Shop made straight line cutter for inlay

[Richard Dooling]

I want to make some items out of a handsaw blade plate. What is a good way to cut this? A hacksaw? Any tips?

Thanks

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[Jim Koepke]

I used a Dremel tool with an abrasive cutting wheel.

A three corner file would work if you can hold it straight.

jim

[Andrew Gibson]

I good pair of metal cutters will work as well... at least it worked for me on a scraper when it was just knocking teeth off of my hack saw blade.

[Mike Olson]

I used a cheapo HF angle grinder with HF cutoff blades. cut right through the plate without much problem at all.

When I first tried it, i made a single pass then went over it 3 - 4 times until it was all the way through. This was very tough as it liked to skip around during the first and second pass. Best way I found to keep the edge as clean and straight as possible is to plunge all the way through and cut while it's in there. because the cutoff blade is flat, it keeps the cut straight. You just need to make sure your initial plunge is straight. Depending on the length of cut you might need to take a few breaks to keep from overheating the metal.

[george wilson]

You can easily shear saw blade steel in a sheet metal shear. It doesn't hurt the shear,as the saw steel cracks off ahead of the shear blade. You might frighten the owner of the shear,but we cut hundreds of blades on the 10' shear in Wmsbg.

Cutting discs might burn the saw blade where it cuts,and you may have to grind away where the discs cut the steel.

I have cut many saw blades by clamping the blade in a steel vise jaw,and holding a sharp cold chisel so that its edge is right down flush with the vise jaws. Hold the cold chisel at a SLIGHT angle,and use a hammer to tap your way along. This may distort the saw blade a bit,and get it out of flat,so you may again have to grind some steel away. If you only JUST let the corner of the cold chisel break through the other side of the steel,it will distort less,and maybe not at all.

My favorite way is still to shear it. We could go directly from the shear to toothing blades as the shear did not distort the blade. If you hold a cold chisel at a slight angle,it emulates the action of a shear.

[Richard Dooling]

Thanks everyone.

I'll report back when I get a chance to get into the shop.

I am particularly interested to see if I can get George's chisel shearing method to work. Seems almost too good to be true but it makes sense when you think about it.

I'm afraid though that the small machinist's vise I have may be too light for this task.

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[David Weaver]

Score it with a dremel and snap it.

Any decent files should work it once you've got the blank size you want.

[Richard Dooling]

Well with many doubts I tried George's suggestion and clamped the saw into a machinist's vise and whacked it with a newly touched up cold chisel.

Holy jehosifats it worked! I couldn't believe it.

Again, thanks to everyone for their replies. I love this place!!


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[george wilson]

Richard,I have even cut 1/16" thick bandsaw mill blades with a vise and cold chisel. Granted,it has to be a fairly big vise,4" or 6". When I was teaching shop in the early 1960's,the whole class made their own scrapers from old bandsaw mill blades I'd get for free from saw mills. We had no other way to cut them at the time.