Everyday Carry EDC From a Saw Blade

Old broken saw blades haven't seen their last usage when it comes to my shop. Most newer saw blades utilize carbide tips and if they fall or strike a hard surface, they could shatter like glass rendering them unsafe for use.

However, just because this happens just mean it is destined for the garbage...at least not in my shop.

In this project, I will take a saw blade with busted teeth and make an everyday carry blade ... In fact, make that two.

Saw blade

Paper and marking tools like a scribe & sharpie

Angle grinder or hacksaw

Safety gear (hearing / eye / respiratory protection)

Vice and/or clamps

Bevel guide (optional)

Sanding gear (sandpaper / files / rasps / etc.)

Scrap wood / copper / other metal

Hammer to shape, as necessary

Epoxy

Sealant for metal / wood (I used oil for the wood)

Watch this video to get the full experience that shows how I go about "doing my thing."

After planning out where I was going to make my cuts, I decided that the handle of the push blade should fall of the anti-vibration center since it would be covered by the handle. This would minimize waste and perhaps give the glue something more to "bite" into. I cut a piece of paper folded in half for the push blade. This would ensure symmetry as opposed to free handing it (pic 1-2).

The pin style blade would simply ride along the top of the center point of saw blade from end to end, giving me the maximum length. In hindsight, I made my cut lines a little too narrow and, personally, I would have liked a little more width from this one. All in all, I was happier with the way this ultimately turned out so you know, Happy Accidents!

Straight cuts were supplemented by my angle grinder jig and all the other work was cut by hand (pics 3-7). Make relief cuts for the curved part so that your angle grinder wheel doesn't risk breaking/wearing unnecessarily (pic 6). This can all be shaped later. My blade was secured either by clamps or a vice. Use whatever is available and you could even use a hack saw if that is all you have. It may take longer but worth it to make your own one of a kind items. IMO.

With the rough shapes cut out, I went to work cleaning up the edges. Using my belt sander made quick work of this but getting the round parts of the push blade proved difficult.

Using a vice and a spare rag so as not to mar the surface, I used a series of files to smooth out the rounded edges. This is slow work (at least for me) and time needs to be taken so as not to file too deep where you don't want it. I made an oopsie in one location I won't disclose but now that it is out there, see if you can find it.

I didn't have a proper bevel guide for the push blade so I used what I had on hand. this was a piece of scrap angle and a C-clamp. I positioned each edge at ~20-degrees and ran the edge along my belt sander. I tried to repeat each pass and once I got a good edge started, I found it easier to reproduce. I repeated this for all 4 edges making sure to cool my blade as needed between passes.

I find filing / sanding quite boring and I think most would agree. Talking about it equally as boring but it's gotta be done (pics 1-3).

Getting the symmetry where I liked it, I moved on to the handles. I shaped some scrap wood for the push blade on my bandsaw and epoxied them into position (pics 4-10). I don't know if the salt trick would work with epoxy but for some reason this stuff was really slippery today. I needed to maintain my outline very methodically but got it in the end.

For the pin style blade, I decided to go with copper (my current favorite metal to work with). Another happy accident result from being so thin was that I could just hammer a hardware store copper plumbing tube right into position (laying some epoxy down first) using my new shop anvil.

Next, I textured the handle of my pin style blade with my square faced texture hammer made from a RR spike. (pics1-2)

I shaped the rough edges of each handle until it felt good in the hand (pic 3-4). The push blade took a little extra time to get it ergonomically settled for my style of grip (pic 5-7). In hindsight, I feel I made this handle too wide. Looking on the interweb solidified my assumption as most look like the width of a golf ball, maximum. I could trim it down but I like leave the imperfections in my projects, sort of like my style of wabi sabi.

The pin blade could benefit from a sealant but I also interested to see where general use / aging takes the color of the copper (pic 8).

As for the push blade, I applied several coats of oil allowing each layer to dry overnight (pic 9).

That is it for this project. I hope you find some inspiration to create something yourself and if you are interested in similar project, consider checking out my other Instructables. I have several others involving props / replicas from busted saw blades and amateur copper work.

See you on the next one!