Tig welding various band saw blades

[DAPPH]

Well after my up in the air steel jig attempt at joining 0.05 mm thick x 5 mm wide band saw blade strip & melting them .

Richard has kindly offered to give pointers on learning how to do this very useful exercise .

It's now even more important for me to master the Dc tig welding of them for I've just been given a three speed 6 inch cut MachineMart Clarke CBS45MD well abused & used machine that needs a bit of TLC before I can cut steel on it .

So Richard over to you & thanks for your kind offer to tell us a few pointers .

 

[Richard.]

Found your thread.
There are various ways to do it but I like to weld them. I'll put some pics of my jig up later
Like I say I took the advice from another members thread and it has worked for me ever since. They must be butted up tight and clamped down tight to your heat sink. This heat sink needs to something like copper or brass because your going to fully penetrate the blade but you don't want to weld it to the heat sink.
I use 0.8 solid a18 Mig wire. Nothing special. Around 15amps
I tack both ends first so I have some thing significant to start on and finish on without burning the edges away. You must penetrate right through the full length of the joint or it's not gonna hold. Once it's welded it will cool very quick and it will be very brittle. You need to anneal the joint. Flash it over with a gas torch till its cherry red and allow to cool naturally. This increases the grain structure size and makes the whole joint more ductile. If you skip this step it will snap as you bend it over the rollers. Then gently linish the weld flush and dress it so that it will have no issues going through the guide rollers. Fit the blade and turn it by hand a few times round. Check the joint and if it's good then your set. That's how I do them.

 

[DAPPH]

Thanks Richard, I followed the @Wallace link and did /am doing a speed read .
Do you think thick aluminium be too low a melting point for the heat sinks & clamping arrangement , for I have several 2 x 2 " x 6 " long lumps to play with as well as some brass ???

My lass has one of those mini needle point ( for her bonsai & cookery ) butane blow lamps .
It has a mean fine point ice blue flame .. so should be an interesting exercise to play with it or use burning meths on a thick wick to temper the blade .

I may also end up making a much longer clamp as well to support the blade , clamps on some 50x 50 x 5 mm thick angle iron some 400 mm apart to help prevent the breaking of the brittle hardened blade before I can temper it .

 

[gordon stephenson]

For a moment i really thought that you were attempting to weld 0.05mm = 0.002"

 

[DAPPH]

Have I made a disleckisic tiepo ( I'm prone to them for some age old reason ) ?
It should be a half milimetre thick band saw blade by five millimetres wide I'm on about .

 

[Richard.]

My clamp.

 

[DAPPH]

My clamp.

Thanks have you got any piccies of it being used in anger & end shots of the profile of things ?

 

[Richard.]

Thanks have you got any piccies of it being used in anger & end shots of the profile of things ?

I've no blades to weld but I'll do a couple of Stanley's in it for ya tomorrow.

 

[DAPPH]

Thanks ..
Like Doogal said ..time for bed Zebedee .
Catch you tomorrow .

Dave

 

[Richard.]

0.5mm x 5mm must be for a different saw, the usual blades for the 6x4 saws are pretty much double those dimensions...

Mine are 12.5 x 0.6.

 

[DAPPH]

0.5mm x 5mm must be for a different saw, the usual blades for the 6x4 saws are pretty much double those dimensions...

Ah got you , that 0.05 thick x 5 mm wide 14 TPI metal cutter size band is for a two speed vertical band saw that I also have ... we will see what £ 28 or so's worth of eBay special from " Up North at the powerhouse " comes out as on wood & 2 " thick aluminium


I have numerous old worn out bands off this 2 speed machine so I can play at wasting £ 40 of pure Argon over the next few days till I'm good at it .. Whether it's going to be good at wasting argon or good at joining the bands will be a matter for discussion ........ no doubt about it .

I'm off out for a Sunday drive in the golden November sunshine ..it's almost Tee shirt weather right now .

Back around 19.00 hrs