[TheForge] lawnmower blades

[Lynn Emrich]

Dan and all,
My best story about blades made from mower blades is
about my best friend Norman's son. He wanted to forge
his own knife. 
When Norm and his son came to my shop the only thing I
had laying around was a commercial lawn mower blade.
When he came back for help with some finishing work I
could tell he wasn't impressed with the knife he had
helped make. 
I sharpened it up and picked up an old 2 X 4 and
chopped on it as hard as I could. Then I showed him it
would still shave hair. Then he understood the
difference in the knife he bought and the one he made.
He's happy with his work.
I treated it as if it were 10XX steel and it worked
for me.
Lynn


--- dan at irontreeworks.com wrote:

> I've gotten quite a few from my local John Deer
> Lawnmower dealership.  I told
> them that I was learning to make knives and that I
> wanted to try making them
> out of blades.  They gave me enough fill an 18 gal
> tub and told me to come back
> for more.  It costs them more to take them to sell
> them to the the recycling
> place than it does for me to haul them away
> 
>  I've been warned about looking for cracks and I
> have found a few.  I usually
> lay them over the edge of the anvil and hit'em a bit
> with a heavy wooden maul. 
> If they crack or break, I don't use them.
> 
> Spark test showed different blades made from
> different metals.  I try for really
> sparky ones for my blades. They make great cleavers.
> :)
> 
> Dan
> www.irontreeworks.com
>


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