The saw that wouldn't

**IanW** · 22nd August 2020, 10:41 AM

Matt, I think a range of steels would work perfectly well. As I said somewhere, it's not the steel composition per se that determines suitability for a saw blade. Any of the steels mentioned can be hardened to similar levels (for all practical purposes), but they must be tempered back to a much lower hardness for saw blades. Somewhere in the low 50s on the Rockwell scale is generally quoted as the sweet spot for saw blades, and all of the steels mentioned can easily achieve that. Of course, there will be subtle differences between 1095 and 1080 tempered to the same hardness, but I have my doubts you would be aware of them with a woodworking saw used normally. The lower-C steel might be a little less "springy" & possibly more easily kinked at the same level of hardness, but that's just a guess.

The higher C steels would possibly be a bit more abrasion-resistant and last longer between sharpenings, but the difference would have to be pretty marked to be noticed by most of us. For hand saws used all-day every day, I'm sure you would notice a difference between harder & softer steels, & it would be an issue (Disston et al certainly tried to make an issue of it, didn't they?), so if I were making a saw to be used under those circumstances I'd be more fussy about what I used. But for a backsaw, used for less than an hour on intermittent days, I very much doubt you would pick any difference between 1080 & 1095 tempered to the same hardness.

HR, my memory of the workshop is becoming even more vague than Paul's! I cannot for the life of me remember what alloy that imported plate was, so I'll trust your younger & better memory. One thing I can say about it is that the damn stuff loves oxygen! You have to be very diligent to keep it shiny-bright. I suppose it is no different from any of the other steels I've used, like shim-stock & re-purposed hardpoint blades, but it came so nice & polished, it's really noticeable when it starts to lose that. I must've dropped a bead of sweat on one of my favorite saws as I was hanging it back in the cupboard one day. It was on the side against the door, so would've taken longer to dry than if it had been on the exposed side. I didn't use the saw again for a week or two, and when I did, I immediately saw this horrible scar (I think I posted a pic of it at the time): Rust smear.jpg

I've worked at it a couple of times since, but it's hardly made much difference, it's still an ugly, visible mark: Rust smear 2.jpg

Paul - do you really carry that saw in your ute? That's one place where I'm happy to slum it with my cheap harpoint - I just couldn't bring myself to get stuck into a potentially nail-infested piece of wood with a real saw....

Cheers,

**Simplicity** · 22nd August 2020, 12:39 PM

I just checked with Dale,
Who organised the saw workshop back in 2013,
He’s fairly certain,the saw plate at the workshop was 1095.
I’m also pretty sure he had a bit of a challenge obtaining it !.

Cheers Matt.

**IanW** · 22nd August 2020, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Simplicity

....I’m also pretty sure he had a bit of a challenge obtaining it !.....

I can't remember how he found it in the first place, but the process went fairly smoothly in the end. IIRC, Dale wasn't too flush for funds at the time so we stumped up the cash together- three 50 foot rolls plus shipping added up to a bit. And there were other costs associated with the w'shop, brass for spines (Ray G. took care of most of that, but I did slot about a dozen backs at the last minute when he discovered he'd under-estimated how many were wanted), plus the hundred & something saw bolts I spent several days churning out, one by one! It was quite a bit of work organising it all, for sure. You may have noticed Dale has not put his hand up to repeat the exercise?!

Cheers....

**Simplicity** · 22nd August 2020, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by IanW

I can't remember how he found it in the first place, but the process went fairly smoothly in the end. IIRC, Dale wasn't too flush for funds at the time so we stumped up the cash together- three 50 foot rolls plus shipping added up to a bit. And there were other costs associated with the w'shop, brass for spines (Ray G. took care of most of that, but I did slot about a dozen backs at the last minute when he discovered he'd under-estimated how many were wanted), plus the hundred & something saw bolts I spent several days churning out, one by one! It was quite a bit of work organising it all, for sure. You may have noticed Dale has not put his hand up to repeat the exercise?!

Cheers....

Wow,
I I didn’t realise you had brought so much in 3 50 foot rolls is quite a few saws,
I wonder how many are finished now.[emoji6]

Cheers Matt.

**IanW** · 23rd August 2020, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Simplicity

.....didn’t realise you had brought so much in 3 50 foot rolls is quite a few saws,
I wonder how many are finished now. ....

Often wondered that myself, Matt.

If we take 300mm as an average size for the saws, that's enough for at least 150. I bought about 30-35 saws' worth, as I recall, Dale kept about the same amount for himself, so that left about 80 saws' worth. The participants each took home one or two extra blanks, so perhaps 45-50 saws' worth of plate went off to sheds around the country. Don't know what happened to the remainder, I bought another lot a few months later (can't remember how many, maybe a dozen saws' worth), but it all found a home somewhere....

Cheers,

**riverbuilder** · 23rd August 2020, 02:52 PM

Too much time on your hands

**IanW** · 23rd August 2020, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Too much time on your hands

Yup, retirement looks like that, rb, but the reality is, there is still not enough because time speeds up as you get older!

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