Bent carving knife blades from band saw steel

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mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
Blades cut from old industrial band saw blade

Twin bevels ground with the tormek wheel prior to bending, hardening and tempering

Before and after tempering (200 Deg C for 2 1/2 hours)
I made this shape specially to do inside wooden dishes

2 general purpose knives



Good project to learn from,I used a wee tin can forge to provide heat for bending/harden/temper. I used a camping gaz blow torch, not quite as hot as it could be, but all I have at present. Thanks for looking
 

Kepis

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 17, 2005
6,702
2,139
Sussex
Superb work, i have a couple of carving tools made from old band saw blades that were gifted to me some time ago by a chap out in the USA, have to admit i dont use the crook knives, but i still use the carving knife with the red handle (western red cedar)

Dscn7290 by Mark Emery, on Flickr
 

mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
Thanks for the comments.
Does anyone remember years ago, when someone got a new car and it would have a sticker in the back window saying "Running in"? That's whats happening with these, getting them fettled one at a time. But the first one I've honed up looks promising. I made 2 more blades this afternoon from slivers of a spear and Jackson spade, heavy duty spoon hooks based on mora design but modified to suit me,done some elbow adze blades too
 

mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
Those look rather good!
What is the thickness of the stock? I would have thought bandsaw stock would be a bit thin.
Thanks for commenting.This was a piece I salvaged from a bandsaw welding shop in 1991.The blades they made were anything up to 6inches wide and 2 inches per tooth, immense terrible looking things, no puny 1/4inch axminster hobby blades. This steel is around 1 3/4 mm thick. The hardening and tempering seems to be ok
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,665
McBride, BC
Those are exactly what crooked knives should be. Properly surface hafted = Pacific Northwest First Nations style.
Thickness and "bash worthy" are not what crooked knives are meant to be.
Those are "all-day" handles.
What did you make for bevel angles? 15 degrees and less?

Reads like they were cut out of a gang saw blade.
(Gang Saw: multiple band saw will cut an entire log into lumber in 1 pass. Not some wimpy shop saw.)
 

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