Devan,

If you go to the other knife forums and search for saw chain, you will come up with a lot of information... mostly old... like a decade and more.

Saw chain can be problematic. Some of it has a chrome coating on the teeth and/or rivets and/or as part of the chemistry, and that can cause welding problems. A lot of the steel in saw chain parts is designed for wear and doesn't have much carbon. Some folks have had success wiring up a bunch of chain, heating and whacking away. Me, I opted for doing it in a can with high carbon powdered steel with a high nickle content. The nickle added contrast. The high carbon in the powder raised the billet carbon level to "decent knife" levels. The "can" created a more ideal welding environment.

Almost seems like you ought to just go do it, whether it will make a great cutting tool or not. There's no way trying to weld up a wad of saw chain isn't going to be both a fun and learning time. Fold some up about 6" long and 1" to 1 1/2" around. Tie it up with 4 - 6 doubled up pieces of baling wire. Collect it with light hits. Hit when hot... heat when not. The corner between the anvil face and the horn can be your friend... =]

Mike

I've never had any problems welding chair saw chain. There may be some that have odde metals in them, but I haven't run into that. I usually do like Mike and wad up a couple of chains and start welding. They are mushy at first and tend to look like a honeycomb. Keep heating and tapping and it will start to go togather. I've used Oregon chains and they do seem to make better blades. You'll have to play with the heat treat on each one to see what works.

Dale