Soldering broken bandsaw blades

[Grantx]

Anyone here soldered bandsaw blades back together? Mine broke so I soldered it back together using standard plumbers solder and flux. Worked for a bit then broke. I don't think I soldered it properly though.

I tried a silver solder rod but it refused to wick into the blade. It melted, but wouldn't wick.

I know I can "just go buy another blade" but I'm so tight I squeak when I walk.

So, has anyone done this before? How did you do it?

 

[baldkev]

Welding is what you need. They are steel.....

 

[Peri]

Our big bandsaw at work (which is so old it has settings for cutting asbestos and ivory) has a 'bolted-on' blade welding & grinding gizmo.

Similar to this

 

[dzj]

I have an old brazing machine for bandsaw blades. It works well enough, but it always had a bit of 'hump' where the soldered part was.
Nowadays I just send the blades to the shop to be welded. Much better quality. Seamless.

 

[williams1185]

there are 2 ways to do it one is with the butt welder as in peri"s post but you have to make the ends dead square and remove teeth to even the blade so if your blade is a dead fit it may end up too short . the other way is really labour intensive you have to file a long taper on both opposing ends again removing teeth to even the blades offset which is then silver soldered along the join a real pita to be honest done it both ways cheaper and safer to buy a new blade, ian

 

[mikej460]

I recall we had a spot welder on college bandsaws in the 70's. Agree that you cannot solder bandsaw blades. Assuming the blade is still sharp you could send it for welding but given that an average length good quality blade would only cost £10 to £20 why would you bother?

 

[MikeK]

I have always used the welders built into some bandsaws, but I have seen silver solder used a couple of times. In each case, the guy joining the blade ends ground a taper on the flat side of each blade where they joined. I think it was about 1/4-inch of taper on each end. Then he put lots of borax on the joint and heated it with a torch until it was red before adding the silver solder. I was skeptical about the strength of a soldered bandsaw blade joint, apparently it works well if done correctly.

 

[Inspector]

Keep in mind that before the electric blade welders came along all of them were silver soldered together.

Pete

 

[Tuna808]

I used to buy the bandsaw blades in coils and silver solder them at when i work at school,had a jig which can be bought or easily made.
I recall using easyflow silver solder which has a lower melting point than some of the other silver solders.Didn’t use borax but a proprietary flux for easyflow.
worked fine with the jig.
found one similar on ebay.

 

[Tuna808]

Also remember i sometime had to lightly tap the teeth at the joint as it sometimes it through the set out at the joint making the cut at that point wider.

 

[Tuna808]

Just checked K&M wholesalesupplier.co.uk and they still sell the 100ft bandsaw coils,they might sell the joining jig too.

 

[TRITON]

Our big bandsaw at work (which is so old it has settings for cutting asbestos and ivory) has a 'bolted-on' blade welding & grinding gizmo.

Similar to this
View attachment 123282

I saw one of those once for sale and it had a big plate on the back listing the capacities of the saw. In it at the extreme end was armour plate

 

[Doug B]

This is the little welder in action I make my bandsaws blades on, very quick & easy, first it welds the two ends together then anneals the joint ready for grinding flat.

 

[TRITON]

I think the main use for it wasnt to omake the blades but for jobs that required the blade to be first fed through a hole for cutting out a middle section where the blade doesnt cut right though to make an entry or exit., then welded together, then fitted to the machine. Seem to remember this coming up somewhere.

 

[hlvd]

Bandsaw blades are cheap enough to replace and if the weld has gone the blade’s usually shot.

 

[wallace]

Wadkin made its own blade welder that ran off a normal plug, The manual recommended a special flux 'easy flo' maybe, and silver solder. They come up every so often on ebay. If I remember correctly you had to heat it twice.

 

[Dave Moore]

Anyone here soldered bandsaw blades back together? Mine broke so I soldered it back together using standard plumbers solder and flux. Worked for a bit then broke. I don't think I soldered it properly though.

I tried a silver solder rod but it refused to wick into the blade. It melted, but wouldn't wick.

I know I can "just go buy another blade" but I'm so tight I squeak when I walk.

So, has anyone done this before? How did you do it?

Hi,
It should silver solder but the temperature needs to be higher than for copper and a blowtorch probably won’t do it. Map gas may do it but depends if you can get it hot enough. Clean the blade up well and put some silver solder flux on it. You mix this with water. Heat the blade playing with the flame to get an even heat, introduce the silver solder gently until it melts in the joint. Don’t keep the flame in one place or it will suck through the other side and leave nothing on the top. To be honest unless you can find somebody who will give you some flux or solder then it won’t be cost effective.
Regards,
Dave

 

[Hutzul]

I used to mig weld them, then carefully grind the weld flat. Easy peasy, had no problems

 

[Grantx]

I have both a mig and tig. What size wire did you mig with?

I used to mig weld them, then carefully grind the weld flat. Easy peasy, had no problems

 

[jonn]

Anyone here soldered bandsaw blades back together? Mine broke so I soldered it back together using standard plumbers solder and flux. Worked for a bit then broke. I don't think I soldered it properly though.

I tried a silver solder rod but it refused to wick into the blade. It melted, but wouldn't wick.

I know I can "just go buy another blade" but I'm so tight I squeak when I walk.

So, has anyone done this before? How did you do it?

How thick is the blade? If it is thick enough, about 0.7 mm (a bit under 1/32"), it is possible to grind tapers and braze the blade. However, it might become too short. The Swedish company Håkansson Sagblad AB Sågblad made in Sweden - Håkansson Sågblad use that technique, which I prefer to butt-welded blades. Don't know if these premium blades are available in UK, but it might be worth a try to see if so.
I have several butt-welded blades, but they never last that long when cutting hard wood like oak.