Verticle band saw to cut thick plate?

[Stomis]

Well a plasma or heat wrench isnt in my immediate future as far as cutting tools. I was thinking about picking up a small bench verticle bandsaw and putting a metal blade in it to cut things like bumper brackets.

I know when I made the bumper brackets for the k10 it took my like 6 years to cut the 1/2in plate with an angle grinder... In hindsight I know the sawzall at a slow pace woulda been the better inappropriate tool for the job but its done now.

Anyone running something like this...

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00921419000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4

with a metal blade?

 

[blazinzuk]

Heres the thing, a metal cutting bandsaw isn't all about blade, its about speed. Now I have never tried putting a metal blade on a bandsaw designed for wood. Metal cutting bandsaws blades are a ton slower than wood cutting ones.

I bet if you stuck a metal blade on that it would heat up so fast that it would destroy the blade in short order.

Try this instead http://www.harborfreight.com/horizontal-vertical-metal-cutting-bandsaw-93762.html

It needs lots of adjustments and some modifications to work well but it can be made to work well

 

[Stomis]

Heres the thing, a metal cutting bandsaw isn't all about blade, its about speed. Now I have never tried putting a metal blade on a bandsaw designed for wood. Metal cutting bandsaws blades are a ton slower than wood cutting ones.

I bet if you stuck a metal blade on that it would heat up so fast that it would destroy the blade in short order.

Try this instead http://www.harborfreight.com/horizontal-vertical-metal-cutting-bandsaw-93762.html

It needs lots of adjustments and some modifications to work well but it can be made to work well

Yeah I'm aware of the speed issue. I just turned my drill press all the way down lol.

I'm gonna have to look at lowes floor model to see if perhaps the craftsmen can be modified to turn down the speed.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Yep, wodd saw with metal blade isn't going to cut it because of the speed. You would be best to use a jig saw with a metal blade. This would probably give you the best control over it anyway.

 

[howdiy]

A sawzall with a blade that says thick metal on it cut through my 5/8" easily with some fluid to keep it cool

I have this band saw right now and all I'm really waiting for is a blade. I tried using one from Lowes but it was terrible and I returned it

Anyone have any recommendations, it's probably too fast but I'll put a blade on and try it, I can always turn the amperage down

 

[ktmoutfront]

Turning the amperage down also reduces blade power. I have tried and have not had any luck with wood saws. My dad had one with a speed reducer on it for years. It was a mechanical unit that changed the speed through gears. Real noisy, but as with any gear ruction, supper strong. I broke many blades cutting 3/8 plate. But it worked.

 

[KansasTwister]

get yourself a milwaukee portable bandsaw! haha. Dad has like 3 or 4 now, they will outlive him, but when he finds something he likes he buys a few haha. He picked up a brand new one from someone for 200 i think.

 

[Captainfab]

One thing to think about is the average 4" x 6" horizontal bandsaws can be used in the verticle position. All the ones I've seen do anyway, and they come with a small table to bolt on too. The biggest drawback to these is the limit of the small throat depth.

I'm not familar with how the newer wood bandsaws are built, but essentially what you need to do to slow them down by adding a jack shaft with a couple of pulleys and another belt. This will reduce your blade speed down to where you can cut steel with a bi-metal blate. I know there a few writeups on the net somewhere by guys that have done this. I know there is at least one on the OFN, but I can't find it ATM.

http://www.offroadfabnet.com

BTW you can cut aluminum on a wood band saw without slowing the blade speed. You just need to watch your feed rate. It also helps to add a little coolant. Plain water will work.

 

[Captainfab]

OK I found a thread over on OFN that's about converting a wood bandsaw. There are a couple of links within the thread to other writeups on doing the same.

http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6168&highlight=Band+conversion

 

[Hosalabad]

x2 on not being able to use a wood saw on metal, unless you pulley the speed down somehow. I always thought cutting with the angle grinder was faster than the sawzall.

get yourself a milwaukee portable bandsaw! haha. Dad has like 3 or 4 now, they will outlive him, but when he finds something he likes he buys a few haha. He picked up a brand new one from someone for 200 i think.

I'm plasma-less so far and with the shop in the basement garage I'm not messing with gas torches.

Instead, I have one of these, the Milwaukee 6232 on the Swag Off Road mount. The 6232 has the variable speed wheel on it, it cuts great. I built a pedestal stand for it from some tubing with angle for feet. With that said, that's about $400 worth of stuff. I use a zip tie on the trigger and a HF foot switch on the power cord for on/off.

Here's the Swag page on it.

If you need to really wreck some plate to get it to rough dimensions, the Milwaukee 6370 8" metal cutting circular saw cuts 1/4" plate like butter. It also makes great cuts on rectangular tubing up to 2" thick, I've used in on 1/8" and 1/4" wall 2x3 and 2x8. For the 1/4" wall stuff I just raise the blade so I'm cutting in wide face at a time, the second cut just follows the kerf from the first one. Cuts so clean it looks dressed with a grinder. Protect ears and eyes when you use this thing, gloves won't hurt either.

 

[K588]

X2 on the Milwaukee 6232 and the swag offroad mount, I ordered the foot control and miter gauge also.