Band Saw Blade?

[Lucid Moments]

So I inherited a Delta 14" band saw (28-275) from my father a while back. I was letting a friend hold it for me until I got my shop built. Shop was finished back in Sept. and I am now getting around to setting the band saw up.

My buddy that was holding it for me was using it (as agreed) and had it set up for cutting scales for knives so wood and some tight radius curves.

I have already changed the pulley on the motor to a smaller pulley to slow the blade down and got a new belt on it. Now I need to buy a blade.

I have never owned a band saw before so I am learning all of this as I go along. Does anyone have a recommendation on where to buy band saw blades, and what blade to buy? I will mostly be cutting mild steel and maybe some aluminum.

To be honest I don't really need a band saw, but I have it so I want to be able to use it if I want to use it.

As always I appreciate any advice.

 

[darkzero]

I like Lenox bi-metal blades. Irwin & Bahco blades are ok too but I prefer Lenox. Never tried any Starrett bandsaw blades. I buy mine from the local MSC but I get a discount on them plus picking up local saves me on shipping costs.

I didn't look up the model but is that bandsaw for wood or metal or both? If it's a wood bandsaw the speeds may be too fast for metal. Aluminum might be ok but not steel. You'll burn up blades if it's a wood bandsaw cutting steel often.

 

[The Cobbler]

Tubalcain did a series on youtube a while ago on converting a wood bandsaw to a metal cutting . he basically gave up because he couldn't get the blade speed reduced enough withought a proper speed reduction gearbox

 

[Lucid Moments]

The saw was purchased for use on wood so I am sure that is how it was set up. I know it needs to be slowed down and have already started on that process. It had a 3" (I believe) pulley on the motor, and I have swapped that out for the smallest pulley I could find. I don't remember the size. I suppose I should do some research and actually figure out how fast that makes the blade, but is going to require some serious research.

Thing is that my needs are minimal enough that I wouldn't buy a saw. I will look up the video by Tublacain and see what I can learn from it though.

 

[Indexmill]

That saw uses a blade that is 93-1/2" long.

 

[Lucid Moments]

Found his videos, but he is doing lots of stuff I won't fool with and I may kill myself if I have to listen to him blather on any more.

 

[Lucid Moments]

That saw uses a blade that is 93-1/2" long.

Found that already, but there are a lot more variables. Blade material, blade width, tooth count etc.

 

[The Cobbler]

fair enough, but he did do several where he tried to slow the blades with step pulleys , DC motors etc. he came to the conclusion that unless you used reduction gear box, you can't get the speed slow enough.
not saying it cannot be done, just an FYI. Here's hoping your conversion works nice!

 

[darkzero]

I had a hard time watching Mr Pete at first too. But over the years I've gotten used to him. Keep in mind that he used to be a machine shop teacher & is pretty old now. He is highly respected in the YT machinists community.

As mentioned by Cobbler, a simple pulley change won't bring the speed down slow enough. If you search online you'll find that many people have converted 14" bandsaws for metal. Most of them used some sort of geabox reduction.

At the least you may be able to do it with a drive pulley change, motor, & vfd.

 

[MJK]

Most vertical bandsaws are designed for cutting wood and softer materials at something like 3000ft/min travel, including some aluminum. Just a quick google search of the model number you posted suggests that your bandsaw is one of these.

There were some Delta models that had a ~10:1 reduction gearbox and pulleys that allowed for the MUCH slower blade speeds for cutting steel. Attached are the guidelines for blade speeds and setups for some different materials for one of these machines.

Word of advice, if you DO plan on using this for both wood/plastics/flammables and also aluminum or metals I would clean out the former REALLY WELL before attempting to do the latter for fear of fire.

 

[Lucid Moments]

Most vertical bandsaws are designed for cutting wood and softer materials at something like 3000ft/min travel, including some aluminum. Just a quick google search of the model number you posted suggests that your bandsaw is one of these.

There were some Delta models that had a ~10:1 reduction gearbox and pulleys that allowed for the MUCH slower blade speeds for cutting steel. Attached are the guidelines for blade speeds and setups for some different materials for one of these machines.

Word of advice, if you DO plan on using this for both wood/plastics/flammables and also aluminum or metals I would clean out the former REALLY WELL before attempting to do the latter for fear of fire.

Thanks for the chart, that is going to be a real help.

Again, I know it was set up for wood. No question about that. I didn't realize quite how much I was going to have to slow it down. Oh well, it will give me a project to fool around with. I may end up with something that isn't ideal, but able to do the little bit I am likely to do.

 

[Lucid Moments]

Okay I am doing some math here and need somebody to check me.

Motor speed is 1725rpm according to the data plate on the motor.
The original drive pulley was 1.25"
The original driven pulley is 3.75"

So with the 1.25" pulley spinning at 1725 rpm that puts the 3.75" pulley spinning at 575 rpm. Correct? And since the 14" pulley for the blade that is on the same shaft with the 3.75" pulley that puts my blade speed at 25,289.8 inches per minute or 2,107.5 feet per minute.

Does all of that seem right?

 

[The Cobbler]

it seems right .
I think metal wants something like 300 ft/m ?

 

[darkzero]

The fastest speed on my horizontal bandsaw is 255 fpm & the slowest is 90 fpm. Depends on the material of course but I usually run mine between 140-200 fpm. Can get away with a bit more speed on a vertical bandsaw.

 

[zkling]

Of all the dead horses, this poor horse has been beaten far too long.

Sad to know that tubalcain didn't know the basics before going down that road. A bit surprising really.

OP, buy a gear box and a love joy.

 

[Lucid Moments]

Yea, jeebus. I have already gone down to a 0.75" drive pulley which brings me down to 1264 fpm, but that is as small as I think I am likely to find. Unless I put the belt directly on the shaft? 3/8" drive shaft anyone? That would get me down to 632 fpm. But somehow I don't think that is terribly practical.

Damn. I just dove into this without thinking too much since I had the saw. Need to start engaging the brain.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

Save your time, buy a metal bandsaw.

Most vertical bandsaws are designed for cutting wood and softer materials at something like 3000ft/min travel, including some aluminum. Just a quick google search of the model number you posted suggests that your bandsaw is one of these.

There were some Delta models that had a ~10:1 reduction gearbox and pulleys that allowed for the MUCH slower blade speeds for cutting steel. Attached are the guidelines for blade speeds and setups for some different materials for one of these machines.

Word of advice, if you DO plan on using this for both wood/plastics/flammables and also aluminum or metals I would clean out the former REALLY WELL before attempting to do the latter for fear of fire.

Even cutting steel with a 3HP 24" bandsaw with a 6 Tooth blade, there is no way in hell I could ever make enough heat to spark up any dust down below at an appropriate SFM. I'd say that is quite an unrealistic concern. As far as the fear part goes, I'd recommend a fire extinguisher and some SVSeeker videos.

 

[MushCreek]

Good on you for doing the math (and knowing how to). I'd search ebay for a suitable gear reducer, then take lots of pics as you fab up a mount, and share it with others. It's not rocket science. Seems like I saw a video somewhere of a set-up someone did so they could switch back and forth between wood speeds and metal speeds.

 

[matt_i]

100sfm is a good place to start for metal cutting. One can go faster but it eats the consumables you are paying for at a faster rate.

Based on your calculation of 2000 sfm you need roughly 20:1 reduction. That can't be accomplished by a single stage v-belt reduction (iow its like a 1" sheave driving a 20" sheave and as far as I know neither of those are available in a "B" section belt). Even in 2 stages its asking a lot. SQRT(20) gives you 2 stages of 4.4:1, which would be something like a double set of 2" sheave driving a 9" sheave and with a "compound setup" where the 2" and 9" are mounted-on and keyed-to the same shaft. Lots of bearings and moving parts when you consider that all of the v-belts need a way to tension them enough to get traction. There isn't a lot of frictional traction on a 2" sheave...

The suggestion to obtain a 20:1 gear reduction box would seem simpler to integrate.

 

[RTM]

When you do get it slowed down, or decide to keep it for wood, here is where I get my bandsaw blades. I used their Diemaster for Wood working. They custom make to your needs. I don’t know specifics about metal cutting blades, other than what I buy for the PortaBand.

http://www.spectrumsupply.com/band-saw-blades.aspx

 

[Gasgt1]

Tubalcain/ Mr Pete was my shop teacher in high school.
I still see him around and at auctions on occasion.
He is a great guy

 

[darkzero]

Tubalcain/ Mr Pete was my shop teacher in high school.
I still see him around and at auctions on occasion.
He is a great guy

That's awesome!

 

[The Cobbler]

He would have been a great teacher. My metalshop teacher was OK, but the better your project was, the tougher he marked you .
no one failed, no one got over 80 .