| I worked out a new trick for cutting a straightened leaf
spring in half lengthwise. This is a cool trick for making rapier style
blades. I used to use hacksaw blades but for the last decade you just can’t
buy hacksaw blades as hard as they used to be. I don’t know why this
is but it is very annoying. SoI started experimenting and I found this trick.
You mark your line and proceed as if you are making a blood groove but slot
all the way from end to end. Make this groove on ONE SIDE ONLY! Grind it
deep. Keep grinding till you start getting blue spots in the bottom of the
groove but NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH! If you go all the way through, the disk
will jump and possibly injure you. Once the groove is deep enough you clamp
the blade in a big vise. The jaws against the groove and at one end of the
spring. Then you take a big pipe wrench with a four foot pipe slipped on
the handle and put it on the top edge of the spring over the vise. Then
you lever down on it. You should hear a crisp crunch as it starts to break
in the groove. Move the spring a few inches in the vise and lever on it
again. Repeat down the length of the spring and the pieces should fall apart.
This usually warps the two blanks a bit so you have to take them back to
the straightening anvil. This is good on longer springs for rapier blades
or short springs for great dagger blanks.
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