hi I am new to this website and am going to ask a question that has already been answered probably. I've searched and i couldn't find it anywhere.
I've been trying to cut a leaf spring so that i can make a knife out of it, my saw will not cut and and when i look at the little metal it did cut it is blue, i tried to normalize it by heating it up to bright red/orange and let it cool in a bucket of ashes to make is softer (done it on a few saw blades) but it won't soften can somebody please help, or show me where the thread is that already has this answer????

what kind of saw/blade do you have? it is dull ?

no it is a brand new bi-metal cutting saw blade for reciprocating saw from lowes

sorry to clarify i meant i've heated up a few old saw blades and normalized them to make blades out of now the ones i'm trying to actually cut with, also done that with a few old files

Good luck cutting with that. May I suggest trying a hot chisel ?

Nice to have you around Steve. Aarongann, I use leaf springs alot and use hot chisels more than my angle grinder. A "hot cut" is done by using a plain old chisel to cut the metal while it is hot. Dont cut all the way through though, or youll wind up denting the anvil face, then it can easily be broken off. I usually sharpen my chisels on a grinder, for maximum cutting power. There is also a small hammer, looks like a crosspeen hammer, but the crosspeen is sharpened. Its small mind you, dont get a huge 3 pounder and sharpen the peen. What you do is place the sharp end on the hot metal(has to have some good color in it) and smac the other side(the hammer face). Simple stuff, and works great. Good luck and welcome to the site.

Leaf spring cuts easily with a metal saw, I use my band saw all the time with no problem. Trying to cut metal saw blades with a metal saw isn't likely to be very successful.

Hot cut, torch, plasma, etc.

Frosty

A chop saw works well and if you don't have a chop saw, a cut off wheel on a right angle grinder will also work.

A decent metal cutting blade should go through a leaf spring.
Are you applying maybe too much force when cutting ?
Make sure you allow the saw to cut it's way through, you won't speed it up any by trying to push it through...and if that's the case, could be just that you overheated the blade.
Try a new blade, go easy on it and see if it works.
Some type of cut-off wheel would be the quickest, either chop saw or angle grinder if you are just making a couple cuts across the width, you'll be done before you even get your forge lit to hot cut it...But if you're trying to split it down the center length-wise or something like that, you'll likely want to throw it in the fire and hot cut.

maybe I was incorrect when I assumed since he said he was using a "reciprocating saw from Lowes" that was all he had, guess I should have asked what other options he had.

maybe I was incorrect when I assumed since he said he was using a "reciprocating saw from Lowes" that was all he had, guess I should have asked what other options he had.

Heh...on a similar note, I probably shouldn't have assumed he had other options, I never thought of that.

Aarongann, what cutting methods do you have available ?

I use plasma and it works wonderfully. Draw with a marker and cut.

Yeah man I feel your pain. I went out and bought (used) a 12" bandsaw to cut thru leaf springs (and other things) but forget it. The bimetal blade barely puts scratches in the leaf spring (I also normalized prior). I broke down and got an acetylene torch and it does the trick.

thank you all very much, i tried the chisel method and worked like a charm, unfortunately the reciprocating saw is my only option atm because i can't afford anything else right now.
thank you all very much!

Any time dude! Glad the chisel worked, you get the hang of it after some time.