drilling a hole in a bow saw blade
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- This topic has 14 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 3 months ago by David Perrott.
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29 December 2015 at 10:16 pm #133482
Anyone have a tips about drilling the hole in the bow saw blade? I bought one of the milwaukee 10/14 tpi blades P.S. blogged about but can’t get a hole drilled in it. Is a carbide drill bit needed?
Hey buddy, yeah they are probably hardened steel – whether thats to a normal hardness or super duper hard who knows! Carbide tipped masonary bits on a slow speed with oil works in this situation – or if you dont have access to these you could always try softening the steel by annealing it a little (or attempting to) Heat where you want to drill to a solid glow then allow to dry in air, this could soften it for sure!
Elliott
30 December 2015 at 1:47 am #133494Thanks. Thought about heating it up…or I guess by the carbide tip blade. Could finish it if I can get a hole drilled in it!
30 December 2015 at 4:15 am #133496.? I drilled it with no problems punched it put a drop of oil on it and drilled it.
30 December 2015 at 7:53 am #133499Why not just punch the hole with a punch over a piece of steel with an appropriate size hole? That what I did.
Matt
30 December 2015 at 10:34 am #133500It’s a cobalt bit you need for drilling hardened metal David not carbide. Carbide bits are solely for drilling masonry or concrete. If you are given the choice then go for the the harder bit. 5% cobalt = M35 and 8% cobalt = M42. When drilling hardened metal it is best to create an indent on your mark with a centre punch first to prevent the bit from sliding on initial take-up. Then as Frank suggested add a drop of oil, set your drill to Low-speed and away you go.
Oh, one important thing. Clamp the blade otherwise you could end up with a wildly spinning blade when the bit breaks through and it can bite big time.
30 December 2015 at 10:03 pm #133519Colbalt bit, drop of oil, and bam…done. Thats what I get for asking a friend to drill it, since I didn’t have a drill bit!
I built my saw on Monday and bought a blade yesterday (Milwaukee 14TPI band saw blade), but wound up ruining it. I heated the ends, let them cool, and tried to drill. One side worked fine, but the other wouldn’t drill. It wound up cracking from the pressure of the drill press. Today I bought another blade and tried again – with a new drill bit. Heated the end, put it in place and used a hammer and a screw to mark the spot. The bit cut the hole, but then the surrounding area fractured.
So I broke off the end and tried with an unheated spot. The screw actually punched a hole and then I was able to drill it. Snapped the other side to length and did the same to it. Since I got the saw assembled I’ve spent a couple of hours cutting up pieces of scrap wood 🙂
31 December 2015 at 4:25 am #133526I drilled mine and put it together. One of my tenons is a bit off and the blade has a bit of a bend to it at one end. It doesn’t work too well. Ugh. Now I need to try to adjust it or start again.
31 December 2015 at 3:38 pm #133529Actually I thought my saw kerf may be a bit off. There was a slight curve in the blade. It seems less now. Maybe the blade had a bit of a bend and it is lessening. The thing is hard to start though. Will take a bit to get used to it!
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