Drilling industrial band saw blades

B

Baron Necrotech

Joined
Jan 26, 2005
Messages
13
Alright, i'm just starting to learn the craft. I'm using industrial blades from a logging mill. The steel is some variant of L6 and is very tough and strong, a bit hard to work and finish but i like the stuff. I'm having one serious problem though: Drilling the stuff. I just seems no matterwhat bit i use i can't make a hole in this stuff , even industrial cobalt bits make only a tiny dent before becoming dulled to the point of uselessness. Anyone got and advice?
 
Anneal it first ?! It'll chew up your tools otherwise (you're having hard time drilling a hole - now think how much material you're planning to remove elsewhere).
 
Baron, the only drill bit that will work is carbide. I have drilled very hard L6, and it's the only thing I could drill the stuff with. I assume you are drilling industrial hacksaw blades? Some of that L6 is Rc in the high 70's and above. Take your time, and use lubricant while drilling. When your hole is just poking through, flip the piece over and SLOWLY finish drilling. Clamp tightly in the drillpress vise, or the bit may grab and the piece might helicopter. If that happens, your drill press will resemble a Lawnboy mower, or your expensive carbide drill bit will snap.
 
You will need to buy your self a flat carbide drill bit or you can simply anneal
the saw steel and then us a cobalt drill. But make sure you only anneal the areas you need to drill other wise you will have to heat treat your knife. If you do decide to go with a carbide drill make sure you dont hog it into the steel or it will shatter on you. Just take it slow using medium to light pressure wile using some cutting fluid and you will do fine! ;)

One word of caution to you though. What ever you do make sure you ALWAYS wear safty glasses when doing this sort of drilling! You should wear safty classes when doing any drilling at all but especially when drilling metal of any sort!!! I cant stress that enouph! I have had a drill bit shatter on me and send pieces of the bit thoughout my shop! Not fun! :(

Best Regards
Bob V.
 
The blades are from a mass production log mill, they are in essence 20-foot long six-inch wide band saw blades. It sounds like I need the carbide bits.

I know all about safety from grinding the edges, the blade I’m working on has 3 edged barbs that love to catch on grinding belts.

Thanks one and all for the heads up.

Zach B.
 
Hey Baron...


Try Spot annealing before you anneal the entire blade.....

Get some brass round stock a little bigger than your drill bit.. Grind the end flat so it will stand on edge...

Then heat the small piece of round stock and set it down in place where you want to drill...

You may have to do this a couple of times..

Let us know how it worked..

ttyle

Eric...
 
WHat I was told by a engineer with 40 odd years of workshop experience behind him, was to heat a nut up yellow hot and place the bandsaw over that, and use a punch to knock out the centre. the punch should sheer out the centre along the point where the hot metal heated by the nut meets the cold unheated centre.
you have to do this fast before it heats wider than where the Nut is, the more extreme the temp differential the better. if you chill the punch, so much the better.
 
Kiwi that's an interesting approach. Sounds like with practice practice practice it'd work okay.

My method is good for simpletons: spot anneal with a torch, the finer the flame tip the better. I've used one of those little butane pencil torches but prefer my standard propane one. Just be careful not to blow the HT on the rest of the blade.

This can be accomplished by clamping steel or aluminum over the blade, or using the heat sink paste the supply houses sell.

Or the other ways these guys have mentioned. ;)
 
Super heat the smallest of "spots" ( I of course assume your trying to make holes for scales...) and then stick it in vermiculite or sand to cool down.... them drill away. You can't have too hot or too fine a torch tip for this little trick; you have to be quick! :)

regards, mitch
 
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