Replies

1. 
   KeithNewton | May 06, 2005 07:13am | #1

   I don't cut steel on mine, but I have cut aluminum up to about 5/8" and brass at 3/8" at full speed without problems. I keep the blade lubricated with a stick of parfin.

   I know the metal saws are slower, but that does not mean that higher speed will not work.

1. 
   BarryO | May 06, 2005 09:50am | #2

   Do you use the same blades for this as for wood?

   I have some thin brass to cut, so I was wondering.

1. 
   KeithNewton | May 06, 2005 04:55pm | #6

   Yes the blades that I use are for metal, and yes they will cut wood just fine. But if the blade is for wood, it may not hold up for metal.

1. 
   forestgirl | May 08, 2005 08:22pm | #11

   Mr. Burl, re: BarryO's question about cutting thin brass.  Would it be OK to sandwich the brass between some plywood and cut it using the tablesaw? forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   KeithNewton | May 08, 2005 11:27pm | #12

   Yes. If you just have a little to cut occasionaly, you can use your triple chip low hook blade for PB with good results. As I'm sure you have noticed in your blade catalog, that the ones for metal usually have at least a -5 degree hook.
   Having a back-up board is good, but probably no better than a zero-clerance insert. If you are feeding against the fence, it may be hard to feed a sandwich of 3 parts without some shifting, unless you have them all screwed or taped together.
   A 3 part sandwich on a sled does work good though.

2. 
   philip | May 06, 2005 11:16am | #3

   You can cut mild steel with your Delta 14 inch band saw provided:-
   1)You get the blade to move at around 50 to 80feet per minute. Some simple mathematics will tell you the rpm required on the drive band wheel to get that.
   2)You need to use a metal cutting blade, and not too wide , certainly not more than 10mm- for a light weight machine like this a 6mm blade is O.K. Metal cutting requires much more tension on the blade, so because you have wood working b/s the frame is not really engineered for very high tensions- the wider the blade the more tension required.
   3)A
   minimum of 3 teeth must be in contact with the work.
   4) For cutting brass you need to run the blade at around 300 fpm- this will do for aly but in theory it requires a higher speed than brass, but still substantially slower than wood speeds.
   5)Lubrication-paraffin or watersoluable oil helps for steel and aly, but brass and cast iron should run dry. Not all cast iron can be cut by the ordinary metal cutting b/s blade
   6)With reference to (1) arriving at the right speed using pulleys is not really practical, but a simple way to do it is to use reduction gear box such as a Radicon, with a ratio of 20:1 or even 40:1.
   The above gives only a general outline.You can cut non ferrous stuff at woodworking fpm, using a metal cutting blade, but it will very soon lose set and or teeth and die .
   I used to make hunting knives and I cut 6mm high carbon steel (gauge plate) using a b/s similar to yours. Obviously the steel was in it's annealed state.It was not ideal, mainly because the machine could not get the tension required so it was slow- but I made about 200 knives like that.
   You don't say what metals,quantity and thickness you want to attack, so in a nut shell I say Reduce fpm, increase tension to max your saw will tolerate and get the correct blade- and don't expect to do a lot of this as the saw is after all only a wood cutter.
   America being the land of plenty (and cheap) goodies, you could think about getting one of those horizontal metal cutting band saws-at least it is designed to do a job of metal cutting.
   Hope this helps.
   P.S. I only use metal cutting b/s blades for wood working- they last far longer and give smooth cuts, and I can cut a range of things not easily cut by the wood cutting blades. If tight radius is an issue then I change to a narrower blade.

1. 
   MarkRD | May 06, 2005 03:14pm | #4

   Another concern is that if the blad gets too hot it will melt the rubber tires so do slow it down...Mark

   Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.

3. 
   Manchild | May 06, 2005 03:32pm | #5

   I've cut steel with an old dull blade. It's just for a small amount of cutting. The blade is gone anyway so you burn through the steel. I never got it so hot as to melt the tires but i guess you couold if you got over eager.

   It puts pieces of steel, brass, or what have you on the tire so it's a good idea to clean up them afterward.

1. 
   philip | May 07, 2005 12:13am | #9

   If it's just for a small amount of cutting it would be better to use a hacksaw, instaed of making a lot of noise and mess, changing blades , to say nothing of the mis-use of your machine.
   That method is barely acceptable when one has to drill hard steel, and there is no other option.
   Also, if the blade is "gone anyway" it will most likely break-potential for machine and self damage.
   Sorry, I come from a background where machines and tools were scarce and expensive so I treat them with respect.

1. 
   Lilshaver | May 07, 2005 11:47pm | #10

   What David is referring to is called friction cutting. This is a rather interesting process but I never have found it works all that well. One has to run the blade speed high like for wood then use a lot of feed pressure. This is a cutting method for steel only as I understand it. Essentially what is happening is a lot of heat is generated and the steel is oxidized. The cut can be pretty clean. I would not advise this to be used on any bandsaw that will ever be used again for wood. I modified a 14" Delta to cut steel. I employed two jack-shafts to get the speed reduced to about 200 ft/min. This is high for steel but one only is sacrificing blade life at this point and I still get my money's worth. The saw is now very contaminated with metal so wood isn't an option anymore. I've used this for the past 15 years and so far so good. I should point out that the saw doesn't get daily use, not by a long shot. I'm a speciality fabricator and use a variety of processes and materials, only one of which is steel. I had this saw as an extra, so chose to modify it rather than buy a "real" steel cutting bandsaw.Jeff

4. 
   SawdustSteve | May 06, 2005 05:04pm | #7

   If you're cutting thin brass, copper or aluminum, use a blade with a high tooth count (14TPI or higher). Hot-glue the metal to a larger piece of solid wood. Cut SLOWLY. The wood acts as an 'absolute zero' zero clearance throatplate. If you plan to cut a lot of metal, look in the McMaster or MSC catalog for metal cutting bandsaw blades. They should be run at a slower speed but will work in a pinch on standard speed bandsaws. After you're finished cutting metal, CAREFULLY clean out the bandsaw. Brass, copper and aluminum do not pose a fire hazard but the small metal chips are a real pain in the fingers.
   SawdustSteve

1. 
   MarkRD | May 06, 2005 05:08pm | #8

   Great idea gluing the metal to wood. Never would have come up with that. Mark

   Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.

5. 
   bladeburner | May 09, 2005 04:50pm | #13

   When I cut metal or cherry, I place packing tape (clear stuff) along the cut line and cut through it. Helps take heat from the blade.

   Joe