Seeking blade rec.

[Clock work]

Greetings...

You know how you get way WAY behind in must-kill projects because you have to fix three things to make the thing you need to do one of them, as new projects arrive faster than you're killing them... and critical functionality fails faster than you fan fix it... and oh yea, you keep discovering essential skills/knowledge you don't actually have? I wish I was up to being THAT guy!!

So.. WW1 had Gavrillo Princip... and my recent thoughts of towers and rifles and perfecting an evil laugh and writing manifestos have my horizontal bandsaw blade snapping late last night in the foggy chaos of battle. Oh look... more projects are walking up the driveway that need me to do them.. of course Anyway.. I go looking into blade selection and we're talking more than a small number of independent variables driving a good decision. You know that look on Dave's face at the end of 2001 when all the lights are flying by? I do.

So I believe if I had a week to (oh... here come some more) to work this problem, I could almost sound not-stupid (RIGHT!) but I'm curious... is there just a "good enough" I can order and slap on this thing and keep moving for now, and optimize later? It's a 68" blade... 1/2"... I'm PURE hack... most of what I cut is mystery steel... 60%.. maybe 25% aluminum... the rest a mix of stainless/brass/Delrin on top of that. 0.625 - 1.5" typical stock but I have some up-to-5" cast iron and aluminum in there too. Hoping I can "tap" into (before I "die"... LOL) the significant experience and judgment of others who have done the work (ouch.. this does not reflect well on me) to come up with a decent all around not-total-failure choice.

Odd... I keep ringing the bell on my desk to summon my wife to bring me another coffee... I don't think she can hear it. Does no one respect the concept of the broken arrow any more???

CW

 

[wcunning]

Two questions:

1) Do you *ever* cut thin things the thin way with this saw? If not, then it's pretty easy. If you do cut things thinner than about 1/2", you'll want a separate blade for the thin stuff.

2) Does your saw have a hydraulic infeed/downfeed cylinder? If not, then it's not as easy.

Roughly you want something like a 4-6 variable pitch raker tooth blade with a decent wax lubricant stick. I upgraded from a little 4x6 to a bigger saw with hydraulic feed, and that means I can run the course pitch blade on thin stock because it can't catch a whole tooth gullet worth of material in one go. Generally you need 3 teeth in contact with the work, maybe a few more if you're using a gravity feed saw instead of a hydraulic feed.

As far as manufacturer goes, I've tried both Simmonds and Lenox and I haven't had a problem with either one. Your call on price and such.

Good Luck,
Will

 

[Clock work]

Two questions:

1) Do you *ever* cut thin things the thin way with this saw? If not, then it's pretty easy. If you do cut things thinner than about 1/2", you'll want a separate blade for the thin stuff.

2) Does your saw have a hydraulic infeed/downfeed cylinder? If not, then it's not as easy.

Roughly you want something like a 4-6 variable pitch raker tooth blade with a decent wax lubricant stick. I upgraded from a little 4x6 to a bigger saw with hydraulic feed, and that means I can run the course pitch blade on thin stock because it can't catch a whole tooth gullet worth of material in one go. Generally you need 3 teeth in contact with the work, maybe a few more if you're using a gravity feed saw instead of a hydraulic feed.

As far as manufacturer goes, I've tried both Simmonds and Lenox and I haven't had a problem with either one. Your call on price and such.

Good Luck,
Will

Hey thanks taking the time Will... truly appreciated and immensely helpful. This is me going to order something that meets those specs............ you take care. Because you'll hear from my attorney if...... aww... nah. Thanks man!

CW

 

[Dave Smith]

CW--if you just snapped your blade and the teeth are still good and not worn out---I just silver solder mine back together and it only takes half hour if you keep your torch and silver solder handy--they work good again until you need to buy a new one--a small blade holder to position and hold blade while you solder it is easy to make, and help you do a professional job---Dave

 

[BaronJ]

Hi Guys,

I'm sure I've seen a Utube video on that subject recently.

 

[Groundhog]

I have a 4x6 Harbor Fright saw with no hydraulic down-feed. I cut anything that will fit in the saw without changing blade, speed or down-pressure just because I'm lazy.
I use a Lenox Diemaster 2 Vari-Tooth , 10/14 teeth per inch (might be 8/12 though).
I squirt a little Tap Magic Cutting Fluid on anything metal and go away until the part hits the floor.

Works good as far as I'm concerned.