How Nice is a Metal Band Saw?

[wldrbob]

nope..it turns to fast for the teeth. wont last very long guess how i know lol

 

[crazyal]

Has anyone tried going the other direction? Putting an abrasive wheel ona dry cut saw? The only reason I could see doing it is if you had to cut something like harden steel or if your blade dies and didn't have a spare (at close to $200 I doubt many people have spares) and didn't want to pay an arm and leg at a local store to buy one. Would the DC spin too slowly?

 

[sal64]

I have the opportunity to get a used metal cutting band saw. It's a Duracraft that will likely need some repairs. The guy said it keeps throwing blades and there's some wobble in one of the bearings. I think the price is right, but my question is whether it will be worth the space and time I'll spend to repair it. Space and time are both at a premium in my tiny shop and busy life. I'll give up the space if it will save me time and/or turn out a better product. Having never used one, I'm relying on the opinions of others to tell me how nice a band saw is to use.

My current metal cutting tool selection includes a 14" cut-off saw, an assortment of angle grinders, and an O/A torch outfit.

they are very handy if you do a lot of metal projects, u should buy biemetal blades they last the longest, i would becarful of the repair sounds like the bearings are bad thats maby why its throwing blades or its not adjusted right,check the weels that the blade rides on to see if there is a lot of wear if so i would stay away from it that would be pricey.

 

[600rider]

about 20 years ago I was working in a shop and we had a vertical band saw that was never used, I asked the boss about it and he said that the blades would run true until you tried to cut something with it and then would jump off. He was getting ready to take it to a sale to get rid of it and I asked him what he thought he would get for it, he guessed maybe $100 or so and I offered him $75 and he wouldn't have to take it anywhere, I would haul it home. He agreed and I took it home and looked it over and thought it needed new "tires" on the wheels but then noticed that the bolt for the tracking adjustment was loose so I tried to adjust it and it became loose again, upon removel of he bolt I noticed that the threads were stripped so I got a new bolt and walla' it tracked right and I used it for a time then sold it to a friend who still uses it. Check the tracking bolt. That may be why the blade jumps off. I have a HF horiz. bandsaw that I bought and would not be without it. The chop saw sits on the shelf under the bench and has so much dust on it I can't tell what color it is! mine takes the 64 1/2 inch blades and I can get them from HF or TSC. :thumbsup:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I did it! I stopped by and bought it today. The bottom wheel is good and solid, but the top wheel (the idler) has a very slight wobble in it. I'll start the repair by replacing the bearing on the top wheel. If that doesn't work, I'll try as 600rider suggests and check the tracking bolts, etc. It may be a while before I work on this. I have a lot of other projects.

 

[mjncad]

The auto shutoff button I cannot get it adjusted, (3 hours trying) to not stop too soon or snapclick the switch down reliably, it seem to cut off power well before the snap down of the switch, so if you lift the saw again after it stops, it starts again, because the switch is not snapped down, and I view this as a hazard. James K0UA

It sounds like you have the same saw I have. Try swapping the bolt end for end. That's what I did, and the auto-stop is reliable now.

Congrats to IPF on buying a bandsaw. I have no idea about the brand and model he bought; but I have two bandsaws, and wouldn't be without them.

G9742 5" x 6" Metal-Cutting Bandsaw w/ Swivel Head

Wilton Tools - WILTON 14" Wood/Metal Vertical Bandsaw 1HP 115V 1Ph

Bandsaws by their very nature of using a flexible blade take some tweaking to set up right; but once you get them going, they are very useful. I'd like a dry cut chop saw too; but that's not in the cards right at the moment.

 

[svcguy]

The real advantage to a band saw (power hack or cold cut for that matter) is working indoors during the winter months without showering your entire shop with sparks and molten metal. The challenge with bandsaws is the guide setup, which needs to be spot on to prevent "drifting" to one side or the other during the cut. Careful setup with a machinist square or a couple of parallels really makes a difference. The best way to repair or make new blades is with silver solder and a small jig to hold the ends together. The blade ends have to match perfectly (no gaps) for a good repair. Bearing replacement is easily done on most saws and bearings are cheap from your local bearing supplier. Just get the number from the bearing needing to be replaced and match it with a new one, they are all standard and not unique to manufacurer. While I have chop, cold, band and power hacksaws in the shop, I have to admit the old power hacksaw is still my favorite. I like them all and use them all, but there are a lot of old "Racine" hacksaws out there that can be picked up cheaply and converted to 120 V. You just need to learn to keep busy with other phases of your project while it slowly saws away.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

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

 

[jmc]

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

As Hooked on HP has suggested, there's a lot more to running a band saw than clamping the stock and turning it on. Besides blade speed, different stock thickness requires different teeth per inch. You never want less than 3 teeth engaged or it will overload the teeth. So if you want to cut 1/8 stock but are too lazy to change the blade to a fine tooth pattern... Also, at the other extreme, trying to cut thick stock with fine teeth causes the teeth gullet to fill up with swarf, which makes the teeth skate across your work. Down force on the saw plays a big role but it's limited by the rigidity of the blade. A wider blade is better, with the blade rollers as close together as possible without hitting the work. Lubrication on the blade is nice. They make some nice stick lubes (like giant crayons) that are very convenient. And as another poster said, bimetal blades are cost effective. (if you use them right)

If Duracraft is one of those light duty imports with an American sounding name, check out a home machinist board. You'll learn all about those types of saws and how to tweek them.

Have fun!

 

[jimjo2]

I'll take a cold saw any day...way better than a band saw or an abrasive saw. I have both a 10" and a 16" Haberle for every day steel cutting. I bought them both used on Ebay and have been great machines. The abrasive and band saws have their place but not for me as a main saw.