Strike Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 I recently traded an old tractor for some 12v 660CCA batteries for DCEN welding and mower blades. I got 21 mower blades and they are fun In the sideblast leafblower jabod coal forge, to practice on. They seem so soft when I beat them, so what can I use these mixed metal alloyed blades for as a softer steel. I spark tested and they have pretty low carbon content if I read the spark test data sheet from this website correctly. What can I do with these softer steel blades other than a "forged in fire" san mai concept? BTW the batteries will be wired in series and used to weld with 6011Electrodes for whatever. Bottom line 21 lawnmower blades might only be useful for sculptures, lol. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Modern mower blades can be a softer boron alloy. What did the heat, quench and---wearing PPE---break test say about them? Note don't assume they are all the same alloy. A manufacturer could change alloys 3 times a day if it suited them! What can you do with them? EVERYTHING except blades... Like asking what can I haul in my pickup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 You may want to explain why they are not suitable for blades Thomas. Most would think you could make a decent knife out of a lawn mower blade. I probably wouldn't make a blade out of one, but I"m sure there are those out there that are curious and would like to hear from your years of experience on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 I did: "Modern mower blades can be a softer boron alloy." The modern boron alloys are quite wear resistant but much less likely to chip or break under abusive use. They are being used a lot for agricultural items that used to be made from high carbon steels for wear resistance. (And so made decent blades.) If they need a discourse on what makes an alloy good for blades; they should buy the books on the subject!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 Many of the mower blades that I have spark like pretty high carbon steel! I even have some brand new ones that spark test like pretty high carbon metals. I’d not hesitate to use them for utilitarian cutting tools. Clearly mine are different from what you have though. My new “Oregon” blades have really nice spark showers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 I have a student that used to work in the maintenance department of the university's golf course and was gifted with a large number of commercial mower blades that were "worn out". He was quite excited till he found he couldn't get them to harden... So basic junkyard steel rule: *TEST* don't *GUESS*! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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