Picks using hacksaw blades

[bigone5500]

I am new to picking and have become quite interested in it. I've been reading in this forum about hacksaw blades and want to know about the type of materials used in the blades as opposed to their ability to maintain hardness after grinding. The blades I have are the Starrett brand. One is a Bi-Metal with blue writing and the other is a High Speed Steel with green writing. The two blades seem to have the same felxability and cut well in metals but I do know when you grind on something it takes away a bit of the hardness. When you quench with water it makes microscopic cracks in the metal and I'm not sure that the picks made with these properties would hold out as well as other methods. So what I'm asking is what are the best methods to use when grinding and what is the best solution/material to use when quenching the heated blade?

[zeke79]

the trick is dont get the blades hot enough to hiss when being quenched. I quench at about a 2 to 1 ratio. If I grind lightly for four seconds I quench for 2. Lastly, dont waste starret blades. the cheapies work as well or better than some of the higher priced blades.