Who makes their own band saw blades?

[John R Hoppe]

I have been reading through some of the threads on bandsaw blades and it it seems that many people are spending a lot of money on pre-made bandsaw blades. I have been making my own for over 20 years and have saved a LOT of money by doing so. I buy blade stock by the coil, usualy 100', or pick up deals on EBAY for blades longer than my saw uses so that I can cut them to length. If you shop right, blade can be had for about $1.00/foot or less.

The process is quite simple and uses tools most people have. First, using a tin snips, cut an old blade and measure it for reference, then add 1/8". Cut the new blade and grind a 6:1 scarf joint (about 1/8" taper on .025 blade stock) onto each end, and silver solder it together using a propane torch. I made a jig to hold the ends of the blade straight when soldering, and use a boron modified flux that McMaster Carr sells. Once the blade is soldered, I carefully grind both sides smooth with an die grinder and a 1 1/2" sanding disc.

Over the years I have only had a few blades break at the joint, and if they are still sharp I just solder them back together. Usually they get dull before they break. Overall this process works great and I have lots of inexpensive blades available, so when they get dull and drift they can be replaced.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi, john what size blade are you welding?I could see myself making the 93 .5 for my pm saw.But not my resaw machine.With my luck Im sure I would mess something up.

[Van Huskey]

The difference between bulk band stock and PREPACKAGED blades is HUGE. The difference between bandstock and a good industrial supply welded blade is significantly lower the longer the band the closer the price gets. I find for myself since I use mainly bi-metal and carbide tipped bands (the latter are VERY difficult to weld and soldering usually doesn't work well at all) the cost savings is pretty low. For someone that uses lots of carbon bands on small machines (8-9' bands) the cost savings can add up.

[Mike Heidrick]

Sanders Tools in Peoria IL cuts and welds blades for me including 1.25" trimasters for $7.50 and shipping. Money well spent not to risk that band! Some bands you might get away with doing it yourself - others I would not take the risk to save ~$15-$20. I am also not going to buy 100' of a an expensive band anyway - ouch! Never seen Tirmaster or Resaw King bands in coil for sale anyway I don't think. I have gotten deals on longer than 171" bands though so it pays to have them cut and welded to size.

[Van Huskey]

Sanders Tools in Peoria IL cuts and welds blades for me including 1.25" trimasters for $7.50 and shipping. Money well spent not to risk that band! Some bands you might get away with doing it yourself - others I would not take the risk to save ~$15-$20. I am also not going to buy 100' of a an expensive band anyway - ouch! Never seen Tirmaster or Resaw King bands in coil for sale anyway I don't think. I have gotten deals on longer than 171" bands though so it pays to have them cut and welded to size.

I think the Trimaster comes in 250' coils if so even at true wholesale you are looking at $3K. Can you imagine how long it would take to burn through 17 Trimasters on the MM20? I imagine Torben would sell you bulk RK, or maybe YOU could find the source and hook us up with a coil of 1" RK for $1K, we could track the DHL shipment together. :D I really want a 3/8" TM for my contour saw but just can't see the $225.

[John R Hoppe]

Andrew,

The blades I make are in the 1/4" to 1/2" range and I have done both steel and bi-metal. Personally, I would never consider spending the money for a carbide tipped blade unless I had a job lined up that justified the need for that type of tool. I do wood work as a hobby and a big part of the enjoyment for me is making many of my own tools.

Bandsaw blades are just one of the tools that I make here in the shop. There is a sense of satisfaction for me when I can look back on a project and count up the tools that I made to create the parts involved. I also have created or modified tools and tooling to cut glass, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, stone, and plastics.

[Ellery Becnel]

John,

Reading your previous post describes my approach to woodworking. I work with a few woodworkers and everyone has their own style and preference to woodworking. We all share our tecniques and help each other out. I also make my own blades from 1/4" to 1/2" from bulk stock. We have a bandsaw at work that will weld blades. It does an excellant job. We also have some willing and excellant welders to help out with blades. I have made some hand tools, jigs, and fixtures that have been multifunctional on many projects. It is very satisfying to see the completion of a project knowing what you did to accomplish it. Being a machinist I strive for precision and repeatability, just as Pat Warner does in his tools and fixtures.

Thanks for your post. Enjoy your work!
Ellery Becnel

[Bruce Wrenn]

No pictures of your jig.

[Kevin W Johnson]

No pictures of your jig.

Bruce,

Here's a pic of the one I made. The blade is one placed in jig for illustrative purpose.

[John R Hoppe]

Kevin,

Nice thinking on the jig design! Here is a picture of my soldering jig and the flux/solder that I use.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v618/hydro1/DSC03427.jpg

[Ira Matheny]

I have begun resharpening dull SOME bandsaw blades. The only blade I resharpen is the 1" with 7/8" pitch to the teeth. I use this blade in my largest bandsaw, and only use it for breaking down large pieces.

To sharpen, I use a handheld Dremel and insert a 'Chain Saw Stone'. I just give the blade a 'Kiss and a Promise' with this stone over each tooth, including the gullet. I have found I can I can extend the life of each bladeby about 75% of the life of a new blade. It normally takes me less than 10 minutes to resharpen a 240" blade. [Yes, this blade fits on a 36" Yates-American]

The blade I sharpen is identical to the one used by WoodMizer in their bandsaw mill. I have not yet tried any of the smaller or finer toothed blades, but I am sure it would work, possibly with as good or even better results.

[Van Huskey]

John, do you use a jig on your grinder for the skarf joint? If so people would probably like to see it also.

Ira, is your Yates a snowflake or a later one?

[John R Hoppe]

Van,

To grind the scarf joint I use a 2" X 48" vertical belt sander, which is my all purpose shop grinder for metal and wood. You could do it on a wheel but it woud be more difficult to keep the bevel even. I grind the ends of the blade by eye until the bevel is about 1/8" on each end. I don't think that extreme accuracy is as important as just keeping things straight, as the silver solder will fill in any small error.

I do bend the ends of the blade slightly when I clamp it into the jig so they put a little tension towards each other, then apply flux and wedge in a a piece of solder the width of the blade. When the solder melts, the bend in the blade pushes the joint tight on itself.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Bruce,

Nice thinking on the jig design! Here is a picture of my soldering jig and the flux/solder that I use.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v618/hydro1/DSC03427.jpg


John,

I think you're very likely removing set from the teeth that are contacted by those clamps, at least on that width blade anyways. Not sure it would have any effect on cutting, but thought I'd point it out in case you hadn't thought about it.

[John R Hoppe]

Kevin,

I don't think that the clamps have any appreciable effect on the tooth set, at least none that makes any noticeable affect on performance. The blade in the pic is a bimetal .035" blade that I use in my metal saw and set is not a issue there. On a wood blade a couple of teeth with a little less set won't cause any problems.

[Ira Matheny]

My Yate American is a later unit than a Snow Flake. I have new guides and new tires. With the 1" blade and the 7/8" tooth pitch, I can do a killer job on a cant or log.

[Van Huskey]

The Y-36 is an awesome bandsaw in any iteration but the Snowflake versions are gorgeous, one of my top five favorites for looks alone.

[Julian Tracy]

I picked up a Jet 110volt bandsaw blade welder a few years ago on CL with a couple of band coils for $40. After a bit of practice, I was able to weld them up with no problems and have been using thwe metal cutting band stock on my vert/horiz 4x6 bandsaw and the 3/16 wood band stock on my wood cutting bandsaw for finer scroll work.

Has a light and built-in blade grinder, kind of neat to do really.

Looks like they run close to $1000 new, so that would be a stealth gloat!

JT