horizontal bandsaw

[PoorOwner]

use oil/lube or not? cut mild steel mostly.

seems like oil would make a mess inside.

 

[Graham08]

If your saw is not set up for flood coolant, you might try a stick lube. I got some from McMaster Carr that you rub on the blade before cutting. I use it mostly when I'm cutting solids, but it seems to do a good job of keeping the chips from jamming in between the teeth of the blade.

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[fordkid88]

I dabbed a new base for my hf 4x6 for flood coolant and it definitely helps. All of our bands saws at work have flood coolant setups and its so much smoother

 

[kazlx]

I just use a small spray bottle of WD-40 and give it a few small sprays just to keep everything moving. Aluminum, steel, titanium, stainless. It all works fine with the right speeds.

 

[Jagmandave]

I had the flood setup on mine and when cutting tubing it would flow out one end of the tube all over the floor, I had to put a bucket down at the end of the tube to catch it!

I started cutting dry and it didn't seem to matter to how long the blades lasted, but I def used it when cutting stainless tubing.

 

[lis2323]

I ditched the coolant system on my bandsaw and sold it to a guy for his mill drill. Now I use a lube stick on my import ...



And a stream of compressed air for my Ellis

 

[jh1990]

I don't bother with coolant as I don't use my bandsaw that often. I've been using STICK-KUT wax stick. I had another brand but it was way too hard and required the blade to get hot before it would flow.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

If flood coolant is a problem you can get a mist unit. They also can cause problems with a mixture of chips and mist coolant sticking to the saw. I use flood on my Horizontal and sometimes mist on my vertical.

 

[matt_i]

Set pulleys to get blade speed of 100sfm.

Be mindful of thin sections (unistruts) or sharp corners (angle iron in inverted V configuration) and lightly lift the saw head to reduce downpressure. Set dwonpressure to get steady stream of silver chippies flowing out of the cut.

Don't forget to tighten the vise. We've all done it.

You should be able to cut for 5+ years dry. The blades get wrecked long before they wear out in my experience.

Coolants present a myriad of issues. First is mess. If water based things are going to rust down somewhere you can't see it. The concentration will eventually get wonky and it can grow a crop of nasty stinky bacteria. Or dry up. Or freeze.

 

[danielbuck]

My bandsaw is setup for running coolant, but I always run it dry. And I never use lube/oil on the blade. For occasional home use (10 cuts a day?) I don't really see the need. On my old saw (smaller blade) I used to use stick wax lube on the blade, but when talking to the manufacturer of my new saw, they actually suggested NOT to use oil on the blade for general use, and had some caviots about using wax. And if I didn't want to deal with coolant, no problem running it dry, just disconnect the power to the pump. The blade is tight, very tight.

If I were in a shop running the saw for hours every day, I'd definitely be running coolant or lube of some sort. But for home shop use, I don't see the need, it's been a long time since I've dulled a blade. The last time I did, was when I accidentally tried cutting something that was very hard. Should have tested it first, it needed to be abrasive cut, not saw cut.


This was their quote:

It's not that you can't lubricate it, but the saw is designed to run without blade lubricant. The blade size is tight and additional oils and waxes can cause uneven tension on the blade. If you are going to use wax, I would just make sure to clean everything off after use to make sure no chips or wax remain on the pulleys, blade, and bearings.

 

[Farrier]

I quit using coolant. It was messy and stunk after a while. I use a small squirt bottle with cutting lube now.