Thread: The Butchered Blade

Oh ye of little faith.

Since starting to use this bearpaw pull saw a few years back, I have found there isn't much I can't fillet with it. As long as the work is secured firmly and the saw is held straight, it just cuts through with very little effort.
Blade is spring steel, .020" thick with a very tiny kerf.
Problem with horn blanks is there is a slight curve to them still and this saw don't do curves.
Solution is to cut to mid point from both sides, kind of split the curve.

Then I trace out my template and cut the pair at once with the mid area of the original blank still holding it all together.

So the matched pair are truly matched as they were sliced side by side. The one is 1/8, and the other slightly thinner due to the curve but that's ok. once sanded smooth and equal they will be thin, and still strong. Well, in theory..

Oh great one we salute you!
I'm gonna take that tidbit of know-how to the grave!

Originally Posted by MikeT

MikeB52 I got some rust stuff, supposed to be more natural (maybe less harsh ?) Similar to rust erase. Put a blade in it four 30min as directed and removed to scrub off rust and then repeated process 3 times for the heavy rust. I noticed a blueish etching created. Removed etching with 1000 grit.
Anyway it works fine, so does sand paper though.
BUT the label says that this "etching" is more resistant.. that this new surface resists rust for a significant amount longer than bare steel.
This lends to the possibility that if a blade has "devil spit" or "devils slobber" or any other marks left by devilish secretions (LMAO), that perhaps removing the rust, giving it a dip to create this "rust resistant" etching WITHIN the pits and cracks could perhaps keep them from further rusting.
I've read somewhere of etching blades to prevent rust but don't know what they used... ?

Thing with those solutions is we sand off the finish they leave behind so I don't know if there would be any extra protection when all is said and done. I just figure if you elect not to sand it all out (spit and stains) for whatever reason, it's an option, with, as you did scrub with steel wool or a brush to get out the black and neutralize the remainder. I still go for the sandpaper unless fancy etching prevents it.

And the Great One's retired, bastard went to play for LA instead of the Leafs before the end, grrrrrr. Won't ever forgive that move....

Thanks for the kudo's though Mike. It was the saw that made all the difference. I always wear gloves when I use it cause the teeth are just lethal. I used it to split the shillelagh I used for my Irish restoration last year, and I cut a 3/4" Ash hardwood floor board the same way as the horn to get 3 sets of scales out of the board. I was able to cut it into strips each just shy of 1/4" thick.

Originally Posted by Matheus

Few pages late, too.
Amber is kinda sensitive to mineral spirits and organic solvents (gasoline, naphta, acetone, alcohol, glicerin, methil cyanide, ether, chloroform...)
Besides "fossilized", it's still resin.

you've refreshed my memory, that my grandmother had an Amber bead necklace that was stored in a box, but in a drawer for a long time adjacent to linen Christmas tablecloths and napkins which maybe had moth crystals in the drawer. When she took the beads out, they looked like hard candies that had been hit with a hammer....just crystalline beads that disintegrated as son as they were touched.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

you've refreshed my memory, that my grandmother had an Amber bead necklace that was stored in a box, but in a drawer for a long time adjacent to linen Christmas tablecloths and napkins which maybe had moth crystals in the drawer. When she took the beads out, they looked like hard candies that had been hit with a hammer....just crystalline beads that disintegrated as son as they were touched.

Wow what the heck could have happened? Reaction of some kind? It sounds like serious oxidation but of course I don't think so, just similar. Moth balls maybe? Huh.
The amber has been around for a long time, still active, but digging it up increases and alters the process, also exposing inner material.. but that sounds like a reaction in the case of the necklace..

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Thing with those solutions is we sand off the finish they leave behind so I don't know if there would be any extra protection when all is said and done. I just figure if you elect not to sand it all out (spit and stains) for whatever reason, it's an option, with, as you did scrub with steel wool or a brush to get out the black and neutralize the remainder. I still go for the sandpaper unless fancy etching prevents it.

Yes but what I mean is using hard backed sand paper as to not remove etching from down inside pitting and cracks..
Is blueing similar to etching?

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Oh ye of little faith.

Since starting to use this bearpaw pull saw a few years back, I have found there isn't much I can't fillet with it. As long as the work is secured firmly and the saw is held straight, it just cuts through with very little effort.
Blade is spring steel, .020" thick with a very tiny kerf.
Problem with horn blanks is there is a slight curve to them still and this saw don't do curves.
Solution is to cut to mid point from both sides, kind of split the curve.

Then I trace out my template and cut the pair at once with the mid area of the original blank still holding it all together.

So the matched pair are truly matched as they were sliced side by side. The one is 1/8, and the other slightly thinner due to the curve but that's ok. once sanded smooth and equal they will be thin, and still strong. Well, in theory..

Mike, I have split thick pieces of horn before using a small jewelers saw on an air tool like a die grinder. I sometimes had to cut from each side.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Yes but what I mean is using hard backed sand paper as to not remove etching from down inside pitting and cracks..
Is blueing similar to etching?

I see, leaving the solution in the ruts as a protectant you are thinking. Might not be a bad idea, although it's trading one off steel colour for another but a rust free one!
And what I meant was if a blade has etching, or markings on it, I might use the evaporust instead of aggressive sanding to clean it up. Or at least the face side.

Auh I see.
Man I'm having a crap time with these Joseph Rodgers. Away from computer so no pics but basically working around the stamp on the face of the blade... ugh.
The pitting is worse than I thought. And I'll lose width getting a usable edge because of pitting on edge.
Think I'm gonna break out the Dremel with cotton wheels and greaseless. I don't know, its a pain, but I saddled this pony...