTLE.

JPG

beeg wroteI wood think that a file WOOD KNOT be any good for a knife or a lathe tool. To BRITTLE.

But holds an edge(if you ever get one on it!:D). Just do not use it for a screw driver!:eek:

dasgud

I googled "making knives from files" and found lots of videos etc. on the subject and the trick is to remove the carbon and temper from the files by barbecue-ing them lol. Seriously, lay a used file over red coals, then cover with hard wood logs and that will 'soften' them enough to file and shape. I over simplified the explanation, but that was the common procedure from all the references. Now that I saw those videos I think I'll use some old circular saw blades to make some knives. I was going to make some clocks out of them but never really was interested enough to start that.

I couldn't find any references to leaving them outside though. I'm really curious as to why that's done. Actually, here on the east coast of Florida a full year would probably wield a smallish pile of rust.

horologist

dasgud wroteI googled "making knives from files" and found lots of videos etc. on the subject and the trick is to remove the carbon and temper from the files by barbecue-ing them lol. Seriously, lay a used file over red coals, then cover with hard wood logs and that will 'soften' them enough to file and shape. I over simplified the explanation, but that was the common procedure from all the references. Now that I saw those videos I think I'll use some old circular saw blades to make some knives. I was going to make some clocks out of them but never really was interested enough to start that.

I couldn't find any references to leaving them outside though. I'm really curious as to why that's done. Actually, here on the east coast of Florida a full year would probably wield a smallish pile of rust.

I don't think you want to remove the carbon. What you want to do is anneal the steel, heat red hot and then cool slowly. Your charcoal method would do this nicely. The metal will be easy to shape in this state but would make a poor knife. Once you have the steel shaped you can then reharden it by heating red hot and quenching (oil usually) however in this state it is now dead hard and brittle. I have a lathe collet that rolled off the bench and shattered when it hit the floor. You can reheat the steel to a lower temperature (tempering) this will allow you to maintain much of the hardness while restoring much of the toughness.

Note this is a gross simplification.

I'm curious to hear what leaving the file outdoors for a year would accomplish. Perhaps we can have a race between you, me, and Ed to see what region of Florida can rust a file away the quickest. :D

My money would have to be on Ed as he has the "benefit" of all that salt air.

Troy

dasgud

horologist wroteI'm curious to hear what leaving the file outdoors for a year would accomplish. Perhaps we can have a race between you, me, and Ed to see what region of Florida can rust a file away the quickest. :D

My money would have to be on Ed as he has the "benefit" of all that salt air.

Troy

haha :p I used to live on the barrier islands on the east coast, between the ocean and the Banana River (salt water). I could taste the salt in the air... When I was deployed for Desert Storm, my pick up truck, which was parked outside, practically rusted away in that 14 months. Holes rusted in the roof, hood, floor boards... I wouldn't even get in that truck at first because of all the mold inside. That was sad.

I don't live that close to the beach anymore.

so yea, you're right about annealing the metal to make it workable. Obviously, I didn't understand all I read and watched, just picked up the larger points. However going back through my browser history I think the term I wanted to use was to "bleed the carbon". Apparently some carbon will bleed to and settle on the surface of the file during the annealing process and will need to be removed to work the steel underneath.

I wish I knew about this when I built counter tops. I used to wear out 5 - 10 files a week.

brick1

dasgud wroteI was thinking about filet knives where flexibility is desirable. I use bandsaw steel for draw scrapers/shapers now and it works great for that.

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Of course, that's more steel than I would need for a lifetime of scrapers, but I share :).

Do you know why file steel should be left outside to make a good knife?

hey paul, i'm not sure of the exact molocule or chemical change involved, but a well known race car engine builder in our area used to put bare, cleaned engine blocks, cranks and rods out in the back lot and left them for about a year. i asked him one time and he mumbled, (engine builders dont like to give away secrets), something about making the metal tougher?? now he uses cryo treatment and his engines are bullet proof!!! from all i've read and studied about cryo treatment, we could have some life long parts on our shopsmith with this?? in fact, every NASCAR car we watched this past weekend had every metal part cryo treated, well, except maybe for Harvick and Burton, (two of my favorites!!)

take care, bill

wa2crk

I wonder what OSHA would think of the protective gear those blade handlers were using?:eek:

Bill V

JPG

wa2crk wroteI wonder what OSHA would think of the protective gear those blade handlers were using?:eek:

Bill V

I think the saw and blade predate OSHA! Maybe that is why they are to keep the door closed at all times!:D