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Bandsaw blade welder

H

Hugh

Joined
May 6, 2004
Messages
666
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Location
Sonoma, CA
I have a related (to woodturning) question about bandsaw blade welders.
Does anyone weld their own blades? If so, what kind of a welder do they have? And how well do they work?

I have just searched the web and found a bunch of welders out there - costing anywhere from $130 - $900 (and they go on up higher too).

I have been buying coils of bandsaw blade and silver soldering them up. They work, but I think the welding is better. Anybody out there trying to be cheap like me?
Thanks for the input.
Hugh
 
I buy my blades locally for $6. It would take a long time to pay for a welder in the savings I would get by buying bulk blade material.
 
John,
Where do you purchase a blade for $6?????? How long is the blade?
I used to have a Delta 14" saw with riser block - blade length 105". It cost me about $7.50 to make the blade (Sterrett blade stock 1/2" 4 tpi). The cheapest I found to buy all made up was about $12. I just recently purchased a Laguna 18" saw that takes a 158" blade - so my blade cost is going to go up. I have not had to buy any blades yet as the saw is new and I got 3 blades with the saw. I figure that if I pay about $150 for a welder and make my own and save $7.50/blade - I will only have to make about 20 blades to break even, I also find that I put on a sharp blade more often if I have some fresh ones around.

Hugh
 
Hugh,

You're the first one I've met in a long time who is going the weld-your-own route. Only people who do that in my acquaintence are the machine shops running medal cutting saws and larger shops and saw mills with a number of saws running who can afford the labor cost. Tend to agree with John; don't think you're going to be saving much, if anything.

M
 
Hugh I'll have to look up the guys address. I just drive over and buy them when I need one. I have a Delta 14 with riser block. These aren't great blades but they cut green wood just fine. He does all kinds of sharpening including industrial bandsaw blades. I cut myself everytime I roll or unroll a blade. This guy rolls up blades that are 2 to 4" wide into a double roll without even thinking about it. I'd probably lose my head when it pops out my hand. I'll try to remember to look up his address tonight.
 
Even though I use a 200" blade on the MOAB, I use so many different types, withs, kerfs and tpi's, even at $40 blade, I would have a hard time justifying it.

It just doesn't seem worth it to me to by all that footage of bands.
 
You guys are making me think about this now. I guess that was the main idea in the first place. I cut mostly wet wood and seem to use only one type of blade - 1/2" 4 tpi hook tooth. So I only buy one coil of blade stock. Then I make up 3 - 4 new blades at a time. ....here I go trying to justify my actions.

My original thought about putting up the post was to find someone who had tried a blade welder and what they thought about it. Now I am going to have to go out there and find a couple of shops that make blades and find out the cost so I can compare prices - better than I have already. I still think I can save around $10/blade. That would pay for the welder in around a year. My basic problem is that I enjoy making my own tools and such. I make most of my own hollowing tools and scrapers. My wife says I am cheap and I am wasting my time. I guess that if I enjoy it - it is OK.
Thanks for the thoughts everyone.
Hugh
 
Making Up Your Own Bands

I thought "cheap" and "woodturner" are the same word...duck, incoming!!!

I high temperature silver solder my bands from 100 ft. or 250 ft. coils that I buy on Ebay at really good prices. My bandsaw requires 115" bands which I estimate cost me $3-$4 each on average. I have taught several fellow turners in our local southwest Virginia chapters, Blue Ridge Woodturners, and Smith Mountain Lake Woodturners, how to prepare and silver solder bands from coil stock that the club buys, cuts to length, and sells to our members as they need it. The cost to our members is $5 for a 93-1/2" and $6 for a 105" length which is typical for most 14" bandsaws, without and with a riser block respectively. The equipment and supplies investment to silver solder bands is minimal. All you need is a pair of tin snips, a grinder, a home made fixture for holding the band ends in place while silver soldering, a propane torch like a Burnz-o-Matic (you do NOT need Mapp gas for this), silver solder, and flux. Except for the homemade fixture, silver solder, and flux, most turners probably already have all of the other items on hand. A liftime supply of silver solder and the appropriate flux are available at welding supply houses for about $20. Get a silver solder that contains between 45% to 60% silver in the form of 1/16" dia. wire. YOU CAN NOT USE LEAD SOLDER WHICH IS USED FOR SOLDERING COPPER PLUMBING JOINTS!!! Right Ed. Correctly silver soldered bands are very strong and if I do break one, it's not at the joint but somewhere else, usually because I've done something evil to it.

After all this long winded discussion, my take is that making your own bandsaw bands from coil stock by silver soldering is indeed quite cost effective, especially if you go through several bands a year. I would think that you would have to go through a lot of bands per year to justify the cost of a good blade welder which will also allow you to anneal the weld joint.

Your call, Peter Toch
 
I weld blades at work for our metal cutting saw. There is no trick to it, but it does take a few practice welds to get the settings correct. Also, you need to make sure the welder can handle the widest blades you use. The welder on our saw can manage only 3/4-inch wide blades.

Key to a good weld-joint is a clean, sharp edges that match. The welder will probably come with a shearing tool and that’s what you should use. The couple of times I tried to regrind the edges square the weld didn't work. I think it was due to grinder wheel contamination. With sheared ends I had fewer problems.

The welding method is basically the same as a spot welder. If there are gaps, voids or overlaps you'll get an erratic result. You set the blade in the pincher clamps and then adjust the machine. This preloads the band ends together. Push the weld button and you will get a simultaneous glow as the material melts, a few sparks and the relay clicking off. A nice consistent bead should be the result.

The annealing process is critical and takes some practice. I barely allow the blade to turn orange and then release the current and repeat several times.

Then you grind the weld flush on the face and back. The tooth side should clean up with face grinding. I've had guys scrap blades from being too aggressive at the grinder. A light touch is all that’s needed.

BH
 
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