How do you use a stand up bandsaw cut metal?

[ebinmaine 63,139]

I would like to say thanks again to @wallfish John for giving us this band saw a few months ago.

 

I knew as soon as I saw it that Trina and I would put it to good use. Just wasn't sure how yet.

 

Until recently I had two different ways to cut metal. Jigsaw or a good old-fashioned sawzall.

 

I'm purchasing a blade from Grainger that will fit the stand up bandsaw and that will make my cuts a lot more accurate.

As we always do around our home I did some research on the internet's and spoke to the folks at Grainger about what to buy.

 

I will be cutting predominantly 1/16 - 1/4" steel with an occasional foray up to 3/8 or 1/2.

 

Straight cuts. Not very long. 1.5 to 4" mostly.

 

They recommended a 1/2"  wide blade with 18 teeth per inch.

 

 

So my two biggest questions are:

How much speed?

How much pressure?

 

Both of those are obviously tied right hand in hand.

 

This is a commercial quality blade. It was a little expensive and I would like to keep it as long as possible.

Hence, I asked how to use it correctly.

 

 

Thank you in advance very much for your answers and help.

 

 

 

[oldlineman 1,450]

10 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

I would like to say thanks again to @wallfish John for giving us this band saw a few months ago.

 

I knew as soon as I saw it that Trina and I would put it to good use. Just wasn't sure how yet.

 

Until recently I had two different ways to cut metal. Jigsaw or a good old-fashioned sawzall.

 

I'm purchasing a blade from Grainger that will fit the stand up bandsaw and that will make my cuts a lot more accurate.

As we always do around our home I did some research on the internet's and spoke to the folks at Grainger about what to buy.

 

I will be cutting predominantly 1/16 - 1/4" steel with an occasional foray up to 3/8 or 1/2.

 

Straight cuts. Not very long. 1.5 to 4" mostly.

 

They recommended a 1/2"  wide blade with 18 teeth per inch.

 

 

So my two biggest questions are:

How much speed?

How much pressure?

 

Both of those are obviously tied right hand in hand.

 

This is a commercial quality blade. It was a little expensive and I would like to keep it as long as possible.

Hence, I asked how to use it correctly.

 

 

Thank you in advance very much for your answers and help.

 

 

Eric,what cutting on metal I have done I have found that some type of cutting oil helped with the cutting and keeping the metal and blade cool and helping to keep the blade sharp. Others will have other ideas aswell I am sure. Bob

 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 10,498]

I use bi-metal blades and no lubricant. The secret is a very slow blade speed so if this is a traditional wood bandsaw it needs to be modified. The specs are in blade feet per minute so you can practise your math skills. The included chart is from the manual of an 18" wood/metal saw.

Picture yourself using a hacksaw. That is the pressure and speed you need.

 

Garry

[ebinmaine 63,139]

1 minute ago, gwest_ca said:

traditional wood bandsaw

I forgot to put that in the original post. Thanks for reminding me. This is a 2-speed bandsaw that is designed for metal cutting.

 

[JoeM 7,630]

A couple things, let the saw do the work, and you will get the fill on the feed. Listen to the blade it will talk to you. Also, clamp a straight edge to the table as a guide. I found the more square you can get it the better the cut.

 

[pacer 3,159]

Yes, a metal band has to go much slower that the wood ones (high speed will just shuck teeth) Definitely use bi-metal blades in 1/2"x.025. I long ago settled in on a 8-12 vari-tooth blade, that is a good all around blade, second choice if cutting mostIy thin stuff go to a 10-14 vari-tooth. I would think an 18 tooth would be rather slow cutting.

 

I have 2 saws - one I converted from a wood by slowing it way down, it has a nice wide table to handle odd shaped pieces. Then I have a dedicated metal saw the has a vise and the down cut rate is variable, both are used almost daily -- love them!!

[wallfish 15,919]

Like Pacer, I prefer the variable tooth bands. Basically there are small to larger teeth in sections all on the same blade.

For the thinner stuff like sheet metal, you can go with higher TPI like 18 TPI. For 1/4' to 1/2" thick go with a 10-14 or 8-12 vari blade. It will take some getting used to as far as what works best for you but it's always a good idea to have spare bands and different tooth configurations. The lower TPI like 10 will tear thin sheet metal and high TPI like 18 will over heat and take forever on thicker material.

 My advice is, Shop around and go with less expensive bands to start with until you have that saw all set up and dialed in. Trust me, it sucks when you bend and or ruin an expensive band on the first few cuts. Once you're comfortable and all ready to go, switch over to the good bands and you'll notice a difference depending on what you're cutting. Keep the cheap ones for spares.

[JoeM 7,630]

EB figuring you want to stick to one blade. I have others but don't bother to change them, that 18 tooth is a good choice other then you got to be very carful on the 1/16" stuff. Even the 1/8" could be dicey. I am not sure where I got this but I like a minimum of 2-3 teeth of engagement of the thickness. Most of the stuff I cut is 1/8 to 1/4 and the 18 tooth works plenty good.

[ebinmaine 63,139]

Great advice all.

Thanks!!

 

Is there such as thing as going too slow?

[wallfish 15,919]

Just now, ebinmaine said:

Great advice all.

Thanks!!

 

Is there such as thing as going too slow?

Yeah, you gotta hurry up when you have other stuff to do.

AND Apparently not for one of the guys I work with

[ebinmaine 63,139]

24 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Yeah, you gotta hurry up when you have other stuff to do.

 

No worries there.

Trina does 5 or 8 things to my 1 so I have time.

 

[lynnmor 6,777]

You should have at least two teeth engage in the metal.  If the distance between teeth is greater than the metal thickness, a tooth may break off setting up a chain reaction on the remaining teeth.  Using a bi-metal saw blade is risky for a novice, a hardened tooth may break off, embed in the metal and destroy the blade in a second.  Unless you are cutting a lot of steel, a cheap carbon steel will work just fine if you run it slow, usually about 100 ft/min.  Hardened alloy steels do require bi-metal blades.   With the lower priced carbon steel blades you can afford several different pitches for a variety of material thicknesses.

 

Every thing you want to know about blades: DoAll

Edited October 15, 2019 by lynnmor

[Lee1977 6,217]

Eric you know we need pictures of the saw.  I have an old Wilton cut off band saw, they call it a 6 x 8  but it's  5 1/2 x  7 1/2 really.  I use 18 teeth per inch it's slow . 14 teeth per inch is 3 times as fast but if anything moves it will jerk a tooth off and it's down hill from there. Once started it get worse and then saw at an angle. It's supposed to be also a vertical saw but the table is only about 3" square. it is almost useless as a vertical. 

[ebinmaine 63,139]

7 hours ago, Lee1977 said:

Eric you know we need pictures of the saw

I'll get some when I get some shop time.

Work has been super busy which is great for the paycheck and lousy for having time to do chores.

 

[ebinmaine 63,139]

On 11/13/2019 at 8:59 PM, Lee1977 said:

pictures of the saw

Well I finally took a few hours and got this saw up and running.

 

When we got it from @wallfish it had a spent 1/4" wide blade.

In order to install the new 1/2" blade I took ALL the points of adjustment apart to remove corrosion and lube things up.

 

I need to make some kind of adjustable down pressure to keep the belt tighter.

Other than that it works great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THANKS again John!!!!!!

 

 

[wallfish 15,919]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

THANKS again John!!!!!!

You Bet!

Just glad you could use it and happy to see you got it working

[MikMacMike 479]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Well I finally took a few hours and got this saw up and running.

 

When we got it from @wallfish it had a spent 1/4" wide blade.

In order to install the new 1/2" blade I took ALL the points of adjustment apart to remove corrosion and lube things up.

 

I need to make some kind of adjustable down pressure to keep the belt tighter.

Other than that it works great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THANKS again John!!!!!!

 

 

Whoooohoooo new tool. Can never have too many tools brother. I luv it when I can make my own lumber too.

[ebinmaine 63,139]

6 hours ago, MikMacMike said:

make my own lumber

We've talked about building a mill. Giant bandsaw style.

 

 

[Mickwhitt 4,151]

Hi Eric, 

 

I would steer clear of cutting any metal with your new saw, it looks like a light weight wood saw, a completely different beast to a metal cutting bandsaw.

No matter what kind of blade you buy this machine will be way too fast to cut metal.

Unless you can step it down with pulleys or some kind of inverter I would stick with cutting wood or plastics.

I bought a plasma cutter in preference to a bandsaw recently. Takes up much less room and is more versatile. The bandsaw is ok for some tasks but not much. A horizontal bandsaw is much more use in a home shop for cutting up stock.

Just my back yard engineers opinion.

Mick 

[ebinmaine 63,139]

2 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

this machine will be way too fast to cut metal

Not a commercial saw.

Definitely a metal cutting type.

Gear reduction...

 

 

 

 

Left pulley is slow speed for metal.

 

 

[MikMacMike 479]

7 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

Hi Eric, 

 

I would steer clear of cutting any metal with your new saw, it looks like a light weight wood saw, a completely different beast to a metal cutting bandsaw.

No matter what kind of blade you buy this machine will be way too fast to cut metal.

Unless you can step it down with pulleys or some kind of inverter I would stick with cutting wood or plastics.

I bought a plasma cutter in preference to a bandsaw recently. Takes up much less room and is more versatile. The bandsaw is ok for some tasks but not much. A horizontal bandsaw is much more use in a home shop for cutting up stock.

Just my back yard engineers opinion.

Mick 

Absolutely right Mickwhitt, I have a heavier 12" throat band saw and Id never touch metal to it. As I use it for fine cabinet making and re-sawing lumber. Depending on the plasma cutter most light weight ones we have for 110 volts I personally wouldnt go over 14" thick metal or max 3/8"....the cut becomes a little ragged. We use a 220 volt Lincon plasma over at my brothers shop and it cuts excellent up to 5/8" I just havnt tried anything heavier. For most things I love to use grinders, 4", 6" and a 8" with cutting wheels that are I think the thinest 1/16"...no thicker, i see some guys cutting with 1/8" wheels.....seriouse time, metal, and wheel waster. There is another way too that I was thinking of trying and that is getting a porta band.....Im a Milwaki or Ridgid tool kind of guy and there the only ones that last especially in heavy duty pipe fitting....eg..6 foot dia piping all the way down to spagetti pipe. Really though for versatility you cant beat a hand grinder. There are also good used chop saws out there you can use fiber blades with or preferable a metal blade that are great for cutting metal stock also. I was thinking of getting a porta band so I  can use it by hand or there are adapters too that will turn it into a stationary band saw for metal stock also.

I have seen some wild and quite destructive blow outs though, not funny at the time when someone gets hurt but afterwards you sure could make some wicked funny moments on glue tube lmao.

Mike

[ebinmaine 63,139]

@Mickwhitt and @MikMacMike

Just to clarify the operation here ...

 

When I use this saw I'm going EXTREMELY SLOW.....

As stated above this is a metal usable saw but not super heavy duty.

 

It's better than a hacksaw, jigsaw, or sawzall... Which are my previous metal cutting options...

 

Nice square clean cuts with little to no burrs or roughness. And faster than anything else I have.

 

 

Best way ?

Certainly not.

 

Best way I currently have?

 

Absolutely.

 

 

[MikMacMike 479]

Awww I understand, and yes we all do it Ebinmaine. Just be super carefull ok, cuz at a higher blade speed it really doesnt jamb it bangs and the band saw will jump like a lil jumpin bean on steroids. Believe you me.....I never want to sound like your older brother.....its just the safty in me ok bro......Just be ever so carefull ok. I know you know what your doing, your my Wheel Horse Guy.....Smiles.

[ebinmaine 63,139]

4 minutes ago, MikMacMike said:

Awww I understand, and yes we all do it Ebinmaine. Just be super carefull ok, cuz at a higher blade speed it really doesnt jamb it bangs and the band saw will jump like a lil jumpin bean on steroids. Believe you me.....I never want to sound like your older brother.....its just the safty in me ok bro......Just be ever so carefull ok. I know you know what your doing, your my Wheel Horse Guy.....Smiles.

No higher blade speeds here.... 

Low and slow....

 

Thanks Mike.

 

[wallfish 15,919]

That saw will work perfectly fine for what Eric's using it for.

 

With that type of belt on there, you may need to add weight to the motor carriage or a spring for tension. Using a raw edge and or cogged belt will help with grip to those small diameter pulleys