Making Bandsaw Blades

[Ira Matheny]

I has just obtained a Jet Bandsaw blade maker. I have learned there is a need to 'temper' the weld during the process. How? I do some welding, [wire feed] but I am not an expert. Does anyone know the process?

[Julian Tracy]

if you are referring to the Jet Bandsaw blade welder, there are manuals online which spell out the process pretty well.

I picked up a 110volt Jet unit last year for a steal, the previous owner had picked it up at an auction and said he'd never gotten the hang of it.

Came with a coil of 3/8" metal cutting blade and 1/4" wood cutting blade.

After some testing, I pretty much got it down and have been using the blades I welded for about a year now with not too much trouble.

Read the instructions, but basically, you adjust the voltage for the blade size, clamp the blade, press the weld button once to weld it, then unclamp and move to the front of the jaws and lightly clamp, then proceed to press the weld button 4-5 more times using the redness of the blade as a guide. Each subsequent press of the button should be stopped at lessening levels of redness of the blade.

Once done, grind the welds and you're done. Helps to test on small sections and then after the process, try bending at the weld spot. A proper process will show no bending at the weld, and improper process will bend right at the welded point.

I might be missing something, it's been a few months since I've used it.

Julian

[Richard Coers]

Juilian has it right. The tempering comes after the blade is welded. The industrial welder I use at work has a seperate button for tempering. You will have to experiment with different blade materials, but most of the issues come up from the carbon content in the blade steel. I do more than 4 or 5 hits of the button since I try to hold a slight red glow for about 30 seconds. That lets the heat migrate out from the weld. I also spend a bit of time making sure the ends of the blade stock is square before welding. That is really critical for wider blades. I don't use the shear on the blade welder to square the blades since it slightly rounds over the steel. I cut the stock with a snips, then bump the edges on a disc sander to square them up.

[Ira Matheny]

I did not get the operator's manual. I have not been successful in finding anything on the net. I have only looked for about 1.5 hours, however. Do you have a manual? Can i get a copy?
Ira