They use some Tough Materials to Make a Saw Blade
By: The Working Man



The saw as a hand tool with a toothed blade and used to cut
various materials is one of the oldest known tools. Early man
apparently used the jaw of a shark or other sharp toothed
creature to cut his hides and saw sticks to the proper length.
The first flint saw is dated back to the early Paleolithic Era.
Saws made by setting sharp pieces of stone into bone handles were
used almost that long ago. Metal saw blades came into use with
the discovery of copper.


Today's saws, although they may look rather simplistic, are made
up of several types of materials. Each one performs a purpose and
makes the saw as a whole work properly.


Brass Saw Blades

Brass is used because it is relatively low cost and easy to make
castes from. This is typically used in a back saw because the
pull on the saw is low. If more force were applied as in a
reciprocating saw the brass would not be able to stand up to the
stress and would fracture.


Steel Saw Blades

Steel is cheap, strong and easy to shape. It is used in just
about every kind of saw available today. Steel can stand up to a
lot of force without breaking, bending or fracturing.


Diamond Saw Blades

Diamond is only used in saws that are designed to do heavy duty
cutting. Diamond saws only come in two shapes right now: circular
saws and ropes. The saw that has diamond as part of its blade is
used to cut rock or rock-like materials like concrete.

A diamond saw blade can be used by wood carvers who need the
precision a fast cutting diamond edge saw blade provides. Diamond
saw blades are very expensive and you can only really justify
buying one if you do a very high volume of cutting.

Diamond edge saws are made by combining diamond crystals with
metal. The metal mixture is then heated and pressed into a mold.
This forms the diamond segments for cutting.


Manufacturing a saw used to take a long time. Saws were crafted
by a blacksmith in a forge. In the nineteenth century the teeth
of the saw had to be individually punched out, and then set by
striking alternate teeth with a hammer against a small anvil or
stake. Because of the painstaking time and labor saw making took,
if you were an apprentice and not experienced in making saws you
were given a saw-set pliers to use for cutting the teeth, which
took even longer to make the teeth of the saw.


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