Bandsaw or hacksaw, that is the question

[davidcarmichael]

We have a 7x12 Horizontal / Vertical bandsaw and a DeWalt 872 cold saw (that replaced one of those awful abrasive cutoff saws - ugh!).

90% of our cuts are done on the cold saw. It's fast and does a respectable job cutting stuff that will be processed further or welded as-is.

The bandsaw is nice when used in horizontal arrangement because you can set it up and do repetitive cuts without babysitting it. And the cuts are cleaner but when you use the coolant system it flows along the stock and piddles on the floor

I had a power hacksaw long long ago but it is very slow going.

If I could have only one saw it would be the cold saw - small footprint, fast cutting, relatively good, clean accurate cuts. JMHO

Stu

Does the loss of coolant result from the stock not being level or maybe oddly shaped stock?
I don't see this issue in mine.
I have a 7x12 and also a metal cutting miter saw and a 14" metal cutting chop saw (not cold saws, just carbide blades run at low speeds). The carbide saws are very fast but they do waste a bit more stock than the band saw and are very loud.

 

[gjmontll]

@gjmontll, I don't own a HF saw but mine is similar, at least in shape. These saws can be tuned to perform quite well, and then it is the choice of blade that brings it home. Before you give up on your 4X6, I suggest you try a Lenox Diemaster 2, 10-14 variable pitch bi-metal blade for general work. This blade, at least on my saw, cuts everything from Delrin to Stainless to carbon steel to wood and does it fast and accurate. They seem to last a long time when used on a well-tuned saw. My current Lenox blade is at least 5 years old and the one before this one went even longer. You might give it a try.

Mikey, Thanks for the tip. I'll look for those Lenox blades.

 

[C-Bag]

That's what I have on my 4x6 too. Lowes actually had them for the 4x6 and my 14"! Must have been a fluke of stocking the new store as they don't have them anymore and swear they never did have them

 

[MontanaLon]

Well I ended up with the harbor freight 4x6. It's a heavy little thing. Got it assembled and played with the adjustments to get it cutting straightish and then cut 4 pieces of 1/2 plate with it. So much easier than a hand hacksaw. Definitely money well spent.

 

[Janderso]

MontanaLon,
Good for you.
I can’t believe you cut QCT holders by hand. You must be a stud.
I see plenty of hobbyists using the hf saws. I had one, it worked great.
I ended up with a Jet 7x14 coolant, auto feed. Love it.
I thought I ruined the Lennox 10-14. I-metal blade when I cut A2 steel 1x2”. It took forever, it’s in an annealed state.
Yesterday I cut some angle iron, the blade is fine. Learned something.
Be patient.

 

[matthewsx]

I guess I never expected any kind of saw to be so accurate as to not need machining if precision was what I needed. The problem with saws is if you could look into each respondents projects you'd see it depends on what you do. Big heavy long stuff, big horizontal. Never been around a functioning powered hacksaw so no opinion. Medium like tubing, shafting etc is what I was mostly doing with the HF 4x6. Then I started doing oddball and small stuff and the 4x6 was a pain.

I'm way to ADD and lazy to hacksaw anything that can be done with a machine so one of the first shop tools I got was a HF 4x6 HV saw in the early 80's. It as been a total workhorse and the only thing I've replaced is the roller guides. But I realized I was using it more and more vertical so went and found me an old 14" HF vertical wood bandsaw and converted it to cut metal and it's become my most used tool in the shop. Especially since I made an air powered sled for it so I don't have to stand there and push. I've cut chunks of 4" steel shaft, huge chunks of cast iron etc. Set up the sled to clamp the work, set the air pressure and let er go.

Hi,

Would you post some details on your "sled"?

I have a vertical saw and that sounds like something I'd like to add to it.

Thanks,

John

 

[projectnut]

If you think A2 is hard to cut you should try cutting an Inconel alloy sometime. The company I worked for used Inconel to manufacture plastic extrusion dies. The stuff was extremely hard to cut and machine. When we had to cut 6" or 8" round stock we always used a Racine power hacksaw rather than a bandsaw. Our Racine power hacksaws were the 66W4 models that could cut as slow as 35' per minute. Anything faster (the next highest speed was 60'per minute) and the material would work harden and ruin the blades. Once the stuff got work hardened it was nearly impossible to cut.. Typical time to cut an 8" round was in the several hour range. The saw would be setup at the beginning of the shift and left to run until the job was completed.

I see more recently people say they are cutting Inconel 625 at speeds as high as 70' per minute. Maybe their tooling is better, or they are willing to sacrifice longevity for speed. In any case I don't miss cutting or trying to machine the stuff

 

[davidcarmichael]

Well I ended up with the harbor freight 4x6. It's a heavy little thing. Got it assembled and played with the adjustments to get it cutting straightish and then cut 4 pieces of 1/2 plate with it. So much easier than a hand hacksaw. Definitely money well spent.

Great choice.

 

[C-Bag]

Hi,

Would you post some details on your "sled"?

I have a vertical saw and that sounds like something I'd like to add to it.

Thanks,

John

Be thrilled to. I originally got the idea from a member Frank Ford and his setup on frets.com. His had a can full of lead regulating the feed. I'm more into air and can reg feed pressure with the little pressure regulator. I found a 1/2" air cyl on eBay and mounted under the table and made a threaded stud for it to engage the end of sled slot stock. The hardest part was finding the correct size stock and it would seem different makes use different slot sizes. I ended up buying a piece of 3/4x1/2" I think ground Starrett that fastenall had. Everything else was stock I had and machined 1/4" plate for the bed and the backstop was some mystery steel I use on saw and shaper. I've ended up with a collection of clamping options I keep on HF magnets on the upper guard. This is my most used machine tool and made life so much easier.

 

[matthewsx]

Be thrilled to. I originally got the idea from a member Frank Ford and his setup on frets.com. His had a can full of lead regulating the feed. I'm more into air and can reg feed pressure with the little pressure regulator. I found a 1/2" air cyl on eBay and mounted under the table and made a threaded stud for it to engage the end of sled slot stock. The hardest part was finding the correct size stock and it would seem different makes use different slot sizes. I ended up buying a piece of 3/4x1/2" I think ground Starrett that fastenall had. Everything else was stock I had and machined 1/4" plate for the bed and the backstop was some mystery steel I use on saw and shaper. I've ended up with a collection of clamping options I keep on HF magnets on the upper guard. This is my most used machine tool and made life so much easier.

Very nice, I assume the cylinder's travel ends where the slot on your sled does? Thanks for the idea, I'll look into making one of these for my dad's old Craftsman.