old subject(lawnmower blades)

franklin

Well-Known Member
Ok i know there not the greatest of steel, what i am asking is i found a very old one out in the woods hunting.
So to clean things up i took it home was thinking forge practice, But this thing is really hard and was very tuff to to cut with a hacksaw. Were some of the old ones made with good steel? :) any ideals on this? i am going to cut a piece off and harden to see,
just getting your guys thoughts. If any of the older ones were good.
 
Yes, there were and probably are some lawn mower blades that will make good knives. The fact that it was difficult to cut with a hacksaw is promising. You will just have to play with it to see.

Doug
 
now i am realy wandering, file did not bight well at all ,just a little. think that could be from tempering?
 
What you evidently have is a hardened and tempered blade. For smithing it no big deal, that will be corrected when you heat the steel to work it. If you are doing stock removal you will speed things up by annealing it first.

Doug
 
Cut off a little chunk, put a point and edge on it, heat-treat it like it was 1095 (1475-1500f, hold 5 minutes, quench in fast oil) and test it to destruction! You may have to experiment a bit to home in on the right tempering temp (start low, and bump it up til it no longer chips)...
If it preforms well, go with it.
 
dont now but that thing sure got hard,they dont make em like that anymore,tryed 1 after i saw gaddards book with a newer mower blade ,how do you think it came out? soft as butter!!!!!!
 
Lots of mower blades are made from 5160 H . Which means its gauranteed to get at least a 45 rc min. Most but, not all mower blades are pretty good steel . Made quite a few knives from old mower blades . Usually they turned out pretty fair blades .
 
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i should talk to a friend of mine from my landscaping days along time ago. He buys skaggs for the company he works for, thanks for the tip.
 
I can name at least 5 different mower companies that use 5160 for thier blades . Sears Craftsman, Bushhog mowers, Honda , gravely, and lawn boy. to name a few . If I were you , go to mower repair shop and ask them what they do with thier used blades after changing them ? most of the time they will give them to you .
 
I can name at least 5 different mower companies that use 5160 for thier blades . Sears Craftsman, Bushhog mowers, Honda , gravely, and lawn boy. to name a few .

Bubba-San,

That sounds promising, and by no means am I doubting your statement. However, can you point me in the direction of where you got that info?

Thanks,

Robert
 
Sure can , I lived on a big farm near Houston, Mo. And I really lived in the stix . My closest neighbor was 2 miles away . So I had to repair most of my farm equipment . As a result whenever I needed something, it was mail order for the most part .I had some problems with some big mower blades because of all the darn rocks .So whenever I ordered some new blades I would ask the supplier what steel they were made from . Most of them indicated it was 5160 H but, not all . Mower blades are not real hard tempered because they will shatter , normal hardness is around 45rc so they will bend instead of breaking .However lots of real cheap imported mowers use crappy steel . Just to be on safe side I would do a spark test . It seemed like the better mowers used better steel and the temper is usuallly better. Gravely and honda mowers blades were stamped with the steel type.
 
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