How Nice is a Metal Band Saw?

[mjncad]

Several posters have stated how slow their saws cut. Have you ever changed the blade speed. If your saw still has the charts on it,see how fast the blade is traveling and compare that to what the blade mfg recommends. When I got mine it was set at the slowest speed. When I bought a new blade I looked at the chart and found it was running to slow. I change the belt to the second speed and it cuts a lot faster and have had no issues wearing out blades. Blade speed is relevent to how many TPI you have.
Bill

I run my horizontal bandsaw at the medium speed. If I ever have to cut lots of aluminum, then I'll speed it up, conversely I'll slow it down if I ever cut lots of stainless steel.

The vertical saw I have has 7 different speeds, so there are plenty to choose from. The step pulley Wilton I have has slower speeds than the variable speed unit for less money.

 

[DaveOmak]

IPlay, Good morning.
I've had my metal band saw for25 yrs now. Got it used.
It threw blades for the first 15 years or so. Never could figure it out. It would work fine for 2-3 months then boing! Off would come the blade. Every cut it would come off. Then it would work fine.
Finally I figured out what was wrong.
Stand the saw up so it is in the verticle position. Look at the roller bearings that are on each side of the blade. Bear with me as I try to explain what I mean.
There are 2 sets of bearings. Each on an adjustible arm.
As the band rotates, where it touches the inside of the bearings, The rotational plane of the bearings should be slightly above the plane of the band. I know that doesn't make much sense. Let me say it like this.
As the bearings rotate, Where they touch the band, the band should be forced "slightly" toward the flanged side of the band "drive and idler" wheels.
To achieve this, the adjusters on the double sets of bearings must be shimmed to get the rollers on the correct plane.
Now that most are confused reading this monologue, if you are interested in what I did to make my chinese knock-off saw work like a charm, PM me and I will take pictures of the shims I installed and show pictures of the roller set up on the band and what the above words tried to describe.
This is living proof that a picture is worth 1000 words.
Good luck with your new saw. Metal band saws are really worth having in the shop even if you put a wood blade on them. Dave

 

[mjncad]

Dave:

Please post pictures for all of us to see.

Thanks.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...As the band rotates, where it touches the inside of the bearings, The rotational plane of the bearings should be slightly above the plane of the band...

I thnik I know what you are saying. It makes sense. After I get a new bearing and a blade, I'll have to check this alignment. I may post back later if I need more info on the shims.

 

[sandman2234]

My first horizontal band saw was a cheapie import that had been dropped and broke (maybe more than once) that came in a package deal with my milling machine. Second was a "Rollin" 20 inch vertical that I bought from a guy a thousand miles away, and had him hold it till I could get out there in a couple months. While waiting, a DoAll 16" with welder with a "as is" statement, never run by current owner came available just a few miles away (ok, about 250 miles, but I drive for a living). Owner was leaving town, it had to be gone by Monday, so for $100. and a road trip I was a proud owner of not one, but two great saws and a piece of crap. Picked up the Roll-in a few weeks later, and was rapidly running out of space. Good friend in South Florida needed a saw, I needed some cash, so I sold it and kept the others. While I was on the road trip, I also bought two saws of import variety just to fill out the truck (lol). Gave one to a friend, for his help with my projects (gave him his choice of the two) and the other is stuck put away so that when that piece of broken junk quits, I will have one to use to replace it, because I use it all the time. My friend has spent about 45 minutes "tweaking" his to get it to cut almost perfectly straight. I hated to tell him that once the blade wears, it will start cutting different...

As far as the upper bearing, be careful replacing it, as I was under the impression that it is supposed to "float". Double check that before spending the money. My Rollin upper bearing floats and it cuts straight as an arrow. Blade tension controls where it floats.
David from jax
I love bandsaws, and my chop saw is like others, under a pile of dust somewhere...

 

[DaveOmak]

Attached are pictures of my "rube goldberg" (remember him?) fix to my saw. The yellow piece of scrap is laid against the rollers to show the amount of "lift" to the blade to keep it from coming off the drive and idler wheels.
When tightening the adjusters, with the spacers inserted, I brought the roller down until it almost touched the blade. I figure this allows the blade to "float" in its normal track. After all was said and done, the side rollers were adjusted so as to ride on the blade and not allow it flex "sideways" which would allow the blade to cut crooked.
After all that, the blade cut 90 deg to the bed. Something it never did prior to the "rube" fix.
The spacers did such a good job "lock washers" I left them as you can see. 1 washer in the 3rd photo and 2 washers in the 4th. If it ain't broke, leave it alone.
Hope this helps. Good luck, Dave

 

[mjncad]

Thanks for the pictures Dave, and Rube Goldberg was cool.

 

[DaveOmak]

mjncad, You are welcome. This forum is so cool. Out there, somewhere, someone has fixed every tool that has ever broken.
Remember that motorcycle building show. The teams had 2weeks, or something, to build their scooters?
I had fixed my saw where it would cut reliably and I saw Billy Lane take a sledge hammer to his 'cause the blade came off repeatedly. This guy could build a beautiful motorcycle and wouldn't take the time to fix his saw? Ironic. (ah! nostalgia) Guess my long term memory is still OK. It's the short term memory that....? What was I going to say?

 

[600rider]

Another suggestion to to have nice straight cuts is to adjust the roller guide for the length of cut you are making. The top guide is adjustable (on most saws) there should be a big knob to loosen and slide the roller guide assembly away from or towards the lower roller guide. Always make the opening just larger than the piece being cut. This will keep the blade from twisting and running off at an angle and give nice straight cuts.
I must have gotten lucky with my cheapie HF horiz. band saw as I didn't have to do any adjustments to the rollers to make them "track" properly. Right out of the box it cut straight and has for over 15 to 20 years (the mind is the first thing to go!) As stated above blade speed makes a difference and another factor is hardness of metal being cut. The harder the metal the slower the blade speed should be. That being said I run mine on the slowest speed and I don't think I have ever changed it and I have cut just about everything imaginable. Maybe I should expieriment with that some! I paid $129.00 for this saw many years ago (when HF was strictly mail order) and it sells now for $199.00 and would buy another on in a heart beat. I would be lost without it. I just work on other stuff while it is cutting so I am not idle while it works!

 

[sandman2234]

Not having to babysit it while it cuts is one of the plus points of a horizontal saw over a chopsaw. My vertical saw is a rollin, so it also cuts without constant attention.
David from jax