anyone ever tig welded blades?

markct · January 03, 2005, 08:33:30 AM

i am in the proccess of building a bandsaw mill as many of you know, i was originaly gona use 16 inch wheels which thankfully you guys alerted me to how short my blade life would be so i am now going with 24 inch dia wheels, only problem is my new design uses about a 200 inch band length, anywheres from 200 to about 210 i have adjustment for, and i have a box of ten 158 inch woodmizer blades i already bought which woulda been the right lenght for my original design, but i have been thinkin about cutting and lengthening them but have no blade welder, just the tig welder at work, i was wondering if that would work if i was to anneal them with a torch after so i wouldnt have a hard spot. i did weld a small 1/2 inch wide bandsaw blade once with the tig and it seemed to hold fine, it was a friday afternoon and i wanted to finish up a part and bam the blade broke, and as luck would have it that was the last one, so i figured what did i have to loose and tig welded it up and it held up fine for about a week till the new ones came in, but that was a slow speed metal cutting bandsaw so i dont know how it would be at 5000 fpm, any thoughts?

Fla._Deadheader · January 03, 2005, 08:47:08 AM

We have tried it. Proper annealing would probably work. We don't know how to do it well enough. Ours broke. :

markct · January 03, 2005, 09:16:56 AM

i suppose maybe i just got lucky, or maybe it was the slower speed of the metal cutting saw, altho i most likely will try it anyhow since i realy dont have anything to lose,the blades are of no use to me now

Fla._Deadheader · January 03, 2005, 09:48:23 AM

  We do our shop bandsaw metal blades all the time. They turn MUCH slower.

  Wood mizer might add to them for you. There must be a blade welder guy somewhere near you that can do it also. Remember, those wheels are turning at 60 MPH, so, the blade runs around 5000 sfpm. That's a lotta strain.

  Also, the blade are torqued pretty tight, so you can saw without waves.

D._Frederick · January 03, 2005, 10:25:39 AM

Markct,

Find a saw shop that has a blade welder for the size ( Width & thickness) of your blades. To operate correctly, the blade sections must be welded a 100% straight, if not, the added stress will cause the blade to fail early. Sight down the welded section of the blade before you pay for the job!

markct · January 03, 2005, 11:30:16 AM

know of any blade welding sharpenin shops in the northwest connecticut area?

WH_Conley · January 03, 2005, 02:45:39 PM

Without the proper setup to do the job, this is just my opinion don't take it for gospel, i would
(1) find a saw shop that was equipted for the job
(2) see if you could return the blades you have- you will probably lose shipping both ways.
(3) find someone local that you could re sell them to, might not lose shipping that way.
Just stay tuned, someone may have a better idea.

EZ · January 03, 2005, 04:20:09 PM

When I went with a longer blade, I had our best welder at the shop tig a blade together and it broke. :( My blade man charge me $4.00 a piece to weld them and they lasted until they got to narrow to sharpen any more.
EZ

markct · January 03, 2005, 07:22:45 PM

so i guess i best look around for a saw shop, a quick google search didnt turn up anything and a look in the yellow pages wasnt too helpfull. anyone in the CT area wanna buy a box of ten .035 by 158 inch blades?

Fla._Deadheader · January 03, 2005, 07:28:50 PM

Offer them in the "For Sale" section. Buyer should pay shipping. Then get your long blades wherever you want. Even WM will make longer blades.

markct · January 04, 2005, 05:22:11 AM

yea i think thats what i will end up doing, woodmizer lists the 200 inch blades so thats not a problem, are there better places to get blades?cheaper or better blades? i just chose woodmizer cause it was easy to order from online and all, and cause they were basicly the only name i had known of for wood bandsaw blades

ARKANSAWYER · January 04, 2005, 06:58:29 AM

  Try Coleman Sawmill Supply1-800-459-4626
  Also Valley Industrial Supply 1-800-852-6804
  I got these out of Lumbermens Equipment Digest
   www.lumbermenonline.com

  Colemans carries "Monkey blades" and Simonds.
  Valley carries Lenox and Simonds I think.
ARKANSAWYER

markct · January 04, 2005, 07:11:17 AM

what blades should i be lookin for, what are monkey blades, just a brand name or are they a different style blade? i am sorta gona be running low HP since i currently have a 13 hp honda to put on it, but in the future i would like to get maybe a 18 to 20 hp honda or kohler or somethin, but i dont mind sawing slow for now. woodmizer blades are easy to get, are they an ok blade? the only two guys nearby swear by woodmizer blades, but they also run woodmizer mills so ya know how that can be.

markct · January 04, 2005, 07:22:00 AM

oh and what thickness should i be lookin at, i wanna stay as thin as possible of course since i have limited HP, will .042 blades give me satisfactory results as long as i dont push them to much

ARKANSAWYER · January 04, 2005, 07:25:26 AM

Lenox and Simonds blades I have tried and they are a good blade. The Lenox blade is wider then 1 1/4 inches so you can get more sharpenings from them because they are made metric size. If you crank up the pressure like where I run my WM blades they others will streach out. Neither lasted as long as my WM blades but were several coins less for the same size blade. They have them in about any size and grind you want. I would run a 7/8 or 1 x 1 1/4 x 0.042 in either brand. FDH uses them Monkey blades and can tell you about them as I have never tried them.
Some places will send you just one blade to try so it does not hurt to ask and try one of each.
ARKANSAWYER

Fla._Deadheader · January 04, 2005, 09:39:59 AM

Arkansawyers info is right on.

  The Monkey's, are actually Swedish "MunksforSager" Blades. You can get them at Menominee, one of our sponsors. We have extremely good luck with them. Several guys on here use Monkey's.

  When we first finished the mill, we had WM blades cut to our length. In fairness, we had problems with them, BUT, it was probably OUR fault, not WM. We don't tension as tight as the WM guys and still get great lumber. With inflated tires, you CAN NOT tension like WM guys.

  As Arky says, call a couple of blade guys. I believe other shops sell them, also. WM sent us 1 free blade to try. We don't use WM stuff, but, it is a very good outfit.

markct · January 04, 2005, 10:23:55 AM

thanks fla deheader, i was just curious what you mean about not being able to tension the blades as much with the inflated tires, will this be a problem, i figured with enough air pressure they would be hard enough but now im wonderin, altho i suppose i shouldnt be too worried since alot of folks seem to use them. how did you figure out how much tension to put in them, i have a 3/4-11 thread for my tensioning bolt

Fla._Deadheader · January 04, 2005, 10:55:35 AM

Don't worry about it. Build yer mill. It is NOT that difficult to make a band saw wood. We use a ½" bolt to tension, and a ½" bolt to adjust tracking. You will know when it cuts well. May not please everyone here, but, it WILL work. ;) ;D ;D

I will getcha a photo of the tensioning bolts later this evening.

markct · January 04, 2005, 11:22:00 AM

yea for the tracking i have 4 half inch bolts and 4 half inch setscrews in a plate to adjust it any which way i need to

D._Frederick · January 04, 2005, 02:42:33 PM

Markct,

The carbon steel blades need high tensions to cut straight.
The 1 1/4 x 0.042 inch blades need to have about 2200lbs of force applied to the wheels. Other blades made of silicon steel are said to be able to run at less tension.

neslrite · January 04, 2005, 07:41:50 PM

Mark,
There is a place in South Windsor, CT that welds blades, I left his card at the office and will post the info tommorrow.
Kevin

Log-ic · October 18, 2017, 06:10:00 AM

I tig welded some brades with limited success so far. The pre-heating and annealing process needs improvement/experience I believe. It is also not so easy to keep the torch in the right position. But I had the luck to find a 2nd hand welding bench so I look forward to get this up and running!

drobertson · October 18, 2017, 05:53:53 PM

I've welded a pile of tool steel,, pre-heat is as critical as tempering, if you don't know the carbon content then you are at best, guessing,, My suggestion is find a band blade manufacturer that meets you length requirements and go that route,, no need to fight this one for sure,

JRWoodchuck · October 18, 2017, 07:06:46 PM

No help for TIG but I run a homebuilt 19hp diesel 19" wheels with 158" bands. I have used 10* 1 1/4 .035 (didn't care for them much) next were Kasco 4* 1 1/4 .045 (liked them quite a bit) and now I am trying WM 7* .055 1 1/2 which seem to work well also