4x6 metal bandsaw stand/base and mods ...

[KC2IXE]

Yeah, I'd seen the charts (Heck, I've talked with Lenox, Starrett etc), and they all, of course want you to run the right blade for each job. I figured asking here were folks have found the right balance was a good choice. I've always run the 10-14s, and I figured "hey, slow is better than grab", but recently I've been running a lot more thick stock, and it has been getting silly. As I said, these days, most structural I run has at least a 1/8" wall, so 10-14 is a bit fine for even that, but then I worry about cutting round stock (that said, I'm probably as likely to run that as a stick, and part off). I'm thinking next time around, I'll go up ONE to the 8-12, and see how I like it, and may even buy a 6-10 at the same time. Cutting 2x2 6061 solids gets old with a 10-14 as you might guess, as does cutting a chunk of 1" thick, 4" wide 7075, although for a lot of cuts you can clamp upright

 

[gadget_lover]

The chart has a misprint. There should be a column that lists "whatever is on the saw" as the right blade.


What I need is a chart that shows how many minutes to cut a 2 inch bar of 6061 with each blade so I can tell if it's faster to use the existing blade or faster to change to the right one.

Daniel

 

[spencer]

I can tell you that in industry, at least in the shop I worked in, the only reason a blade ever got changed was to throw it in the garbage. The same blade cut everything from 10x54 beam (or heavier) to 1x1x.100 HSS. It cut stainless, mild steel, and aluminum. Having said that, blade speed was adjusted based on material (SS, MS, AL) so that probably helped. This saw ran 8-10 hours a day so changing blades wouldn't be reasonable and to still get everything done.

 

[KC2IXE]

Oh, yeah, when I worked for the crane company, it was pretty much the same way, one blade, but in my case, the question is, WHICH one blade.
I can't totally say one blade at the crane company, because we had 2 saws, and the "big" saw was setup with a blade with less teeth than the "small" saw, and in addition, we had a large Iron worker, and anything less than say 4" wide and 1/4" thick (including angle iron with legs that size) went in the shear, and we chopped it.
Was funny, because that was a job where about the smallest drill bit ever used was 1/4", and the next job, about the largest we ever used was 1/4". Most holes were punched. That said, running a drill press with a MT5 taper was a normal thing

 

[spencer]

I don't know which blade was used (teeth/foot). We also had several ironworkers but they generally weren't used for shearing unless we needed thousands of pieces >12" ish long. Its just nicer to work with a nice square cut edge than a shitty sheared edge.

 

[KC2IXE]

Oh yeah, if you need a nice edge, you cut, but notice what I said we were building? Cranes. Most stuff, +- 1/16 was CLOSE work. Most work was: cut I beam to length, draw centerline across width with soapstone, slap hole jig on, align, transfer punch the holes, lift beam with crane, bring to iron worker, punch oval holes to for bolts at marked locations (usually for 7/8 or 3/4 high strength bolts), return to saw horses, flip, drill end of beam for alignment pins, sometimes weld on U channel cap, Take crane, move over to paint area, go to stock pile, pick next beam from the pile, repeat. Angles and flats were usually for a diagonal brace, or an end stop for a track beam, and THOSE we used the say, as they were usually something like 4" leg, and memory (35 years old, so) has them circa 3/8" thick. Painting for stuff like that was "hang on a wire S hook, dip in bucket of grey paint, hang on the rack"
I started there in High School, young enough I couldn't work in the shop, and did things like assemble catalog books. Day came I could work in the shop, and I started with painting. By the end of the month, they saw I cared, so they taught me to weld, run a lathe, mill, etc. Eventually became a full up hoist mechanic, as well as able to do any gig in the shop, plus having taken 2 years of drafting, could draw the bosses sketches too. Did that for 6 years till I was done with college and tech school, afternoons and ever school break. By the end, I was rarely painting (unless they needed something sprayed) and at that, usually wasn't cutting beams or the like. Was too busy repairing hoists, doing installs, or welding or on the lathe/mill (rare, Eddie mostly did that)

 

[wquiles]

I don't care much for the tables/suggestions. I do this for a hobby, and I use the same blade for everything. For the last 2-3 years I have been using this:

64 1/2" x 1/2" x 14T Bimetal Bands $13.41 each

An I ordered them from (no affiliation):

Kenny Schmidt
Industrial Saw & Grinding, Inc.
3920 Rufe Snow Dr.
N. Richland Hills, TX 76180
(817) 284-7416
[email protected]
www.industrialsawandgrinding.com


Once I finished the bandsaw project, I finally took the blade that was there and put a new one in. That one that I trowed away was 2+ years old, with heavy application of a lubricating stick, like this one, and I cut a LOT of Maglites (50+), at least 10+ Titanium rod (about 5/8" dia), all of the steel for my welding table, and all of the steel for the bandsaw cart. In fact, I think it was forum member Will (darkzero) or Daniel (gadget_lover) who suggested the stick years ago - it works great, but you have to re-apply as you are cutting. With the coolant, I will no longer have to worry about it

Now that it is running coolant (which will not only lubricate but actually cool down the blade), I bet the blade will either:
- last even longer, or
- allow a similar life but cutting much faster than before (which is my goal)

 

[gt40]

I am pretty certain you will achieve both longer life and improved speed. I base this on my trials with my Agazzani B-24 bandsaw

 

[precisionworks]

... I've always run the 10-14s, and I figured "hey, slow is better than grab" ...

The greatest drawback of a too fine pitch is that the teeth are rubbing a lot but cutting very little. Chips from a blade of correct pitch look like numbers 6 or 9 but a too fine pitch produces tiny chips that look like coarse dust. Optimum pitch is that which has 3 teeth in contact with the stock. It's easy to run a coarse pitch blade in thin stock if the downfeed is very slow.

... Now that it is running coolant (which will not only lubricate but actually cool down the blade) ...

Three factors primarily influence blade life:

• Correct pitch for material being cut
• Correct downfeed pressure
• Blade cleaning - chip removal

Lots of band saw users miss cleaning & chip removal. Cleaning is accomplished with a combination of flood lubricant & blade brushes that rub against the blade before it goes through the guides (both before & after the cutting area).

Flood coolant does two jobs on a band saw:

• Reduces heat at the tip of each tooth
• Carries chips out of the cut where they can be removed with blade brushes

The best blade today is the variable pitch 1-50 tpi bimetal from Unobtainum Industries

 

[PEU]

Pro work Will, felicitaciones!


Pablo

 

[wquiles]

Three factors primarily influence blade life:

• 1- Correct pitch for material being cut
• 2- Correct downfeed pressure
• 3- Blade cleaning - chip removal

1- Never going to worry about it, until the 1-50 tpi bimetal (Unobtanium) becomes more widely available :naughty:

2- Agreed, and hence while the hydraulic piston is such a nice addition

3- Agreed. In fact, I am a little surprised that no-one has yet asked about the small red "thing" in my bandsaw pictures.

Lots of band saw users miss cleaning & chip removal. Cleaning is accomplished with a combination of flood lubricant & blade brushes that rub against the blade before it goes through the guides (both before & after the cutting area).

If is in fact a very crude, cheap, and simple blade cleaning/chip removal "system":

Every 6-months, on my regular teeth checkup/cleanup, my dentist gives me a brand new REACH tooth brush. I don't use them (I use an electric toothbrush), but I never throw those away, as I can use them to clean parts around the shop, but for this project, I simply cut most of the handle off, drill one hole, and attached it as you see above, right after the tension rollers, before the blades goes into the drive wheel. It not only stops the majority of the debris, but it also captures a lot of the coolant, so it is less messy. In fact, in that picture you can see steel, brass, and Titanium chips

 

[darkzero]

Will, try a 6-10 TPI blade. I used to only use 10-14 TPI bi-metal blades from Irwin. It cut pretty much anything I threw at it but cutting 1"+ dia Ti bar & up to 5"dia took forever, well longer than I would like to wait. I now only use 6-10 TPI bi-metal blades from Lenox & I love them. I really don't care about a finer cut as everything cuts faced anyway. The only time I ever use the 10-14 blade now is for tubing, small diameters like smaller than 3/8, or plastics which is not often. For me the 6-10 blades has made a big difference in performance & will hold me over until I upgrade to a larger saw.

 

[wquiles]

Will, try a 6-10 TPI blade.

Cool, thanks for the suggestion. I only have one 10-14 blade on the shelf now, so I could buy a 6-10TPI bimetal to have around for the next blade swap.

Where do you buy yours from/at?

 

[darkzero]

Cool, thanks for the suggestion. I only have one 10-14 blade on the shelf now, so I could buy a 6-10TPI bimetal to have around for the next blade swap.

Where do you buy yours from/at?

I get them from MSC. https://www.mscdirect.com/product/82909524

I suppose they might be cheaper elsewhere but I have a local MSC outlet now so I just go there to pick one up or order one to have it the next day & save on shipping.

 

[wquiles]

Thanks Will. Now with the part number, I found Zorotools has it on ebay for a few dollars less:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321328128105?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[darkzero]

Thanks Will. Now with the part number, I found Zorotools has it on ebay for a few dollars less:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321328128105?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Interesting, I didn't even notice the price on MSC, when I log in the price changes to $30.93 for me.

If you order directly from Zoro (price should be the same as ebay), code BEADS is 20% off $75, expires tomorrow, free shipping over $50. not sure if the code would work for you as I received it in an email because of items left in my cart but FORGETMENOT is $5 off $25, expires tomorrow. I used it already so not sure if it works more than once.

 

[wquiles]

Thanks Will. I will watch the specials (I get their emails) and will try to get 1-2 blades next time I order from them

 

[precisionworks]

Friends don't let their friends pay too much

Zoro does have some good specials, their best was in February with $40 off a $200 order. No current special so far this month.

The best price I've found for bi-metal saw blades, either Lennox or M K Morse, is through DCT Industrial. Phone 800.235.0637 & Stacey will ask for the exact length you need & the blade pitch (blades are custom welded to the length you specify). Prices are much lower than anything else I've found.

 

[wquiles]

Interesting, I didn't even notice the price on MSC, when I log in the price changes to $30.93 for me.

If you order directly from Zoro (price should be the same as ebay), code BEADS is 20% off $75, expires tomorrow, free shipping over $50. not sure if the code would work for you as I received it in an email because of items left in my cart but FORGETMENOT is $5 off $25, expires tomorrow. I used it already so not sure if it works more than once.

Will,

Finally catch a 20% special at Zorro, so I ordered two of the Lennox 6-10 TPI. And it was not only the special that was the "trigger" - I was cutting a 3.5" dia of solid Aluminum (rod) and as you indicated earlier, it does take a while with the "small" teeth!. I will report later once I get and use the 6-10 TPI blade.

Thanks again man

 

[precisionworks]

... I will report later once I get and use the 6-10 TPI blade.

For general purpose use that's a great choice. Watch out when cutting thin stuff & slow the downfeed so the teeth don't strip out. These blades last so long I can never remember when the last one was changed (if all the protocols are followed).