Use at your own risk

[Loyd]

I made some 3/16" blades for a stihl weedeater head for a friend of mine who does lawn work. He says he now has a bush hog with handles and has had no problems.
It is the head that has the swinging plastic blades.
Good luck,
Loyd

[Complete_Loser]

Nice!! Well done. These would be great on my new 4stroke!

[elkriverfab]

Any suggestions on hardening them so they hold an edge?
I have a lot of mesquite here and they would be great for keeping them down.

[Complete_Loser]

Im curious aswell what would be the preferred angles. If you make them out of stainless, i would sharpen them and then heat the edge to red hot. Red hot stainless is hard as hell from what i remember.

[Loyd]

When you cut them they will have a fairly hard edge. When you sharpen them do not sharpen to a knife edge. About a 30 dg angle from 0 leave about 3/32 plasma cut edge. About the only way to harden crs decently is to use kasenite which will give you about a 1/16" or so depth. You do not want to harden all the way through.
I used to take old files and weld them to my lawnmower blades. I would cut out a section of the blade, weld in the file piece. The welding take enough of the hardness out of the file. I would only have to sharpen twice a season, 1 acre yard really sandy.
My friend cleaned around his pond, he said he was taking down briars 1 to 1-1/2" thick.
Loyd

[elkriverfab]

Loyd,

Thats a good idea with the lawn mower blades.

Did you have any balance problems?

I have an old riding mower I would like to do that to, have to sharpen them often in the summer.

It has two blades and just wonder about balance issues.

I wonder how safe that would be on my 3 point shredder also?

That thing is a bear pulling off the blades to sharpen often too.

[Loyd]

My mower had 2 blades. Balance just like you would a normal blade. I never had any problems at all. It should work on your chipper just fine. Weld the fool out of them!
Loyd

[elkriverfab]

Thanks for the info.

I will have to think about the shredder.

Those blades spin at around 500-700 RPM.

I was mowing the pasture a few weeks ago and hit an old car starter that had been hiding in the grass for years.

That thing landed about 2000 yards away when it was done flying.

Speaking of the shredder, I have been drawing up the plans to cut out a new one on the table. Deck, sides and all.

When finished, I will share that one with everybody.

Considering they cost around $1,500 for a decent one, maybe someone out there could use the files to build their own.

I plan on using the old gear box.

Thanks.

[Loyd]

WOW!! Talk about a Texan!!!2000 yds away?? I know they got big yards in Texas! LOL Lets see......1760 yards in a mile....hmmmmmm Just kidding!
Loyd

[jj2k]

Thanx for the file. Being a blacksmith I am forced to make a lot of my own tooling. Sometimes for short run tooling we will make the piece out of hot rolled (mild) steel (A36). We will harden it using a solution called Super Quench. Google that and get the formula. It is cheap to make and is great for hardening mild steel. But the very best thing about it, is that it really works. You could cut your blades and harden them with this solution at a red heat. You'd be amazed at how much life you'll get out of them. But again the title of this thread tells the tale. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

[Loyd]

Hey,
Thanks for the tip. I used to harden a lot of tool steel when I built jigs and fixtures for a place I worked. We machined parts for F-16, F-18, L-1011 and Sikorsky Blackhawks. I was a Tool and Cutter grinder and jig and fixture builder. Kasenite was the way to go then. I will try this stuff, and again thanks for the info! Will it work for cold rolled?
Loyd

[Loyd]

Robb Gunter's Super Quench

* 5 gal water
* 5lb salt
* 28oz Dawn Ulta Blue dishwashing detergent
* 8 oz Shaklee Basic-I*.

Stir this mess together and don't spill -- the salt and soap combo make a real mess.

Heat your mild/low carbon steel to yellow (nonmagnetic) and quench in Super Quench. Do NOT use on tool steel, medium, or high carbon steels (>.4%) Super Quench is far too harsh. Some of those steels will actually shatter/explode while being quenched.

* Shaklee is a company similar to Amway. Check the Yellow pages to find a representative near you.

[redfarm]

I may be crazy, but I gots lotsa company. I handmade a set of these probably 8-10 yrs. ago. they worked great. getting a dynatorch table in aprx. 2-wks. this may be my first cut. Thanks for all the knowledge, I can only hope to become as skilled as many on this board.