bandsaw blade making

[Mike Kees]

I am looking to start making up my own blades from coil stock. All that I know is that if I dont have the induction welder then I need to use silver solder and some kind of jig. Does anyone have experience doing this ? Is there a plan somewhere to build my own jig ? What is a good source for silver solder and flux ? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi Mike,
I'm just curious. What made you decide to make your own? Seems like a lot of work, and mass produced ones are reasonably priced.

Do you have a special need the existing suppliers don't meet? Is it just the challenge of doing it? Or what?

Fred

[Mike Kees]

Hi Mike,
I'm just curious. What made you decide to make your own? Seems like a lot of work, and mass produced ones are reasonably priced.

Do you have a special need the existing suppliers don't meet? Is it just the challenge of doing it? Or what?

Fred
I am an independent sort of guy..No I live in a .rural area and for me good blades are a minimum of one hour away. What is reasonably priced to you ? I found some band coil on ebay and after the math figure I can build four blades for what I pay for one. So why not?

[John K Jordan]

I am looking to start making up my own blades from coil stock. All that I know is that if I dont have the induction welder then I need to use silver solder and some kind of jig. Does anyone have experience doing this ? Is there a plan somewhere to build my own jig ? What is a good source for silver solder and flux ? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.


Mike,

I applaud your effort. I looked into that once and found a lot of info. Just now a google search on brazing or sliver brazing bandsaw blades gave me links to videos and info. I like this one which has plans for a jig: www.shakerovalbox.com/wp-content/uploads/ (http://www.shakerovalbox.com/wp-content/uploads/)BandSawBlades.pdf

I found that a local bottled gas/welding supply company has a big bandsaw blade shop and can sometimes make blades while I wait. They use Lennox stock. A 1/2" 3tpi blade for my 18" Rikon is less than $15, if I remember correctly. I'm sure making your own would be the cheapest way to go.

I buy most of my silver soldering, brazing, and welding supplies from the same place. Any welding supply place should have rods and flux. I see Amazon even carries them.

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

I have silver-soldered several band saw blades. I do this primarily for my metal cutting bandsaw because they use much higher tensions and if my metal part shifts even a little bit, it can snap a blade. I do the silver soldering for repairs. I have spliced in sections, but I have not bought a 100 foot coil yet.

It isn't really that hard.

I made a jig that holds the blade section from the left and from the right and holds them in alignment. Before soldering, I put a matching "scarf" joint in each one. I made a jig that holds the blade at roughly 4 or 5 degrees to my grinder. The result is a 3/16 to 1/4 inch chamfer on each section. Then I use the special flux and flux the two ends and take a ribbon of silver solder (45 percent or more).and place it between the two pieces. So at this point, everything is in place and held with the jig and tiny C-clamps. Then I apply propane heat until I see the silver solder flow. Then I remove the heat and allow it to cool. Afterwards, I file that section flat. Then I anneal that section by applying propane heat - - this removes any brittleness. I rarely have a soldered joint fail. It is much more typical that it fails somewhere else. Google silver-soldering bandsaw blades or Youtube search. It isn't that hard. My joints usually are better than the original butt welds.

[Mike Kees]

Thank you John and Brice. After I posted I found a really good jig design on youtube. John ,I pay 20 for blades for my delta with riser, wish I could get them cheaper. I also have a 18 steel city. Anyways I will jump into building my own,thanks for your help.

[Jerry Wright]

To all: Don't ignore basic metallurgy. The teeth on blades are hardened and tempered. Excess propane heat in the soldered area will cause softening especially on routine carbon steel blades (>400F) and even on bi-metallic blades (>1000F). Over the years, I toured America Saw (Lennox blades) many times. It is an interesting continuous heat treating process.

[John K Jordan]

To all: Don't ignore basic metallurgy. The teeth on blades are hardened and tempered. Excess propane heat in the soldered area will cause softening especially on routine carbon steel blades (>400F) and even on bi-metallic blades (>1000F). Over the years, I toured America Saw (Lennox blades) many times. It is an interesting continuous heat treating process.


Jerry, of course you are correct. I think one practical thing to consider here is the portion of the blade that may lose it's hardness is relatively short compared to the entire blade (I think 145" on my 18" saw) Years ago I saw a jig which limited the heat affected area with heat sink blocks, probably not as important on thin, narrow blades.

JKJ

[Jerry Wright]

Re heating zone: Over 50 years ago, my father had a band saw in his high school shop that had a built in resistance heater/clamp fixture for joining blades. You clamped squared ends together and hit a timed cycle. I remember messing with it as a kid. Those were the days of carbon steel, non-bimetal blades. It controlled the heat affected z one very well. Propane has a larger impact zone. If the weld is iffy, the wood will find it:)