jcornell Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I have a Milwaukee Portable Bandsaw and have kept the old bimetal blades as I replace them. Is it possible to use these for pattern weld (using a contrasting steel, like strapping) or is this project doomed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Try the heat/quench/break test and see if the backing metal is high enough C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcornell Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 If it breaks that's a good thing, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Bimetal means the blades are mild steel with a higher carbon edge. These would NOT make good blade material as they have mostly mild steel content! They are made that way to save on the cost of steel and also for flexibility/break resistance. Since you already know that they are bimetal blades, testing them seems a bit superfluous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I've seen a number of bimetal blades where the backing steel was definitely not mild---which is why I suggested testing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Budd Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 i thought that the bimetal blades were carbon steel back and high speed teeth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 What Dave said in most cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKLabs Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I have tested several different brands of sawzall blades all of which are bimetal and all were steel throughout. I am currently unable to weld myself do to my forge dying on me but I have welded them up before and it makes for a tough knife. Jcornell suggestion would be to keep it hot while you work it. If it gets too cool while hammering you'll probably mess it up. I found a few failed welds because of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 One problem you may run into, some blades will not weld together. You 'll need to alternate. I've done it by cutting the blades into 7" segments then taking some pallet banding and basically folding it together. If you do it right you wont even need to wire or tack weld it together. When I first started doing the process I had trouble on the third fold. I finally figured that the mild steel had oxidized off and the band saw was exposed, it wouldn't weld too itself. I then figured that taking a small file and placing it in the center would do two things, it would juice the billet and allow that final weld to take. works well. The only problem I had after that was the pattern was rather muted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 ^ what JMC said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhartironwerks Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Fwiw, I think you should just scrap unknown material and go with a known...unless you don't care about your time/fuel etc. I'm a great believer of using found materials if I have an inkling as to what I'm working with, ie, leaf springs etc. That being said, I'm finding that as I get older, I really don't want to waste my time for some nebulous result. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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