village blacksmith

[oldshove]

So I live in a small town [28 fulltime residents  maybe 35 in the summer] The old go to guy is all crippled up so I,m it now.

One of the nabours brought a band saw blade over for me to try and fix off his little sawmill.

One inch blade, unknown material probable one of the cheapest blades out there .

Any one fixed one before .I understand you should forge weld them back together that's about all I know.

Any tips tricks or advise would be appreciated thanks 

[JHCC]

Brazing or silver soldering might be better than forge welding.

[ThomasPowers]

Brazing or using an electric bandsaw blade welder (I'd ask around about someone with the bandsaw blade welder!  Everyone I know with a sawmill owns one...)

[oldshove]

Thanks for the reply's guys.I probable could find someone with a blade welder but I have never fix one so I,d like to give it a crack .

[ThomasPowers]

Stop by my shop in Socorro and I'll lend you a set of brazing tongs I have on my rack

[Kozzy]

Liability issue.  Yes, there are ways to braze blades but there is a reason that's not common any more.  Blade welder is the way to go.  

And tell your customer that a quality blade is worth every penny vs the cheapest on the rack.

Here's a hint about brazing but doing it right is more complicated because you have to get the hardening/tempering right.

[John B]

Most bandsaw blades I have been involved with were flash butt welded usually on the welder supplied with the machine, others I have done have been oxy acetylene, mig or tig welded, the weld should be ground off to the same thickness as the blade, and the area where the weld is should be annealed. No need to reharden and temper, blade must be flexible. 

[Kozzy]

I phrased it poorly...what I was getting at is that if you over-heat too much of the blade, you'll anneal a large section and cause problems.  If you happen to let the blade cool way too fast (lots of surface area to mass so they cool really quickly), you can make a brittle spot.  Overall, it's not a great idea to do it old school.

Alignment is also critical in all dimensions--even a small misalignment will feel like a mountain when the blade is running.  

[oldshove]

10 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Stop by my shop in Socorro and I'll lend you a set of brazing tongs I have on my rack

LOL I live in Canada little town called Avola in the rocky mountains  but thanks for the offer.

And thanks Kozzy and John B for the info its pretty much what my research has lead me to. I checked into blade repair guy he is 90 miles away so I,m going to try it.I.l post some pics off try. But first I have to get that vice out of the vice

[SmoothBore]

I Silver Braze all my own bands, with 55% Silver-Solder and a Flouride-Free flux, ... using the 20 degree scarf technique seen above, and a propane "Plumbers" torch.

Propane torch barely furnishes enough heat to make the Silver flow, ... with no chance of overheating the steel.

In over 40 years, never had a joint fail.

 

There's a good "YouTube" video, showing the technique, ... and a simple to make fixture, that makes it all go slick & easy.

 

.

 

[Kozzy]

Yes but the elephant in the room is still doing it commercially for someone else.  OP said "sawmill" which implies a much higher risk than something like a home woodworkers bandsaw.