I would like to buy an inexpensive band saw to cut plate steel to fab my own brackets. The question is will the cheap table top wood band saws I see everywhere with a metal blade work? I was questioning if the RPM's would be all wrong for metal. Dont need it very often so dont want to spend a lot of $$$. Any help would be great.
I tried that route with my wood cutting bandsaw but never got satisfactory results. I got a Milawalke handheld bandsaw, and it kicks ***. It's one of the best tools I've ever bought, almost handier than a stationary bandsaw.
Can't answer your question, but I have had good luck with the saws from harbor frieght. (one of the few tools from them that I've been happy with)
yes, you are correct in thinking the wood bandsaws would be too fast. most wood saws have a blade speed around 3000 feet per minuite. for steel you would want it around 100-300 feet per minute. i took a Delta 14" wood bandsaw and added a jackshaft with pulleys and a larger final pulley to get the speed down , put in a metal blade and it has served me well for 10 years. it's not as heavy duty as a big industrial unit , but it's fine for what little i use it
I bought a Jet at an auction and like it a lot. Taiwan made but very well built. Bought several items that day but believe that saw cost me around $90-100.
There were pics posted here a few weeks ago of a bracket to convert a hand held Milwaukee bandsaw into a table top machine.Search the archives for "bandsaw".
A handheld bandsaw ? I think you mean a portaband. They are a good saw but are more for cutting pipe and flatbar. If you had a 24"x24" pc of metal the biggest pc you could cut off that would be about a 7"x24" pc. As thats about all the throat they have. Cutting a 1"x24" pc of flatbar from that pc wouldnt come out very straight either.They are a GREAT saw but they are limited in use. I would suggest you stick with the bandsaw or get a super sawsall. JMO ---Feder
This is an older Taiwan band saw, fairly sure it came from Harbor Freight. I bought used it 17 years ago and use it fairly often. It was owned by a small manufacturing outfit while they were getting off the ground. Note the small 'table' or whatever it's called. (The black piece where you could lay a piece of metal for cutting like an upright bandsaw.)
I have a newer (4-5 yrs old) Harbor freight bandsaw, that I bought on sale for like $150, and I love it! I've cut a whole ****load of metal on it and it works REALLY well. I've cut plate from 1/8" to 1/2" with no trouble, all sizes of square tubing up to 3"x3", a whole ****load of 2"x3", solid rod up to 1", and about every size of angle and tubing you can imagine.
Here's another pic of the same saw set up for upright type sawing. Note the larger table. Just takes a few seconds to swap, only two screws involved. I believe the size rating capacity for these saws is 4 x 6", but I've cut some way larger stuff. Up to 9" in diameter in fact. You have to use your imagination for some cuts. A 4-6" clamp holding the workpiece to the outside of the blade - makes cutting small stuff easy. Clamping on the outside works well for angle cuts on some things. Other tricks with angle cutting is to leave the vise open and C-clamp the workpiece to the base and use the vise as a stop so the workpiece won't swivel out of position. Cutting larger pieces can be accomplished by clamping a piece of angle to the outer edge of the base - outside the blade - or clamp the angle with the vise and then clamp the workpiece to the angle with a C-clamp. This would be done with say a piece of 6" round billet that's 4" thick and you wanted a 2" piece. You have to pay attention though, the saw will cut into the clamp if you let it go too far. When the cut gets deep enough a couple of re-adjustments where you spin the workpiece around and cut in a fresh area and then finally cutting through while you catch the upper part of the bandsaw before it can hit the clamp. This works well for saving material, no use cutting 2" off a perfectly good piece in a lathe and then tossing the swarf out. If you're careful with the cut and get it square you can use the cut off piece as is - depending of course on what you're doing. Using the saw as an upright bandsaw is made easier by the table shown. I've cut a lot of stuff with it set up this way. Just block the wheels so the saw doesn't travel. The boxing plates on my 31 were cut out to exact shape with this saw and the table shown. A steel table would probably work better than the aluminum piece shown. You don't need the rolled over front edge, but it helps a little bit. You'd be amazed at what you can do with these little saws. Just use your imagination. I have a few other dirt-cheap accessories & tricks with these saws if you're interested.
One bit I meant to add: Skip the Harbor Freight blades. They just don't last. Sometimes from the first cut. You can get good metal cutting blades made by either Delta or Ridgid from Home Depot and Lowes. I've bought some blades from Sears and they work well. Blade size is 64 1/2" by 1/2". You can find 1/4" blades to fit these saws as well. Most all of the blades mentioned cost about $10., but they last quite a while. I like the 14 tooth for general steel sawing and have used the 18 tooth with good results. The 18 being especially good for sawing header tubing. Get a 10 tooth blade and dedicate it to sawing aluminum only. Get a block of Beeswax as well. Hit the blade with it once in a while. Keeps it lubed and running smoothly, expecially so on aluminum. (Don't use oil on the blade, makes the drive wheel slip, makes a mess and doesn't help that much.) Beeswax from a beekeeper or country roadside produce store is way better than whatever the 'beeswax' stuff the markets sell. One block lasts for years.
I think most wood bandsaws lack the little roller bearings that support the sides and back of the blade when cutting and yeh, they're too fast. I've been told to buy "BiMetal" blades that cost a lot more, but last forever, making them worth while. My 14' saw says "Metal/Wood" but it's still too fast and blades go away real fast if I don't use the bi metal. Good luck. Also on the small cuttoff type saws that flip up to use as a bandsaw, Make sure they cut straight in the cut off mode. I had one and it worked great, but wouldn't cut straight lay'n down. Could never adjust it right. My friends' have them though and theirs are good, just had bad luck with mine.
[ QUOTE ] but wouldn't cut straight lay'n down [/ QUOTE ] Most times this can be cured by installation of a fresh blade. Supporting the upper part by hand until the blade is in deep enough to be 'self-guiding' can help as well. You may have the weight compensating spring set so there is too much weight on the blade as well.
absolutely get the harbor freight saw, its cheap, but one of the better values at HF. even if you beef it up here and there, it will save you mucho $$ in stuff like sawzall blades! the only reason i do not have one myself now is because of space. normal retail , you should never pay more than $200 for a new one. with a little help, they will stand up to light industrial type use, read: near constant use. i say look for the starret saw blades, a little spendy, you probably have to look for them at a machine shop supply, but they WILL have them for this saw, everybody has em!
A long time ago I took an old wood cutting band saw and mounted a Crosley(I think) transmission to it to slow it down. It worked pretty good. A saw with a longer blade will last longer. About 20 years ago I bought an Enco 15" floor model saw with a welder. It was a lot of money at the time (about $1500), but I have never been sorry. I use it more than anything in my shop.
I wopuld buy the PortaBand. Works for any brackets you might make. I started using one this fall and have access to two large floor saws. The Porta Band is the tool of choice!
[ QUOTE ] I would like to buy an inexpensive band saw to cut plate steel to fab my own brackets. [/ QUOTE ] How about another way of cutting steel: an oxy-acetylene torch? It's perfect for cutting brackets out of stock. But you'll still need to finish them on a grinder. Just another approach. --Matt
At work we use Delta 14" wood band saws which are cheaper then the steel band saws with multi grove pulleys. We change out the pulleys to slow it down and build a bigger guard (just a NEMA electrical box cut to fit). We cut a weird mix of steel and laminate for work. It still runs a little faster then the steel band saws but we trade cutting speed for blade life. The only blades to use are Lenox Die Master II bi-metal 10/14 VT tooth per inch. Most other blades will spit teath at faster speed. Sometimes on first cut as someone mentioned above.
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