Band Saw help

[Brujo]

Greetings wood wizards,

I'm in the market for a new band saw (14") and too my horror I've noticed that most band saws no longer come with a low speed for cutting metal??? I guess selling a saw that will cut all materials is no longer in vogue. Damn marketeers! Granted you can buy large industrial metal saws that have a high speed for wood but I'm not about to spend $2000+ for a band saw.

So my question to you all is: Does anybody have a good band saw recomendation for a saw with a low speed? So far the only saws I can find that will allow me to cut metal as well as wood are the Jet JWBS-14MW ($800) the same saw from jets parent company Wilton "tradesman" 8201 ($1100), and the General International Model 90-125 M1 ($650) although this saws low speed is actually to fast for most metal at 1930 FPM.

I'm mostly a turner but I do cut a lot of metal so buying a band saw that will only cut wood just doesn't make sense to me. Any recomendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brujo]

I did notice in a previous post about a dude gloating about his new Rikon band saw...but alas it has the same problem as the general intenational, the low speed is still too fast to cut most metal with out ripping all the teeth off your blade.

 

[gran]

I don't know what the prefered speed for cutting metal is but....The grizzly 14 in has 2 speeds. Not sure if lower speed is slow enough for metal. I think speeds are 1500 and 3200 fps

 

[davidwalser]

You might also consider the Harbor Freight "4 speed woodworking bandsaw". It has speeds of [font=arial, sans-serif]600, 1140, 1670, & 2670 FPM. I'm not sure if the lowest speed is low enough for you. The saw can be had for close to $200 on sale. As for the quality, I've known those who swear by them and others that swear at them.

Here's a link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32208
[/font]

 

[Hstudio]

Metal bandsaws and wood bandsaws are really 2 different animals. I have 4 bandsaws in my shop. One is a metal only saw and the speeds are 86, 132, 178, and 260. These speeds all depend on what metal you are cutting(obviously). I have a Delta 14in that can be fitted with a bi-metal blade to cut mild steel, aluminum and other softer metals. This blade resembles a hacksaw blade. Off the top of my head, I can't say at what speed the Delta's band runs at, but it is so much faster that is isn't funny. On the metal saw, you can almost count the teeth as it cuts.

The bi-metal blade may be the cure you are looking for, if you only occasionally cut metal.

 

[john lucas]

I believe Enco sells one. I forget the brand but the price is quite high which is why I passed it by. there was an article in one of the metal working magazines a bunch of years back on how to convert a wood working bandsaw to a metal cutting saw but you had to have a whole machine shop to do it.
I would certainly like to have both because I'm doing more and more metal work.
some of the horizontal cutoff saws supposedly will raise up and convert to a bandsaw. that doesn't give you the 2 bandsaws in one concept but it does give you some metal cutting capability in a saw that's not unreasonable. I think they ran about $300 or so.

 

[john lucas]

I just dawned me that you might be able to add a 3 phase motor and variable frequency drive and get speeds slow enough to run a metal saw. I'd have to run some numbers on that one and see if it would work. They have excellent torque at really low speeds but you might still need a 2 speed step pulley to get low enough and not lose all the power.

 

[john lucas]

This is the Beast I was talking about, made by Wilton.
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=505-1372&PMPXNO=953995&PARTPG=INLMK3

 

[Tom Lewis]

I have this Wilton Band saw. It works for both metal and wood. It will run from 3300 SFPM to 278 SFPM. This saw has a gear box and a set of pulleys to give fast and slow speeds. The catalog I am looking at also says it makes a 6" cut under the guide, but with a riser block it will make a 12" cut.
I like this saw, but I also bought a 21" 3hp. band saw. The Wilton was underpowered to cut the large pieces of wood I use.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Well, how about the obvious? Buy some cone pulleys and retrofit. I know this isn't continuously variable digital electronic readout high torque variable reluctance & cetera, but it is the way the others were made, You may have to enlarge the slit in the back of the stand to a square and bend some aluminum for a larger cover.

If you do that, add a lever to the motor mount for ease of lifting to change pulleys, and change the stupid latches on the front. Couple magnetic is good enough, rather than having to yank on something with a high center of gravity like a bandsaw, especially if you have one of those foil-thin Grizzly bases. The one on our old Delta was heavy enough in its own right.

 

[Brujo]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[CA Savoy]

Look at the Enco Horizontal/Vertical Band Saw #505-6841 $199.95. Using one of these cheap machines for years cuttin all types of metal.

CA

 

[Dave Roller]

I have a Powermatic Model 143 which has speeds of 40,60,100,160,750,1200,1800, and 3000
SFM. Those speeds cover not only wood but a lot of metals, plastics, compositions, and other materials. It's a fantastic machine, but I'm not sure if it's still made. You may want to do a google search for this model, and I assure you that you will be lucky if you find a used one.

 

[Bart Castleberry]

With the amount of junk thrown at us, it’s not marketing’s fault, they don't seem to be shy.

I think it’s something no marketing can over come, namely the mess you get when you mix oily metal shavings and saw dust. I'll echo the call for two saws.

Not to mention an upright bandsaw is pretty tedious to use for anything with size as it has no auto feed provisions. Just different animals. I’m eyeing one of the metal saws that goes horizontal/vertical too, they seem to be a pretty good solution with good horizontal ability and fair to poor vertical performance. 2k is pretty cheap for a new good quality wood bandsaw IMO.

Bart

 

[toolnut]

I have addressed your problem of a metal and wood cutting bandsaw a couple of times. It is not easy nor simple to convert a wood cutting bandsaw to metal cutting. You can not do it with cone pulleys and you can not do it with a variable frequency drive and a three phase motor.
Here are the numbers:

wood cutting speed is about 4500 feet per minute
steel cutting speed is about 150 feet per minute or less if you cut high speed steels.
This is a 30 to 1 difference. You can not get there with one set of pulleys. Even with a jackshaft you will have to do some good planning. You can convert the saw to metal cutting by installing a gear reducer but then it is no longer a wood cutting saw.
The max. speed variation you can get with a VFD is 3 to 1 for the volts per hertz types and about 10 to one for a sensorless vector type. Disadvantage here is the torque is not multiplied as you slow down so you run out of "oomph" at low speeds. The VFD may run at lower speeds but you motor will not cool itself and will overheat.

Best bet is to look for a used metal / wood cutting saw in decent shape.
A Rockwell / Delta 28-380 and the Powermatic 143 are both 14" dual purpose saws. They normally sell for $800-$1000 used and in decent condition.

If you want a larger size then look for a Rockwell 28-345 or a Powermatic 87 which are both 20" and very good saws. You can get one these for about $1500 to $1700 used and they are about 10 times better than a 14".

If you want a real dual purpose beast then look for a DoAll. The 15" and 16" saws often have two speed ranges with coverage from 80 fpm to 5000 fpm. A DoAll 2013 would be the cats meow.(it is a 20" and weighs a ton)

 

[jwitnberg]

Bandsaw help

I have a Powermatic 141, the wood cutting version, and solved the metal cutting problem by attaching a very used 1/2 hp gear motor to the side of the saw. I mounted the motor to the saw base using a hinge, positioned so that I could use the standard belt. To switch from wood to metal I just slip the belt off the band saw motor and put it onto the pully on the gear motor. The gear motor has its own switch and is wired into the power line where it enters the saw base. Works well though I have to push a wedge of wood between the motor and the saw to keep the belt from slipping when cutting thick metal.

Jan