Metal Band Saw Blades

I know of no tabletop metal cutting bandsaws, what.can be done is to take a porta band and fashion a stand and table allowing it to be used as a vertical band saw.
 
Craftsman used to make a tabletop vertical bandsaw I believe but of course no longer available new.

Many guys go with a portaband & use a Swag Offroad table or build their own. Swag Offroad offers tables for Milwaukee & Dewalt portable saws & even the HF one I think.

There are table top horizontal bandsaws. I'm not sure how good they are though. I'd rather get a 4x6 horiz bandsaw or the portaband/Swag setup.
 
Eddyde said:
It’s possible but not with a single phase ac motor. It can be done with a 3 phase motor and a VFD (though still might need some further reduction) or a DC motor and a PWM speed controller (like a treadmill motor). Unfortunately there is no super easy way to do it.
Click to expand...


What about this? I've used these on numerous tools before.


41rytYLD2wL.jpg
 
darkzero said:
Craftsman used to make a tabletop vertical bandsaw I believe but of course no longer available new.

Many guys go with a portaband & use a Swag Offroad table or build their own. Swag Offroad offers tables for Milwaukee & Dewalt portable saws & even the HF on I think.

There are table top horizontal bandsaws. I'm not sure how good they are though. I'd rather get a 4x6 horiz bandsaw or the portaband/Swag setup.
Click to expand...


You guys are correct on always being happy to help everybody here spend money. Ordered this item within 30 seconds of reading your post. :rolleyes:
 
Dhal22 said:
What about this? I've used these on numerous tools before.


View attachment 313277
Click to expand...

Nope. Those things only work on universal DC motors. Generally if the motor doesn't have brushes it won't work.

Converting a wood bandsaw to metal has been a common subject covered many times. A simple motor change or pulley change is usually not enough to get the speeds down. Usually have to resort in some kind of speed reduction assy. Can find many conversions that have been done online.
 
Dhal22 said:
What about this? I've used these on numerous tools before.


View attachment 313277
Click to expand...
Like Will said, it only works for brushed motors, also the motor won't have much torque at the very low speed you would need to cut steel. I know from having traveled down the same path. Here is a link to my bandsaw conversion:
www.hobby-machinist.com

Bandsaw speed reducer build.

Hi All, I recently picked up a nice mid 50's vintage, Boice Crane, 14" vertical bandsaw. It has a three phase motor so I figured I'd simply throw a VFD on it and be able to get down to metal cutting speeds, wrong!... The motor is rated at 1150 rpm and running it at 15hz only gets the blade down...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
As for a small tabletop bandsaw, the best for conversion are the older ones, I have a 3 wheel Craftsman (King Seally) that is converted for metal cutting, it runs between 100 and 400 FPM and I have cut 2" aluminum and 1" steel on it. It has a 1/4HP motor, a countershaft and a variable speed pulley. I picked it up for $45 at an antique store and rebuilt the drive (it was set up for metal, but the countershaft was too small and bent). I think the motors on the newer tabletop bandsaws are more integrated and would be more difficult to build a countershaft setup for. Two wheel bandsaws are better for blade life, but lack the throat capacity of a 3 wheel of the same general size. For any small bandsaw you want to get the thinnest blades you can, for bi-metal thats .025. My blades still fatigue out before they get dull (they start breaking every few minutes of work), but it works until I get a larger bandsaw. You might also want to think about a jig for silver soldering the blades, it's very handy to be able to break the blade, run it through the work, solder it back together and then cut out a interior shape, then break it again for removal.
 
The brushes started to act up in this well used HF portable. I got it to work fairly good and mounted it to a board. Its now held in the mill vise when not in the way. Got another HF one (Bauer).
 

Attachments

  • DSCF4167.JPG
    DSCF4167.JPG
    2.7 MB · Views: 19
darkzero,
Swag has a model that fits my Milwaukee 6242-6 hand-held band saw so I ordered it...
Problem solved. It's awesome. Just need a second vise now because my saw is the smaller model and the Swag table for it doesn't come with legs so I clamp it in my vise. I know I could build legs but I really like the idea of it being rock steady in the vise and having another vise can't be a bad idea.

Thanks again everyone, very much appreciated.
Mike.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top