How easy would it be to drill through a hacksaw blade? Reason: I have a hand B&Q mitre saw the blades (350mm) are now unavailable. The nearest I can find are hacksaw blades, not ideal as saw is used for wood. However as I dont use it much it would do but I would need to re drill the positioning holes. I have emailed B&Q but dont expect an answer. I have electric drill and normal metal/wood drills.
Why not try it? But I would suspect the answer is "not very". In theory they are very hard (although some of the very cheap ones aren't.)
(Are you sure the blades are unavailable? I assume you've checked eBay?)
I'd have thought you need something like a burr (diamond or carbide or something), but then you need something to mount it in. Electric drill would need a very steady hand :-)
I'd buy a tungsten drill (Ebay) and give it a try. Tungsten are very brittle so best used in a drill press.
My thoughts would be: good quality high carbon steel blades? Forget it. Cheaper steel blades with case hardened teeth might take it though. If I couldn't drill through after reasonable attempts I might try heating it up to anneal it first then re-tempering it afterwards. But someone will be along shortly to tell you why my recollection of GCE O-level Metalwork 1968 might not be all that it ought to be.
Nick
And some of the more expensive ones aren't either, in the part that needs drilling: look for "bi-metal" blades. Flexible back but hard teeth -- so the back part may be easier to drill with a standard metal bit. (ISTR it's done with differential hardening).
Thomas Prufer
Looks like they might be available mail order only:
it said they were on clearance at 10p each when I looked, but couldn;t find any stores with them in stock, and unavailable for mail order.
several complete saws on gumtree, or bahco power saws seem to take a
350mm blade.
Just like Katana(s?)
I meant the cheapo ones off eBay, where the teeth come off the first time you use them.
Heat the part you want to drill to red/orange heat and let it cool naturally.
Cheers
There are some tungsten tipped drills that pride themselves on being able to drill files.
Easy with a diamond core drill and lots of water. IME anything else is a very iffy process.
I'd try a cheap carbide tile/glass drill bit like:
But make sure that the saw blade is clamped firmly and if possible use a drill stand or mill - if you haven't got one then you will need a very steady hand and take great care as the bit will tend to slip across the blade.
Alan
You might perhaps get away with just softening the ends. Since hacksaw blades are relatively cheap, you could experiment a bit. I would say it is not worth the effort to try to re-harden after drilling, you just won't have the control.
Heat the first 5 mm or so up quickly to red heat and let it air cool. This will probably soften an inch or so.
Stick to carbon steel blades, don't bother with the expense of high speed steel (HSS). Don't bother to try to drill "single metal" blades even with cobalt drills.
May still have an issue with the holes, the one I have slots in to a larger hole then the neck of the bolt slides in to a smaller one. So it has two holes adjoining like a figure of eight at each end.
Have you considered modifying the mitre saw to take hacksaw blades? It looks pretty easy.
It will probably shatter when you try it as they are, I think made with a hard outer surface, at least the ones that do not go blunt are. Brian
It could be a brand that has been renamed by b/q to something else so what you might be looking for is a different make. Brian
IME hand mitre saw blades tend not to be hardened except for the teeth. You can see a bluish colour to the teeth where they have been induction heated to temper them.
Hacksaw blades can be flexible or all hard. The flexible ones may be drillable but not the all hard without softening them but then they would lose their edge quickly.
Hand saws are probably hardened throughout so they are springy and don't bend easily. They will have been tempered to be softer than the teeth so they don't shatter but will still be quite hard. The teeth will have had a second hardening/tempering after the main blade which you can see by the bluish colour.
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