Grob blade welder

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I need a little info on blade welders.  My recently purchased 26" vertical bandsaw came with a Grob blade welder bolted to the side.  Model RW-A, 230 volts, single phase, appears to be capable of blades up to 1 inch.  Reading around, it seems that this is among the better quality blade welders, and would be the one to have, if I had one in service.  The question is, is this something that would be worthwhile to keep, or should I try to sell it.  I don't find myself breaking too many blades on the handful of saws I've had over the years.  I'm generally using Lenox bimetal blades, bought premade.  Is there a significant enough cost savings to be worth the time and investment of buying a roll of blade stock, and making the blades, or is the welder just going to be getting in the way most of the time?  Figure the saw (and all my other bandsaws) being used regularly in a small, generally one person (me) fabrication business, cutting more aluminum than anything else.Also, were I to sell it, what would be a reasonable price, assuming it works correctly?  I haven't yet tried it yet, (need to change out a plug, then learn how to operate it).Who is John Galt?
Reply:Hey bassboy,That Grob b/w is a superb unit..... personally, I'd keep it. One of the companys' I retired from had the identical unit in their toolroom & I used it to make my b/s blades for our welding dept.. I would venture a guess that if it is in good working condition, it would fetch at least $200. About 6 yrs ago I purchased a HF blade welder for $80 w/ coupon. It only does up to 1/2", although that is the widest blade I use. I picked up bulk 250' spools of 1/2"W X 10tpi & 14tpi for $55/ea...... I make my blades for .50/ft..... quite inexpensive. The b/w paid itself off many times over. Keep it.....DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Have you ever needed to cut an odd shape from the inside of a piece of material? That requires breaking and rewelding the blade; there have been a number of times when that would have been very useful to me.One more point; bandsaw blades can be much cheaper if bought by the whole roll and cut to size by you.
Reply:With today's bi-metal blades is somewhat of a relic and a useless feature.   IF you can get by with old style blades from coil stock then it might be worth keeping.    My grob has one built right into it and isn't repeatable from the machine.    In the 15 years its been in my shop i haven't had the need to weld a single blade for it.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.