Can anyone here tell me what kind of steel was used in the old two-man cross cut saw blades? I'm thinking it was probably o1 since I've tried quenching in both water and oil, and the water quench cracked, but the oil quench turned out ok. I'm planning on doing more testing, but if anyone could tell me, I would appreciate it. I'm pretty new to bladesmithing, and I'm not that confident in either my heat treating or spark testing to proceed with any great confidence. I intend to make several knives from this blade, but since I am new to this hobby, I want to feel as though I am progressing and not just spinning my wheels. I know that there is no sub for just getting in there and doing it, and I have, but this thing is difficult enough without trying to use inappropriate metals. To this point, I believe the steel is probably o1, but a little affirmation would be nice.

Ed, my guess would be a 10xx series, mainly because it's an old steel and used a lot in the time era of crosscuts. I don't know that O1 is such an old steel. I've never run into any saws that I thought were O1.
JMo bruce/birdog

not likely to be O1, it's too high in carbon for that use as well as being a young steel.

depending on age it could ne something akin to 1050-1080 or L6. I would think it would be in the 0.5-0.8%C range for a big saw.