Official Luthiers Forum!

Just thought I might update you on what happened with my small rexon bandsaw...

I bought a 100 feet roll of bandsaw blade thinking I could solder them together, but so far I thought I could use the regular electronic solder, WRONG!

The thing broke apart with a little push... obviously not designed for that...

then I googled "sharpening bandsaw blade" and I followed its direction, but I took the blade and placed on my workbench and went at it with a cutoff wheel (which I was also using to cut the bandsaw blade from the roll), and then I put it back in and now the cut is much more effortless. I guess I can do this a few times before I need to replace it altogether.

I am a bit concerned about the 100 feet roll I bought... I did that because I thought I could get like 15 blades out of it with my rexon 10" saw, but I also noticed this blade is a bit stiffer compared to the original blade that came with the rexon (.025" vs .014") so now I am wondering if I just wasted 60 dollars on a bunch of blades I can't use... but then no one sells any bandsaw blade thinner than .025" so I am out of option other than to buy Rexon blades (which sucks in my opinion).

I ordered the lee valley bandsaw blade brazing kit, because I cannot find proper brazing solder in Taiwan at the moment... plus I needed the jig anyways and even though the stuff might be a bit expensive it may pay for itself over the long term, in that I won't need to spend a lot of money on bandsaw blades...

Although I really felt that the cutoff wheel was the best purchase I made today....

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

See if you can find someplace that will weld the blades for you. There are some hardware stores (high quality) and woodwork suppliers in many places in the US that will do that for a minimal charge.

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Chuck Kish

I was told there is a place that will weld bandsaw blades for me, but I can't just google it... a lot of these places in Taiwan are very traditional, they don't even use internet at all.

I was just wondering how well does silver brazing work? Some said its better than welding because it doesn't create hard spots like welding does...

I've also seen bandsaw that has a blade welder built in...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I am still waiting for the money for the big saw... or at least enough business to be able to buy the big saw.

I don't think I can use this blade in the little saw because it's too thick, and I can't find bulk saw stock that are .014" thick. Woodmaster sells hobbyist blades that fits my saw but they don't ship internationally, and the Rexon blade is twice as expensive as what Woodmaster sells for...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I think the timberwolf blades are shipped internationally.

Bob

It's time to start using your local resources.... Look for furniture makers or traditional cabinetmakers or other people like that.... Likely the phone book or word of mouth is going to be the way you can find people like that.... You could also go to expensive hotels and bars where they have custom furniture... Admire the furniture and ask politely who made it... They can probably get you some contact info...

Ask those guys where they get their tools.... Another resource is the folks who work in the Maintenance department of companies who do export work... They will know the supply places to get things.... The stuff you end up with may still be American or European - but they may be able to put you in touch with the local stores who sell the stuff...

Thanks

I'll keep my eyes out... but the people I've talked to in Taiwan hasn't been too helpful at all. Everything I ask them they either said "I don't know" or "I can't share that with you". It's like trying to source illegal drugs or something.

Another update... I found some silver solder that was designed to solder jewelry, but the flux I got with them seems to be designed for low temperature because I can't get the silver solder to stick at all with this flux. I am not even sure if I got the right stuff... lots of expensive experimentation for nothing.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

You will find it in a welding supply shop. Mechanics or welding companies will know where to buy things like this....
When you buy it - you buy it by weight.... because it has so much silver in it. Silver solder uses a special flux...

If it's not sticking - it is because you haven't got it hot enough or you don't have enough flux... The solder needs to whet into the surface of the metal. Plumbers solder will stick to the metal if you do it right - it just won't make a particularly strong joint.

You will need a good, hot torch to do silver brazing properly. I haven't had good luck with regular propane torches - they aren't nearly hot enough to get the braze done quickly. I found I needed to use a hot welding torch like either Mapp/Oxygen or acetylene/Oxygen torches...

I got it hot already, like hot enough that the saw blade actually turned red. I was told you shouldn't get it too hot anyways because you would just cause the solder to flow out. I did manage to get regular solder to stick but then again it wasn't strong enough joint.

The problem is the flux boiled off and turned into carbon far before the silver even melted (and I had to get the metal red hot for the silver to melt).

I did buy the silver solder by weight too, it was the right stuff (has a melting point of around 750 C) but the problem is the flux boiled away so soon that it didn't really do its job.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

You may not have had the correct flux then.... The stuff I have used is inorganic - meaning nothing that will "Burn" up... It's a white paste - and is extremely corrosive when hot.. It etches the surface of the steel so the solder can stick.... The fellows at the welding place will have the flux...

Electrical solder flux is generally rosin base - and if you get it too hot, it burns up and forms ash.... This is not the stuff to use....

The other option is to use silver solder sticks that already have the flux on the outside.... It's even more expensive than standard silver solder....

Thanks

Yea, except there seems to be a language problem. In Chinese the word for welding, brazing, or soldering are all the same and it's impossible to tell which is which without further description. I went to a hardware store (who sells welding machines, etc.) and asked for a flux, and all they pointed me to is the stuff used for electrical soldering.

The flux I got with the silver solder for jewelry use is also a thick white paste but it boils away in one or two second, and after further heating (up to the temperature required to melt the silver solder) the flux just turns to carbon. The shop I got the flux from swore that it's the right stuff but obviously it's not. The silver solder is the right stuff though because its quite expensive (about 2 dollars for a very small chip, about 1 gram weight but there is enough area to do about 30 blades) and its quite hard, not to mention it took a while on the torch to melt it, it has to get dull red before it melted.

I wish I knew the Chinese word for brazing flux because it seems whenever I ask for "flux" they point me to the electrical stuff.

I got the blade splicing kit from Lee Valley on order but it won't get here for two months, because I chose economy shipping.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

After a lack of reply from anyone regarding the type of flux to use (after all, a search for "flux" only revealed the rosin based stuff for electrical work in Taiwan, no one seems to use acid flux at all even though in my opinion I like it better because it solves nearly all soldering problem), I found out that borax can be used as a flux for brazing... which is good news because they're cheap and readily available.

On top of that, I can also use it to kill roaches and other critters...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Here is the stuff I use:
Harris "Stay-Silv White Flux"
http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/P ... -Flux.aspx

It looks like the primary ingredient is Borax, though... so you may be able to use it...

Unfortunately, this brazing flux stuff is extremely bad for you... It contains Fluorides... Before you use it - you will want to read about keeping that stuff off of your skin at all costs - and about getting that stuff off of you if it gets on you.... Also - be sure you have some Calcium Gluconate handy to neutralize it.

Next thing.... There is a some learned technique to silver soldering properly... Practice on some scrap metal... until you get the hang of it.

Instead of your expensive steel band saw blade - you could practice on steel forklift pallet banding material... You can usually find it in trash cans behind big stores.... It is nearly the same thickness as bandsaw blades.... Sand off all of the black oxide coating and paint and you can use it instead of the bandsaw band....

Thanks

I finally did it!

I bought some borax and mixed it with alcohol to form a paste and brushed some on the joint along with some silver solder.

Then I heated it until it turned red hot, and the silver melted into the joint, and it held up after tensioning it.

Although I think it will probably break prematurely, especially during tight bends because the blade is too thick for my saw (it's .025" and my saw is designed for .014" blades) so I'll save it for the big saw.

The news is that my father is going to give me 500 dollars to help with the business so it looks like I am going to get the bigger saw after all. Now I just think maybe I should put some 1/8" fine toothed blades on the smaller saw for bridge blanks and the like.

The blade itself wasn't too expensive... it's only about 60 dollars for the 100 foot roll.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com