cutting down plane blades and scrapers...

[Matthew N. Masail]

I was wodering what you guys use to do this ?

I don't own a angle grinder. could I use a hacksaw...?

Thanks.

[Adam Cruea]

I just used my bench grinder.

How much are you looking to take off? I noticed in your other thread that you have a bandsaw, so it might be worth it to get a metal-cutting blade for that.

[Matthew N. Masail]

quite a lot.... I'm looking to shorten one carbon steel blade by 2 inches and cut out various pieces from an extra cabinet scraper.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Matthew

This is a time when you need a 4" grinder and/or a Dremel. There are plenty of inexpensive 4" grinders around. These make short work of cutting up or shaping steel. Dremels can be quite pricey but are great for keeping the heat down, as well as fine cuts and grinding.

You could use a hacksaw, but only if the steel has been annealed (heat to red hot, the allow to cool down as slowly as possible). The problem then is that you must re-temper the steel, which is easy with O1, but the danger is that the steel will twist.

What did you have in mind?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Matthew N. Masail]

Hi Derek,

I have a Skill Dermel tool, what kind ofattachment would be best? regular grinding wheels? If I had to buy an angelgrinder I'd have to wait because we just moved and I'm a little tight financially.

I'd rather not get into heating yet... I'm stilllearning the basics!

I want to make a scraper shaveand use a old cabinet scraper to make the blade. I thinkI'll also use that scrapers steel to make other useful stuff.
#2 I have a blade that is toolong aesthetically for it's body, I want to cut it and round over the top.

[george wilson]

I had nothing but a steel jawed vise and a cold chisel to do it with in the 60's. I got a big piece of 1/16"X 8" lumber mill bandsaw blade for my shop students to make scrapers with. I clamped the blades in the vise,and held the cold chisel at a downwards angle,so that the cutting edge was EXACTLY on the top surface of the vise jaw. I held the chisel at a sideways angle so that 1 corner of the edge contacted the bandsaw blade. Then,I hit the chisel with a hammer,and the bandsaw blade would crack along the path of the cold chisel as I went across the top edge of the vise. We made cabinet scrapers. I showed the students how to sharpen and use them,and the students were fascinated by the big curls they could raise with these scrapers while they made their own benches. I can tell you,those students DID NOT abuse their benches like ordinary students will. They had work invested in them!!

The trick is to only just let the chisel crack the saw blade,and NOT to let the chisel BEND the blade much at all as you proceed,else the blade will get bent and distorted. Best if you could have the end of the saw blade coming UP out of the vise. Then,the waste piece would get bent,and not the good part of the saw blade. This might not be possible,depending upon your vise.

KEEP the cold chisel sharp!!

[Mike Olson]

All my metal cutting I use a Harbor Freight angle grinder and HF cuttoff wheel. it works GREAT and can't beat the price.
HF Angle Grinder Item# 91223 = $19
HF Cutoff wheel Item# 66394 = $5.49

I have been using the same cutoff wheel for a long time so I wouldn't bother getting too many since they last a long time for this type of work.

[Chuck Nickerson]

Mike - he's in Israel and HF probably isn't.

Matthew - I've done this with a Dremel-like tool (Foredom). Get the reinforced cutting wheels, not the standard.
The standard wheels are just shrapnel-in-waiting. Do wear eye protection.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Derek,

I have a Skill Dermel tool, what kind ofattachment would be best? regular grinding wheels? If I had to buy an angelgrinder I'd have to wait because we just moved and I'm a little tight financially.

I'd rather not get into heating yet... I'm stilllearning the basics!

I want to make a scraper shaveand use a old cabinet scraper to make the blade. I thinkI'll also use that scrapers steel to make other useful stuff.
#2 I have a blade that is toolong aesthetically for it's body, I want to cut it and round over the top.

Hi Matthew

I'm not familiar with your Skil. I assume it is similar to the Dremel. That should be fine. If you do manage to find a cheap 4" grinder - here they are available from about $30 - then look for the very slim wheels (about 2mm thick). The thinner the cut off wheel, the cooler it cuts.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Matthew N. Masail]

Thanks everyone, the Skill is like the dermal, the same arbors so I'll look for the reinforced cutting wheels. Chuck, is there a visual clue that can show if they are reinforced? unfortunately I'd have to spend around 50$ on a super cheap angel grinder that would not be worth having.

[Zander Kale]

I've been cutting quite a few plane blades lately and use a dir grinder (a mondo dremel) with a cut off wheel.
Here are links for a cutoff wheel ($1.55) and mandrel ($4), which will give you an idea of what works:
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=337-0356&PMPXNO=27746941&PARTPG=INLMK32
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=391-7070&PMPXNO=942093&PARTPG=INLMK3

On the blades pictured, it was only hardened part way up, so I could hacksaw the top. It is pretty difficult not to remove the temper about 1/16" on each side of the cut so plan on doing some grinding after cutting.

http://zkprojectnotebook.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/split-blade.jpg?w=500