Here's one for you. Some time ago I bought some EN47 steel for bladestock. Trouble was that when it turned up it was in sheets (or is that plate?) :mad: The sheets are mostly around the 1/4" thick mark and vary from 5-15" wide, in 4' lengths

What suggestions are there for me to cut the stuff unto strips that I can then forge blades from?

I've no gas torches, so gas axe is out. No plasma cutters either. I have angle grinders, which is what I must've had in mind when I sent the driver on his way after it all arrived.

I can forsee a lot of grinding coming up unless there is a cunning alternative?

One thing that did cross my mind was maybe a bench shear? Or maybe making the blades for a shear and fitting them to my flypress? Not sure what thickness I could cut cold though?

any suggestions are most welcomed :)

A few suggestions...

These are assuming the steel is annealed....

A band saw... even a relatively inexpensive one with a good blade will work.

You could call or take a piece to a large metalworking shop and ask for pricing for shearing.

If you want to get the ball rolling, you could use a zip-disk on your angle grinder. This may be a little expensive, but will let you get started. Buy good discs though.

Hi Dave, Got some bench shears on offer at Westpoint. Or we can arrange to cut some off for you on the saw there, just sold the mechancal hacksaw sorry.

Dave, for the smaller widths just cold chisel your line and snap it in the vice, or put a square bar under it and pop it with a flatter while your stood on the other bit. I've 'cut' a bit of plate both ways.

Not sure I fancy cold chiseling it? The smallest width I have is about 4"x1/4"

John, I have been thinking about a decent set of bench shears. What sort of width and thickness is realistic with them? I've had an offer of running the sheets through a guillotene, though they need to check it will cope.

thanks guys

Pick up a skill saw at a hock shop and put a 7" cut off blade in it. You'll have a lot more control than trying to use a cutoff wheel in a right angle grinder.

The down side is the dust will kill the skill saw sooner than later, still you can get quite a bit of cutting from one. Maybe blowing it out regularly with the air hose will prolong it's life. It'll still wear it out sooner than normal, that's why I suggest a hock shop or flea market saw.

Frosty

Abrasive cuttoff wheels in 4" grinder. would would work for smaller cuts. just score 1/2 to 3/4" the way through and break the res of the way in vise. Use a large cresent or pipe wrench for leverage. Improvise, adapt and overcome

Or what Frosty said :D

If you make that much knives to justifie not using an angle grinder then a band saw would be logical. Cutting wheels get expensive real fast.

I like frostys idea of using a skill saw and there only like 20 bucks ,maybe get a few? .

I use a side grinder with Walter 3/64" zip cut discs and they work great very little loss of material and they go a long way.

Bob

You said you are going to forge the blades, so that means you have heat. Mark it cold with a cold chiesl then heat it up and use a hot cut. It is fast when you get on to it, and it will let you cut curved lines with almost no stock loss. You can make a pretty good hot cut from an old spring weld or rivet on a handle, spend no money.

You said you are going to forge the blades, so that means you have heat. Mark it cold with a cold chiesl then heat it up and use a hot cut. It is fast when you get on to it, and it will let you cut curved lines with almost no stock loss. You can make a pretty good hot cut from an old spring weld or rivet on a handle, spend no money.

nice idea, but I don't fancy moving a sheet of hot steel that weighs 50lbs around the workshop and trying to cut it

I'll most liokely cut a few bits off with an angle grinder until I get to a more cost effective solution. I do make lots of knives (it's my main occupation ), but I use several different steels and this is a new one for me to try out really :rolleyes:

If you have access to an air compressor... I have used the 4'' cutting wheel attachment to cut sheets, it works, but the air runs low quickly... I have also used a jigsaw not on 1/4 inch though, that would be a LOT of blades... I like the skill saw and band saw ideas.
If you go with the angle grinder, i would look for a thinner disk.
good luck!

Hi Dave, cutting capacity 50mm x 10mm should be no problem I have a "small" bench shear marked up for cutting up to 2" x 1/2"

There is a larger shear on a stand that would need bolting down to something solid for sale a Westpoint.

Actually, using a hot-cut is a good idea. You don't need to heat up a large piece. First use another method to cut your stock into widths that you want blades to be in length, then use a hot cut to make cross cuts in that stock.

Also, do your hot cutting on a piece of plate (on the anvil) that you have heated in your forge.