Thread: Saw blade from cheap disposable stanley

Take the teeth and a little bit off at the toe and see if you can file it, if not take a bit more and try again. I would think that the depth of the tooth and a few mm should do it at a guess. Or you could try testing it with a sharp center punch, just start near the tooth and give it a tap, go up the blade a few mm and tap again, you should find a point where it marks more easily. Have fun.

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

Take the teeth and a little bit off at the toe and see if you can file it, if not take a bit more and try again. I would think that the depth of the tooth and a few mm should do it at a guess. Or you could try testing it with a sharp center punch, just start near the tooth and give it a tap, go up the blade a few mm and tap again, you should find a point where it marks more easily. Have fun.

Awesome, thanks Claw Hama! I will.

Originally Posted by code4pay

Awesome, thanks Claw Hama! I will.

Let us know how you go, if that worked and how you go with your saw

Sorry - nearly missed this thread. What Claw said makes sense, and is a useful thing to remember next time I need to test the hardness of something I can't get at with a file.

If the blade isn't rusty or badly discoloured, you can usually see where the blue colour change caused by the impulse hardening ends. It rarely extends more than about a mm past the bottom of the gullets. I clamp the blade between a couple of bits of straight steel about 5mm thick, to act as a guide and a heat-sink), and slice off a strip about 2-3 mm above the gullets. Joint the new surface with a file, which will confirm that you are back in the tempered part of the blade.

I use an old file on its last legs for this initial jointing after cutting, because it's not uncommon to hit a few hard spots where you lingered a bit with the cutoff wheel & caused some local re-hardening in the steel. If you cut close to your steel guides, such spots will be just a couple of thou deep, and disappear after a couple of passes of the file. I've use few different brands of these disposable blades and they've all been perfectly good saw plate, once you get past those hard teeth....

Cheers,

What is the thickness of these Stanley mitre saw blades? The ones I've seen were quite thick, about 0.5mm.
edit: sorry I only saw now it's 0.8mm.. would have been nice if they were thinner

Originally Posted by johnnyrsa

What is the thickness of these Stanley mitre saw blades? The ones I've seen were quite thick, about 0.5mm.
edit: sorry I only saw now it's 0.8mm.. would have been nice if they were thinner

The Medalist Shark 14" I have is .03", or .8mm, so this might be the standard thickness for cheap modern backsaws; of course they have a tinny, short, pathetic, thin steel back. I must check the thicknesses at the hardware shop next time I go there.

Originally Posted by Heavansabove

The Medalist Shark 14" I have is .03", or .8mm, so this might be the standard thickness for cheap modern backsaws; of course they have a tinny, short, pathetic, thin steel back. I must check the thicknesses at the hardware shop next time I go there.

Peter, all of the hard-points I've checked were between 0.65 and 0.8mm thick, with the vast majority on the thicker end. As you say, the pathetic bit of tinplate that passes for a 'spine' is there for appearance, I think - you get plenty enough stiffness from the blade alone with 0.8 mm plate!

I surreptitiously checked a few (all the cheapies) when I discovered I could no longer buy the scraper blades, and my source of raw material for 14" saws had dried up. I've picked up a few old hand saws - too new to look like 'real' saws, but old enough to not have hardened teeth, to chop up for saw plate, but the mere thought of the work involved in polishing those rusted blades brings on acute RSI! The cheap saws, particularly when they are on special, cost no more than the scraper blades, and would take very little effort to prepare, just one quick cut, depending on the blade shape you wanted . About the only reason I haven't tried one yet is I just can't quite bring myself to cut up a brand new saw!

Cheers,