Silver Brazing Your Own Craton nterend Arce Oln Nace Rca ecucm coc cao Grcaarenigena sessvasonthe road cachinga woodwork: ‘ngcourse recently when ray and saw blade Joke. Not carryingaspare mean buyinga replacement ally. IWhad been 20 years since I began silver brazing my own band saw blades, and | had forgaten hata broker band sn blademeans forwoodworkerswhodont.First.thereisthe inconvenience of stopping operations while shopping for the blade. Second isthe cost. Thirdisthedlisappoinimentinthe poor qual- ity ofthe wekdonthe band ystore-bouphc black pot met oughsny {mmedite need, but tsoon broke All hese factors ate improved by making your own ‘band saw blades. ‘What must be the best kept secretin the bandsaw markets worth yourtimetoleer, ‘Dependence on pre-dimensioned bladescan beathingolthe pas. What youneed toknow and the ils you use and the materials to snake your ownazeall readily valable. No special machinery hoelaborate instruction, deisel lve, pyateiome ‘You Cam aealsp-uy yout oer! bald at bladesitaTmnmtessingnathingenor than « propane torch and a holding ig, Buy the same band blade material you re currenthy using fom the samesupplierand youll save 50 pereentto 70 percent. And youll get back to work cloing what youcame todo in the first place—working wood in your shop. Silver Brazing vs. Resistance Welding ‘There are two methods or splicing bandsaw blades resistance weldingand silverbeazing, Inelded blades, theendsto be joined areeut siquareand eleciric current supplies the beat toareweld the but joint. Ser brazingjcins usingalill material ofslveralloy. The surlace area of the joint is increased by scarfing the endsbackabout Yi The hea fr jiningthe endsis from acommon propane torch, Silverbrazingisnetthesameassoft solder ingused in copper plumbing fittings. While both processesuse solder. lasandtorch heat, brazingisdoneathigher temperature, and there is more strength inthe band when the filer material ssilveralloy. Is, im fact 2s Silver alloys such as N50 or Easy-Flo’3 are examples available today that contain cadmium, Used for decades, we now know that hte cacimiui in them creates a health risk, Cadmium-freealloy suchas BRAZESO5 (GisitLucasMilhaupt.com forabrazing book youcan download) contains 50 percent sil ver, 20 percent copper, 28 percent zine and. 2 pereent nickel Justaswith soltsoldering.asuiable paste fluxisneeded toensure joint surfaces that are fee from oxidation, Both seralloy and fluxareavailable in convenient quamities from catalog stores. While the conventional propane torch isused forkoth solderingand brazing, the temperature range forsitverbraz- ingismuch higher: 1,200°F 1,600°F Band Saw Blade Stock in the Coil fake ingrediens for brazingare simple a «xsl ob.ained, whataboutthe bandsaw blade materialiself? Olson Sav Co.,a major supplier of band saw blades, wil el lade stock inthe coi directly you, Mesteommontypesof blades are available, and at significant savings. You alsacan indovhersoureesforhnd snvblides incollformon the Internet (even at the auc- tionsiteeBay.com) or through othersupplers Other major biade manufacturers, such as Staret, Lenoxand Sandvik, provide blades ineoilform.Alargeanduserfiendly sourceis MSC Industrial Supply Co. msedivec.com), ‘whichcarresSrarretand Morse brands (Key- word search onthe site foralistand price of dilferenttypes) Forexample, Olson sells. 014° x4" x6- oth blades for fire work in 100° ol for about 50 cents. foot, Coils of 025" x Vs" x {6 tooth blade isabout 70 cents foot. Olson doesn't mention the availability or price of thecolsonits web site or inits catalogs; you ‘need tocall them, Intesearching the article Laskeat folks in ‘theband saw blade industry about this. Their answer was that their customers had been dissatisfied with the results of their shop- macleblades. The solution, Isuggest,isbetter information, Steps in Making Up Blades Hereishow you gp about saving money and gaining independence by making your own bandsaw blades 1. Buyacoilofyourfavorite bandsaw bade fromasuppice 2. Obtain a “refill kit” for splicing your blade hat containssilveralloy an llusirom acaulogstore 3. Make aig forholding the endsofthe blade as show non page 65,0" buy one n faa for epee ee] 5 Scarf both ends ofthe band ona belt snd prepare them joining, 6. Align the blade inthe ig, ad flux ane premeasured wafer of silver alloy intothe scar joint. 7, Heat the joint cherry red with a pro- panctorch, ‘8 Anneal the blade with several passes ofthe torch to remove brittleness on either side ofthe oint 9, Filethe joint smoot. Let'stake these steps one at atime. The sources of supply atthe end of this article ‘willhelp you locate the bladesanel materials youneedSiverallay els foe$2510$40 per ounce, and fluxis $6 ina 4-ounee jar. Both «quantitiesare more chan you will ned, 50 it rmakessense to buy a “refill kit" froma cata- log tore. What is significant to getting good ‘esultsisknowingabout what isealled“rib- bon solder? Thisis .003" thick by 44" 0 4" ‘wide. A page of this magazine is.003" thick togive youan idea of how thin thisis, Cutt ‘with paper seiscors ani make confett-sized squaresasa pre-measured unit for use. Fora a" blade a pece that is “4"'x Vi" is plenty.Gata dazen uch piecesanel placetheminthe luxjarwhere theyarereadyforusealong with the ux. Not: Fhoxconzainszineehlorideand needs to be used with caution, Use a scrap of wood to pick ou the pre- ensured siiveralloy squarealongiwithadab ‘offlux, Thisisamore convenientand accurate wwaythanusingwiresoléercemmon in plurnb- ing work. The refill kts dlr in this regard. ‘Wooderaft selsits joint kit for $34.99 witha 10* length of wire silversolder and the refill kitfor$9.99 withthe ame length of wire. Lee Valley Toots splice kit sells for $32.40 and has 4172" lengtt of 4 ribbon solder, while the refilhitst $18.90 givesyouslargerjarolllux and 38" ofribhen silver solder. This will do 150splices, rate thisa goon! buy. The older forthe band joint iseasily made from ¥.thiekhardkwood,Iwillhold thet wo cendsforbrazingand givesyouthe opportunity ‘accurately align the bade by sightingalong the top. This wood jigis intended forsmall Dlades and torehesas shown in the article, A ‘metal holders used with lager torchesand heavier blades requiring more heat. J Aller forthese ends need tobe ground toabevelaigle backabout Vie'to 14", Rather than do thisatagrinder, [touch themonthe helisandet. Visual inspection will guide yout tomakingthemeven on bothends. Holdthe bladesothatthe bevelsare on opposite sides and mate when aligned inthe fig the beauty ofthe ribbon solder willbe appreciated as soon as you line up the band jointand havethcends ouehingeach other. ‘The walerofsolderand the small da of lux Forsilverbrazing kitand refill ‘LeeValley Tools leevalley.com or 800-871-8158 Woodcraft Supply Corp. \wooderat.com or 800-225-1153 nting the Blade; Playing with Fire For bandsaw blade stockby the coil ‘Obon Saw Co. ‘lsonsaw.com or 203-792-8622 ‘= blade stock in 100° coils MSC Industil Supply Co. imscdlitect.cam oF 800-645-7270 12 Starrett and Morse blades in ¢ 00" eoils ed gir | | #10% 1" pan ni ELEVATION I ctf ban| PROFILE HOLDING JIG are eld in place by the blade ends Ihisnow time totum on your torch. Sihet alloy flows about 1,200°F ancl tejaint will bbe heated cherry red inthe 1,600°F range ‘When its fully hot the joint appears to haveamoltenshimmer (oi. Ktakestessthan aminuteto heat, The joint snow brazed, but an important step remains: annealing, Heat makesthe bladebritle Hyouskiptheanneal- ingtep, your blade will soon break nearthe Joint where the brittle joint zea meets the non-heated stel Inannealing, the torch is used to aecom. plishaseriesofheatingstoresore the ne toughness io the blade. Back the torch fa yaks fae aovinch and ip Besa Teil Speplis wy ‘ondsof heat cross the joing cooler bu sexo een euro fivetimesmore,backingaway abitmoreeach time you swipe thejoint Youwwanttoheatthe blade intothe 100°Fto600'F rangetotemaper out the hard brite stel, How doyouknow youhaveit right? Look carefully atthe blade the nexttime it breaks, [che joint fais, then you have missed with the uxorgiven insufficient heattothejoint, Lfithresksjus:beyondthe joint, you have not properlyannealed the blade. Iftbreakselse- ‘where, then you havea stress fraeture from the blade repeatedly flexing over the wheels ofthe saw Annealing in the Literature IIthe instructions with therwosplicekitsare ‘what poplefollow.ilisnotsurprsingthathe technical support peapleat hand saw blade ‘companies report poor rests from wood ‘workers makingtheir own blades. Nowhere isthere any mention of annealing the joint ineither kit. So tured othe standard reference, Matk Duginske's"Band Saw Handbook" (Sterling). Bath methods of making up hand are dis- cussed, Hereis what he saysaboutresistance ‘welding: “Before i can be used, you raust anneal ittorestore the weld joint tothe same metallurgical hardness and strength as the test of the band, Thisisdone by reheating it toanannealingtemperature and then cool- ingitslowly’ Whendiscussingsilverbrazin however, there isno mention of annealing er heating the joint with the rorch to low the solder. ‘One bandsaw blade manufacturer spent ‘$60,000 on the annealing machine for its blades. They guarantee the results, What youcando isthe finesse oftheblacksmith Starts with knowing what needs to be done and how to doit Then look at your failures and ry itagain. ihe jOhC smooth, Surplus lux forms. glass-like bead on the metal that scratches eff with the end of your {ie Youwllapprecite the premeasured lake of ribbon sthersolderat thisstep, because there willbe very litle surplus metal tbe filed awayasa resul ‘Youcanachiewe consistently good results doingyour own silver brazing, Moreover, yo canmake upanewbandthe moment you have anced fo it ina matter of 10 minutes. In my book, quality and conveniencerankevery bt ashighasthesavings incost. Finally, you will come to appreciate that silverbrazing isnot just for repairing bro- kenblade, Dont believe the catalog deserip- tions In fact, you may find shat by the time yourrbilades break theres litle or no useful IMeleftin ther, which istestimony to your nnewfoel skil, PW ‘Authorsnote- Tanks to Dave Hout for shvs- Jngeethispracical meted for malang up band saw Blades. shown works ston 472" at sama blades athe hang es alban millbades Tatars The ome shopin Chad MCh. which spp wood enpertac ad otter ete apps forte Shake’ valbounak He abo af clssso" wee wat of woochonkng topes Cont han ‘Polerowlnocomor S173 525Accessories yey, ng band saw blades Don't let a bro band saw blade put you out of commission. ed ae rra grinder, torch, solder, fu jig to hold the ends of the You can purchase a band saw blade brazing kit that has' most of the items you need to get started (Gee box below), BRAZING PROCESS There are essentially three steps in brazing a band saw blade — grinding the ends to create a scarf joint, brazing, the ends together, ‘and then grinding thejoint smoot Grind the Ends. If you're repairing, 2 broken blade, chances yw the ends of the blade are uneven. So, the first step is to grind ends square. Once this is done, you can grind matching bevels on the ends of the blade to create an overlapping, joint (see upper left photo). This is probably the most important step of the whole process because the strength ofthe brazed joint will depend u ‘well the two ends fit together The brazing jig f used includes a hokd-dovjart help yotaging ue bevels [see lower photo en oppo- site pameh “his jig ensures that the bevels are even and ground atthe same angle so the two ends mate perfectly To ensure plenty of sur face area for the solder, the bevels should be about '/" wide ‘Cleaning and Fluxing. In order for the solder to adhere to the metal, the ends of the blade need to be clean and free from any burrs A Grind the Joint Smooth. A rotary too! is ideal for removing the excess solder and gf both sides of the joint smooth, ~ Apply Flux. Using a sma ‘apply ux 10 A Check Fit. After cleaning the lends of the blade, place them = Place Solder. the brazing ig and cheok the fi After lining up the left behind by the grinding, So 1 cuta small piece of lightly sand the last 14° or so of cach end of the blade and wipe them ff with denatured alcohol ‘Once you've cleaned the ends of the bade, you can clamp them in the brazing jg and app the fs The purpose of the fi sto pr vent the metal from oxidizing when you apply the hea fom the torch jul brush ton both ends of Gfindlag. Once the soldered fied oteop gh to) jor han coset soomaenrmrt ()/ (5), ‘zing. Aer aligning the ends, -ott--you fait grind the ort of the blade in the ja you're ready~amooth (see lower lft photo). A to do the acual brazing. To start, solder and place it joint will ensure that the cut a small pice of solder and blade runs smoothly when it's ce place it directly over thejoint. Then installed on the band saw luse a propane torch to heat the There's just one thing to keep in blade from below, keeping the mind, Each time you brazea blade, flame moving. Once the metal youshorten its length abit. But you reaches the right temperature, the should be able to repair a blade two solder will melt and flow into the or three times before it becomes too joint by capillary action. shot to ft on your saw Brazing Supply Kit Receecreie ate nn te ioe te oe rice Dotty al ropes apace ee tnd gfx heding the ends per rineripctestaale ee teh Ot sees P Si) Tae Oy let septal cn ee = peso promi = a Fam Brus —7