Unquestionably Confused wrote:
On 8/23/2016 5:29 AM, Bill wrote:
Uncle Monster wrote:
On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 1:17:05 PM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 1:59:07 PM UTC-4, Pavel314 wrote:
I replaced the blades on my lawn tractor's mower deck this
morning. I'd hit a few stones out back and they needed to be
replaced.


[snip]

http://www.whispersofnatureherbs.com...1/dscf0015.jpg


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...41436f098b.jpg


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...w/Dscf0680.jpg
DD, do you ever watch the cable TV show about guys taking scrap
metal and turning into all kinds cutting blades like knives, swords
and axes?

Lawn mower blades are too soft for any of the above.


Look up hardening and tempering, Bill. You need to start with softer
steel to shape the blade properly and once you have your knife shaped
where you want it and semi-sharp you first harden it and then temper
it and finish the job.

Perhaps not ideal for the purpose but worth playing with.

Before going to all the work of making a knife , one should do a grinder
spark test to see if the steel has sufficient carbon to be hardened . Do a
web search for pictures of what carbon steel sparks look like - basically
short traces with a lot of forks .
--
Snag