Cutting Stainless??

[desert_emperor]

Hi All,

I have been given a sabatier meat cleaver (!!) and would like to make a bushcraft knife from it. Can you give me any tips on cutting the shape and the best method to use to ensure the metal' temper is maintained? Are there any particular problems i may face with stainless steel??

Cheers....Paul

 

[leon-b]

you could drill a load of holes round the shape you want to cut out and then cut between them using a hacksaw
leon

 

[bushtank]

Hi All,

I have been given a sabatier meat cleaver (!!) and would like to make a bushcraft knife from it. Can you give me any tips on cutting the shape and the best method to use to ensure the metal' temper is maintained? Are there any particular problems i may face with stainless steel??

Cheers....Paul

you have just given me a masive brain storm on the knives i dont use in my kitchen nice one

 

[Wayland]

A carbide tile saw blade in a hacksaw frame will cut most things without knackering the temper.

I've used them for cutting 01 before now.

 

[Shinken]

Good luck!

It wont be easy

 

[bikething]

Are cleavers completely tempered? or just along the cutting edge?

 

[topknot]

Hi, a mate tried to make a M.O.D. survival knife from a meat cleaver non stainless steel from a butcher and its in his shed unfinished too hard.
buy some 01 tool steel .

 

[Agile]

We have some sabatier knives for the kitchen - one is about 40 years old and is not stainless (no idea what grade of steel, as that has long since warn off) the "new" ones are stainless and I can verify that they don't sharpen up half as well, last a fraction of the time and are a bit tat.

Saying this, I agree with the others when they say "good luck" you may need it mate!

Agile

 

[Draven]

I made a knife out of a meat cleaver! Still awaiting heat treat though.
I used the tile cutting saw like Wayland said, though I annealed it with a blowtorch first, and even then it was quite a chore. Well, not too bad, but took about an hour and a half of near-constant sawing. Probably should've annealed it a bit more...

I also saw in either this forum or another, somebody cut a knife blade shorter by filling a shallow tray with cold water (to stop the temper being ruined) and keeping the blade under it while using a dremel with a cutting disc.

Good luck mate!

 

[C_Claycomb]

I really can't see the point in doing this. The stainless in kitchen knives is far from the best for what we want in a knife. They tend to be softer and more stainless. There are exceptions, but if you have one of those it would be even more work, AND you would be wrecking a decent kitchen knife

I have used cleavers as wood choppers and they aren't bad, as a design and at a push.

If the steel is stainless, I doubt that you will anneal it without the proper, temperature controled, equipment. Stainless steel air hardens and needs long soaks and very long cooling times to soften properly. The same goes for re-heat treating. Without knowing what the steel is it will be difficult to get it hardened as it should be, and simply heating with a torch probably won't give particularly even results.

When you figure in the time and effort that would be involved in cutting up a stainless kitchen knife, it would be easier to buy a ready made blade, or make one from nice soft O-1 and have someone on British Blades harden it for you.

 

[bushtank]

I have just cut out a new blade from 4mm stainless and i did not enjoy.what a night mare i went through several blades and my arm aches but i have a good result now loking forward to doing the handle now will post some picks when complete

 

[C_Claycomb]

4mm? What sort of steel is it?