Bandsaw blade brazing jig

[brianh]

I finally got around to making a jig for brazing my blades I was using a angle iron guide and clamps before but nothing was welded up.

This setup works really well I prefer brazing to welding the blades I have never had a braze joint let go.

I grind a lap joint for a nice overlap, a piece of brazing rod pounded flat is inserted in the joint with some boric acid powder as flux, hit it with the torch and its all set, the pictures I think are self explanatory.

 

[royce]

Thank you sir,
Might I ask what you dress the blade with before and after brazing?
Royce

 

[brianh]

Thank you sir,
Might I ask what you dress the blade with before and after brazing?
Royce

I use the end of my 6x48 belt sander.

 

[royce]

I use the end of my 6x48 belt sander.

Thanks again
Royce

 

[toms73novass]

Nice job! Thanks for sharing.

 

[SM Racing]

You use a lap joint? That doesn't make for a really wide spot in the blade that hurts tracking and cut quality? I tried TIG welding my blades once and it didn't work at all, so I gave up and just bought new ones.

 

[bimmer1980]

It looks like it is basically a scarf joint. If done right, it would not increase the thickness of joint.

I will have to give this a try. Thanks for posting.

 

[firworks]

Pretty cool. Is this the first time you've repaired it that way? Any idea how long the repair might last? I saw John Heisz made a video recently about welding a bandsaw blade:

.

Be interesting to know which of these solutions lasts longer.

 

[brianh]

Yes its a scarf or bevel lap joint no thicker than the rest of the blade, I thought it was apparent in the pictures...guess not, I have been brazing my blades for at least ten years they never break at the joint just finally made a nice jig compared to what I was using.

I have 3 saws, all use a different length more economical to buy coil stock and make what I need.

I have a **** welder I picked up at an estate auction, I still prefer brazing, the old timers did it all the time.

 

[Jess]

I use a similar jig but instead of brazing, I was taught to silver solder. Any opinion on the difference, other than silver solder may be more expensive. I have found that the lap isn't an issue because once its dressed, its less than the set on the teeth. I have done both metal cutting and wood blades and get some more mileage out of them. Eventually, they seem to become brittle and I toss them.

Are you using bulk blade to make up yours?

 

[brianh]

I have always used brazing rod. My cabinet making teacher 35 years ago did for our shop blades.

I get my coil stock here http://www.toolcenter.com/bandsaw_coil_stock.html

 

[SM Racing]

This is cool, I am going to try this the next time I break a blade. Seems like my blades always break before they wear out.

 

[bullnerd]

Brian any chance you can replace some of the missing pics?

I forget what it looks like.

 

[Git]

The pics are still there - they are just blocked from being viewed from this site

Here are the links to the pic - open them and you will see something like "http://i.imgur.com/bG15GjU.jpg" in the url. Delete the "i." to be able to view the pic

http://imgur.com/FJz2sfg.jpg
http://imgur.com/Rm6bQvk.jpg
http://imgur.com/ykHzsYk.jpg
http://imgur.com/pjJBIc6.jpg
http://imgur.com/s6h25DO.jpg
http://imgur.com/4fDkmk8.jpg
http://imgur.com/bG15GjU.jpg

 

[2oolhound]

Thanks for sharing, I'll have to try that next time.

I'll post my 1st exploits so demonstrate how not to do it. I hope I'm not clogging up your post.

When I broke mine and had no spare on hand I couldn't find a replacement locally, shipping one from out of province was over budget and I couldn't even find a supplier on the web willing to ship to Canada. I knew some bandsaws have built in spot welders for blade repairs and since I have a spot welder I thought humm…

I set it up with spacers and magnets:

But even the slightest touch with the spot welder blew a hole through my **** joint:

on closer inspection I discovered 2 cracks as well as the break.

Desperate to continue my project that was on hold due to no blade I clamped the blade to a piece of brass and tried mig welding it with flux core:

It wasn't perfect but it held together long enough to complete my project and see me through until I found new blades. I turned the blade by hand as the join went through the guides and kept removing and grinding until it passed through fairly smoothly.

 

[racer-john]

I have both a metal cutting and a wood cutting saw and I relax the tension on both.
I have a note on each "Tighten before using". Haven't broken any blades since doing this.

 

[bullnerd]

The pics are still there - they are just blocked from being viewed from this site

Here are the links to the pic - open them and you will see something like "http://i.imgur.com/bG15GjU.jpg" in the url. Delete the "i." to be able to view the pic

http://imgur.com/FJz2sfg.jpg
http://imgur.com/Rm6bQvk.jpg
http://imgur.com/ykHzsYk.jpg
http://imgur.com/pjJBIc6.jpg
http://imgur.com/s6h25DO.jpg
http://imgur.com/4fDkmk8.jpg
http://imgur.com/bG15GjU.jpg

Still not working for me.

 

[racer-john]

Hey, GIT. in post #14 none of the listed pics will show. Errors detected in all.

 

[racer-john]

Having to remove the "i" and the dot is a bit of a pain, though.

 

[bczygan]

The pics are still there - they are just blocked from being viewed from this site

Here are the links to the pic - open them and you will see something like "http://i.imgur.com/bG15GjU.jpg" in the url. Delete the "i." to be able to view the pic

Bill

 

[BigMike782]

I built a jig. Welded a blade, annealed it, ground it.....worked just fine, I'll pay 3.00 more and have the blade shop do it.

 

[Thumper68]

I have tig welded **** joints on a few when I did not have a spare in the shop, I will have to make up a jig and see how it goes.