I bought a STRYCO blade welder

[john.k]

Blade breakage after annealing is mostly due to annealing at too high a temp........any sign of red and the blade will harden again.

 

[jtbain]

Blade breakage after annealing is mostly due to annealing at too high a temp........any sign of red and the blade will harden again.

So do I hold annealing temp longer for a 1.25" blade than I would for a 1/2"? Sure is a lot more steel there and maybe I'm not holding it long enough. Also John, have you tried silver solder on a large blade that size? They are sawmill blades and are 1.25"x .042" so they are pretty stout. I can silver solder like a pro now that I know to use my jewelry repair hard solder which I alloy myself. 3 parts.925
1part 22cal brass.

 

[dkmc]

So do I hold annealing temp longer for a 1.25" blade than I would for a 1/2"? Sure is a lot more steel there and maybe I'm not holding it long enough. Also John, have you tried silver solder on a large blade that size? They are sawmill blades and are 1.25"x .042" so they are pretty stout. I can silver solder like a pro now that I know to use my jewelry repair hard solder which I alloy myself. 3 parts.925
1part 22cal brass.

You could shine up the blade with a sanding disk, then 'bump' the anneal button till you see it turn .......blue? Then bump some more but less and less so it cools slowly. A manual 'pulse width modulation' in effect. I suppose now-days there's cheap electronics that could do this automatically, with infinite adjustability.

 

[richard newman]

I anneal before grinding the weld, then anneal afterwards, easy to see color. As I remember the instructions I found from Lenox say to pulse the anneal button to control the color and time to cool. I have to admit I've gotten to red, but then pulsed back to blue, and had no troubles at all.

I use the Ideal welder that's on my Powermatic 87, but only use 1/2" or narrower stock. I've welded carbon steel, bi-metallic, and carbide tipped blades with great success. I'm wondering why some people say not to weld carbide tipped blades - seems the blade body would be similar to bi-metallic, just some sort of steel?

 

[dkmc]

My Grob blade welder manual has this text (below) for Annealing. I've gone with dull red with success most every time.
The Grob band saw manual has the same text except it states "dull red" in place of "cherry red". I've never welded carbide tipped
blades, but almost always weld bi-metal blades even tho all the welder's manuals state 'not for welding bi-metal blades'. I'm not sure why
the 'no bi-metal' restriction? The manual for my Do-all Metal Master mentions the blade welder and the annealing function, but no wording on how long or how hot to get the blade.


ANNEALING-When weld is completed, release the lower clamp and reset
Tension Indicator to "Anneal" position. Release upper clamp and re-clamp
saw blade so the weld is again midway between the clamps. It will be noted
that when setting the Tension Indicator to "Anneal'position that-the space
between the clamps increases. This permits annealing the blade the proper
distance on each side of the weld. (If "Anneal" index mark is missed by
indicator, Tension indicator must be turned a complete revolution to the
right until correct position is reached.)
Set Welding Heat Switch in "Low" position and anneal weld by
operating weld switch intermittently until blade is cherry red.
DO NOT OVERHEAT by holding switch to the right too long.