Silver soldering band saw blades

[Shotgun]

I spent some money on silver solder and flux, and after a few attempts I can stick the ends of a broken bandsaw blade back together.

But, is it worth the effort.

So far, after mending, the blade just snaps in another place. It's like the blade is fatigued from flexing, and by the time is snaps in one spot, it is ready to snap in a dozen more. I've had trouble finding a good bi-metal blade, and have been using the high carbon ones from Olson.

Is this to be expected, and the silver solder should be saved for other project? Is it just the blade, and silver solder will work on better quality blades?

 

[nnam]

I had some good experience repairing broken blades before, when the teeth are good, just broken. It last a long time before broken again, but long times means home uses, and I am guessing 50 cuts, not years of cuts.

I would do it if I have a repeatable set up. Is it worth it? The silver and gas are very little, so I don't see why not.

For breaking at another place, that means you did a good job. But it may means what you said, or just a one off situation. Make sure your cut set up is not putting too much down pressure and the teeth count per inch is correct for the thickness.

 

[pacifica]

I don't have blades break on me often and I resharpen my blades in place with a dremel . What's best is to buy a 100' coil and solder blades as needed. Ebay has various band saw coils for $30-150, about 100'.

 

[rwm]

You can also buy Lennox Die Master by the coil. I run those and I have actually never had a blade break! I run them at the prescribed tension as indicated by the saw. I have lost many teeth and that is usually what forces me to swap out a blade.
When you guys solder your blades do you use a straight ground edge or at an angle to increase surface area? Is welding superior? I was considering buying/making a purpose built blade welder.
Robert

Hey am I seeing this right??? I can buy 1200 ft of Lennox Die Master for $430. My saw uses 11.5 ft blades. That works out to about $4.30 per blade. Could it be that cheap?
Robert

 

[cathead]

I tried silver solder but have had better luck welding saw blades back together with an acetylene torch and
mild steel rod using a butt weld. You have to anneal the weld after welding it back together or it will fail.

 

[rwm]

Never mind. Fastenal has it priced by the "case of 1200". That's real clear . They actually mean 1200 inches or 100'. Soooo, not that cheap really. Actually is cheaper to buy pre-welded from Bandsaw blades direct.
Robert

 

[Dabbler]

I don't silver solder my blades often, as it is cheaper here to just buy the blade premade. My experience is that if a blade is broken once, it probably fragile enough to break again soon.

For making new blades, SS has worked fine for me.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

I notice on machinist YouTube channels that they will use the term Silver Solder when they really mean Silver Braze.

Silver solder melts at 590-670ºF (5% silver). Silver solder melts with a soldering iron and used Zinc-Chloride as flux
Silver braze melts at 1145º (56% silver). Silver braze needs a hotter flame than propane-air torch to reach the liquidus condition.

Band saw blades deserve Silver Braze, and the joint is considerably stronger if the ends are beveled to 45º or more to a longer joint.

 

[Dabbler]

I use Silver (whatever) that melts at 720ºF with the correct flux for that temperature. I find the higher temp melting stuff is hard on the blade. I was taught to make the join at a 30 degree angle or double the thickness of the blade. The joints always held for me.

 

[MrWhoopee]

So far, after mending, the blade just snaps in another place. It's like the blade is fatigued from flexing, and by the time is snaps in one spot, it is ready to snap in a dozen more.

Yes, the blade is fatigued from flexing around the wheels. Close examination might disclose cracks in the gullets. If it breaks at the weld, re-weld it. If it breaks elsewhere, it's probably done.