Band saw selection for metal working?

[Ludachris]

Anyone know about what to look for when looking for a band saw (for cutting metals)? I've found a few on Craigslist but when I look up the specs, they seem to be only for wood.

 

[bigjdog84]

Anything that uses coolant is pretty much a good saw . However they are usually expensive.

Stay away from the fixed vertical band saws.
Horizontal gravity fed ones work pretty well, you can let it cut and walk away/do another task. The harbor freight band saw is a decent machine if adjusted properly with a good blade. If you can weld up some new sturdy legs on the machine then it's an awesome bang for the buck.

A good blade makes all the world of a difference. I've used rigid blades from HD in a pinch, but wouldn't suggest them. Morse and Lenox make nice blades.

 

[Ludachris]

I'm not interested in horizontal saws much, as I mainly want it for cutting shapes in sheet metal.

 

[snowborder714]

Homemade CNC mill

 

[Ludachris]

Homemade CNC mill

Really? How?

 

[snowborder714]

You take a mill and modify it to become a CNC mill. People sell kits for it actually. I'll send you an e-mail with some more info.

 

[turboglenn]

converting to CNC is a biut harder than everyone makes it sound..sure a few people have pieced them together for under 500 bucks but those people had half the stuff laying around... The cheapest i've been able to piece together CNC for my plasma has been about 1500 bucks to build myself...and about 10 - 15k for a full table less plasma unit.


As for converting to CnC on the mill, it's a little cheaper but by the time you've got the software, DRO setups, sterpper motors and controls for them you''re still going to be at a grand.... Look up "Jet" they make good tooling similar to HF stuff but it's actuall quality... My 4x6 bandsaw is both vertical and horizontal, you just stand it up and bolt a table to it... lots of us on the 4x6 mailing talk group have made larger tables and come up with ways to customize the saw for more duties than it would do out of the box.

If you find an affordable way to go CNC fill me in cause i've been wanting CNC for AGES!!!!!!!

ONe thing you can do that is nice is to get a "milling vise" with "x" and "y" Axi, bolt this to your drill press then use a "roughing mill" and this will allow you to hand guide the cut on materials up to 1/2 inch thick (thisis how i rough out my aliuminum BOV flanges and such. ON sheet metal i stand up my 4x6 bandsaw, lay it on my modified table and get to cutting...works good but you really need a guide.. Another thing i've done is take a table saw with a bi-metal blade and use it to riup aluminum in a straight line... I'm making a fuel cell using this method currently

 

[snowborder714]

That is true Glenn, it's not necessarily a cheap project. It all depends on if you buy stuff new or used, and what quality you get.

And I've never looked into a band saw for metal working, so I don't know what types of prices he's looking at. But I would much rather save up the money to build a CNC mill just because of all the functionality and precise control.

 

[Ludachris]

As much as I'd love a CNC mill, I'd probably only be able to do a band saw at first due to cost. And even that will have to wait I'm sure. I was just curious as to what I'd be looking for in case I came across a great deal on Craigslist.

 

[snowborder714]

Have you even touched the welder you purchased awhile back?

 

[Hal]

I have the H/F band saw with two upgrades.

1) A new base (on casters) made from 1" square steel tube
2) A large motor

It works fine for cutting billet when operated as a drop down.

It works fine for cutting sheet metal when it's upright, but it's limited throat depth means you can't make very wide pieces.

For larger stuff I clamp a long straight edge to the material and use an air powered nibbler.

If the part has curves, I'll just cut it "close" and hand finish with small diameter (2") 90 degree air sander.

If the material is too thick for the nibbler, I use a small air powered body saw (think mini-sawzall).

 

[Ludachris]

Have you even touched the welder you purchased awhile back?

Just bought the argon bottle yesterday... money has been tight.

 

[Ludachris]

I have the H/F band saw with two upgrades.

1) A new base (on casters) made from 1" square steel tube
2) A large motor

It works fine for cutting billet when operated as a drop down.

It works fine for cutting sheet metal when it's upright, but it's limited throat depth means you can't make very wide pieces.

For larger stuff I clamp a long straight edge to the material and use an air powered nibbler.

If the part has curves, I'll just cut it "close" and hand finish with small diameter (2") 90 degree air sander.

If the material is too thick for the nibbler, I use a small air powered body saw (think mini-sawzall).

Wow, a H/F band saw, huh? Good to know it words pretty Hal. Thanks for the info. Could you point out which one you have?
Harbor Freight Tools

 

[KGB Pilot125]

Wow, a H/F band saw, huh? Good to know it words pretty Hal. Thanks for the info. Could you point out which one you have?
Harbor Freight Tools

I had the 219 version that I got for 99 bucks and then I had the JET industrial version of the HF 769 version. both worked well the HF needed up grades right away and like Hal said it got stuff close. the JET saw was pretty good also with out the upgrades. If your serious about the CNC stuff I had a CNC lathe and mill from industrialhobbies.com that were awesome. you can also get a HF mill/drill/lathe combo for pretty cheap and build a ton of stuff. My dad has one in his garage that has made more shifter kart parts than I like to think about. you just have to take it apart and clean and adjust the backlash and the gears and stuff. you could even get some cheap DRO's for it and be able to make repeatable parts for cheap.

 

[Hal]

Wow, a H/F band saw, huh? Good to know it words pretty Hal. Thanks for the info. Could you point out which one you have?
Harbor Freight Tools

93762-0VGA

 

[turboglenn]

That is true Glenn, it's not necessarily a cheap project. It all depends on if you buy stuff new or used, and what quality you get.

And I've never looked into a band saw for metal working, so I don't know what types of prices he's looking at. But I would much rather save up the money to build a CNC mill just because of all the functionality and precise control.

Yea, you can get one done decently budgeted but you really have to spend time sourcing things for a good price then making them all work together....easiest is to buy a CNC conversion kit and those were a tad out of my league after the recent divorce

I have the H/F band saw with two upgrades.

1) A new base (on casters) made from 1" square steel tube
2) A large motor

It works fine for cutting billet when operated as a drop down.

It works fine for cutting sheet metal when it's upright, but it's limited throat depth means you can't make very wide pieces.

For larger stuff I clamp a long straight edge to the material and use an air powered nibbler.

If the part has curves, I'll just cut it "close" and hand finish with small diameter (2") 90 degree air sander.

If the material is too thick for the nibbler, I use a small air powered body saw (think mini-sawzall).

I use the same saw, and a lot of the same tricks...there's a newsgroup type thing called the "4x6 interest group" that can be found on mini-lathe.com It goes over all the basic and more advanced mods to make the harbor freight model work a lot better than it did from the factory

As for the lathe, mill drill combo, that is what i have now... I had a smithy brand before and after sapending countless hours "tuning and trueing" my HF one i immediately sold the smithy back off as it needed all the same mods... Mine after 10 + years has now been tuned to be so accurate that i can do VERY precision parts on it, it just requires a god bit of custom work as KGB pilot said... Some custom ball nuts, keeping the backlash in check and keeping the gibs up to snuff and so forth... with the right tooling you can use the machine to improve it's self. Mine has several mods that include longer bed stroke, split and adjustable half nuts for the compound and cross slides, also welded and re-inforced the turret for the compound then used the machine to re-true it's self and i also use it to true every attachment to the lathe/mill so that everything is in true or trammed up when it's time to operate... tonight i've been making a dial brake caliper bracket for the rear of a sportbike (for a hand brake) Just a mod that's used to keep the bike up on balance when you have your feet off the bike in a wheelie and such

just talked to a guy tonight who's willing to split half with me on a CNC mill hope to god it happens... I'm building his 91 cherokee into a turbocharged, stand alone 4WD killing machine next month and when i brought up that it would be nice to CNC some of the parts to be able to repeat and sell them the talks of him being a silent investor arose ...woohoo can't wait!!

 

[spoonman]

Harbor Freight sucks!

I recommend a vertical band saw from Craftsman, Jet, or Dake. I have the Craftsman Professional Industrial Metal Band Saw 18inch, costs around $4300 after taxes. But this saw will last a long time and can handle any job you give it.

Craftsman Professional 15 in. Wood and Metal Cutting Band Saw
This may be a better option for almost everyone else, due to the cheaper price. Still very capable. The Jet and Dake counterparts are just as good try to find one in your price range.

Horizontal band saws are useless for any precise cuts, do not buy one!

 

[ApexVIII]

Harbor Freight sucks!

I recommend a vertical band saw from Craftsman, Jet, or Dake. I have the Craftsman Professional Industrial Metal Band Saw 18inch, costs around $4300 after taxes. But this saw will last a long time and can handle any job you give it.

Craftsman Professional 15 in. Wood and Metal Cutting Band Saw
This may be a better option for almost everyone else, due to the cheaper price. Still very capable. The Jet and Dake counterparts are just as good try to find one in your price range.

Horizontal band saws are useless for any precise cuts, do not buy one!

link was not working for me

 

[Hal]

Horizontal band saws are useless for any precise cuts, do not buy one!

Why would anyone expect a precise cut out of a horizontal saw?

Where they excel is in lopping off smaller pieces of material (tube, billet, etc.) from larger pieces.

I'd rather drop it down and let it cut on it's own instead of standing there hand feeding it on a vertical saw.

Every tool has it use.

 

[Gonzo]

Horizontal band saws are useless for any precise cuts, do not buy one!

This is not true at all. Horizontal band saws are very common in automated production for a reason. When set up correctly, a horizontal band saw will make straight cuts that are much more accurate than a hand-fed vertical saw any day. The misconception of inaccurate cuts likely comes from using a saw that is either set up incorrectly or simply a poor/cheap design (such as the HF saw).

There are two major shortcomings with the HF saw. For one, it uses a spring to control the fall rate of the blade. It should be obvious why this isn't a very good solution. The "right" way to do this is with a hydraulic cylinder, as seen on most nicer saws. The HF saw's second major shortcoming is its lack of rigidity. This makes it difficult to put enough tension on the blade--you can watch the saw head flex!. The table itself flexes considerably, which obviously makes it hard to make an accurate cut. Both of these shortcomings can be largely fixed, but at that point you'll probably have enough time and money into it to justify the purchase of a nicer saw in the first place. Still, some like to tinker, and if you flex your Google Fu there are plenty of sites that will describe the essential HF band saw mods.

Rather than add to my neverending list of 'mod' projects, I elected to spend a bit more money and get exactly what I wanted. I found a larger reconditioned horizontal saw with with coolant and hydraulic feed on eBay, and I won it as the only bidder for the same price as the HF saw. Freight added 150 to the cost; but having used a HF cheapo saw for years, I can tell you that it was well worth the additional cost. Since then, I've put it to use cutting everything from 2.5" 304SS bar stock blanks for a semiconductor wafer fab to 2x4 aluminum sections for a trailer platform, not to mention all the obvious IC/intake/exhaust piping uses. After making a cut, the most I have to do is deburr the edge with a hand deburr tool. Worth every penny.

Like Hal said, every tool has its use. My horizontal saw makes great cuts, but it's pretty much limited to doing cutoffs. I chose horizontal over vertical because it's a simple matter to lock the saw in its vertical position and attach a platform (as with the HF saw). To each his own, but I feel the horizontal saw is more versatile. One big downside (no pun intended) is the size--a horizontal saw has a much larger footprint, which means it's not a good idea if your garage area is space limited.

Now, if I could just afford to have a cold cutting saw sitting around...

Edit:

Back to Chris' original question, since I haven't seen this mentioned: the blade speed for cutting metal is much, much slower than cutting wood. Stay away from saws that claim to be "wood/metal" if your primary use will be cutting metal. You need a saw that is geared for metal speeds, which can be identified by the squarish bevel gear box attached to one of the blade wheels or the simple fact that the motor is mounted transverse to the rotation of the wheel.

If you're going to be cutting thin materials, it's important that you have enough of the blade in contact with the material at any given moment--if not, you'll snap the teeth off the blade and wear it out prematurely. A common trick is to place a 1/4" piece of sacrificial material under the piece you're cutting when using a vertical band saw. It can be just about any type of material, including wood or plastic.

I can supply some more helpful tips for band saws if anyone's interested.

 

[Rob10_99]

damnit Gonzo, how do I fix my HF saw?

 

[Gonzo]

damnit Gonzo, how do I fix my HF saw?

You'll need to be more specific.

As turboglenn suggested, start here: Yahoo 4x6 Interest Group