Bill Armstrong Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 I recently came across several 54" carbide tipped circular saw blades. Seems there is a wide variety of guesses as to what kind of steel they are made from. I was wondering if anyone knew of a lab I could send a sample to for analysis. Would be nice to know steel type to get heat treat correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragoncutlery Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) I have seen some posts on ebay were they will use one of the portable scan guns to give you a reading for like $20 im sure a proper lab Would be more accurate but it might be good enough Edited March 19 by dragoncutlery Brandon Sawisch bladesmith eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked in to jet engines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Walker Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I would spark test along with some known examples to get an idea if it's worth sending off as a first step. Wonder what a lab test cost? A friend once found a few big saw blades like that and immediately paid a laser cutter to profile a bunch of blades. They all turned out to be not harden-able and wound up as elements in a knife sculpture, the best I remember. Matt Walker https://www.youtube.com/@onedamascusmaker/videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazz Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 A friend once gave me a big pile of carbide tooth band saw blades that were fairly large and used in a plant that made nuke reactor parts - big stuff. The steel part of the blades turned out to be 4140 so not the best stuff for making a blade. I made a large bow/hacksaw frame from a piece of rebar for a chunk of it and gave it to a friend to cut soft fire brick with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 There are a few in the US that can do it quickly and easily. I have used IMR Test Labs for numerous projects, as well as Element in Wixom, MI, both would be about $125 a year or so ago (not sure on current pricing). I have been told that Chicago Spectro is pretty good and has the cheapest rate (about $75 a year ago). On 3/19/2023 at 9:54 AM, dragoncutlery said: I have seen some posts on ebay were they will use one of the portable scan guns to give you a reading for like $20 im sure a proper lab Would be more accurate but it might be good enough Those hand scanners do not read the lighter elements like C and Si, so pretty worthless for our uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Also, in my experience testing saw blades (though none that large), if it has carbide teeth then the base material isn't likely to be a blade worthy alloy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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