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I bought a bi-metal bandsaw blade from Olson for my bandsaw a while ago. It seemed to work great on aluminum and it cut perfectly. But then I tried to cut some steel with it and that is when all went downhill. I learned pretty quickly that the speed of the bandsaw on the power stand is far too fast to cut metal with. This was not an issue with the soft aluminum but when switching to a ferrous metal the blade just smoked in nothing flat and I knew it was instantly doomed. So now I have a bi-metal blade that wouldn't cut through a stick of butter. Lesson learned but how can I use the bandsaw to cut metal if i cannot lower the speed of the blade??? Are there different pulleys that can be installed on the power station to slow it down? This is the non-adjustable power stand not sure of the actual name but the one with just a motor and power switch basically. I would love to be able to slow it down enough to cut some metal as i have many occasions to cut metal stuff. Even if I mounted it in the Mark V I can still only get it down to ~750 rpm and that is still too fast for metal cutting correct? Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

wannabewoodworker wrote:I bought a bi-metal bandsaw blade from Olson for my bandsaw a while ago. It seemed to work great on aluminum and it cut perfectly. But then I tried to cut some steel with it and that is when all went downhill. I learned pretty quickly that the speed of the bandsaw on the power stand is far too fast to cut metal with. This was not an issue with the soft aluminum but when switching to a ferrous metal the blade just smoked in nothing flat and I knew it was instantly doomed. So now I have a bi-metal blade that wouldn't cut through a stick of butter. Lesson learned but how can I use the bandsaw to cut metal if i cannot lower the speed of the blade??? Are there different pulleys that can be installed on the power station to slow it down? This is the non-adjustable power stand not sure of the actual name but the one with just a motor and power switch basically. I would love to be able to slow it down enough to cut some metal as i have many occasions to cut metal stuff. Even if I mounted it in the Mark V I can still only get it down to ~750 rpm and that is still too fast for metal cutting correct? Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

There is a sawdust session where Nick talks about using the speed reducer on the other side of the headstock to slow down the bandsaw. 700 rpm is way too fast from what I understand.

Hi,

You might want to read up on what your blade was designed to cut, not all blades are for mild steel....

olsonsaw.com

I too recall the video Nick did on the speed reducer and bandsaw combo. The rpm can go down to about 100 that way, but, you will need to get to the lineal speed the blade is traveling at, which I think was also covered.

Ed

wannabewoodworker wrote: Even if I mounted it in the Mark V I can still only get it down to ~750 rpm and that is still too fast for metal cutting correct? Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

The Speed Reducer on a Mark will get you to 100 RPM and on a PowerPro down to 35 RPM. I just sold mine, did not think I needed to go that slow for anything I do.

To go from RPM to LFPM go here and when you find the answer please post here for the rest of us.

I think the math works out to 2.87 ft per minute (FPM) for every RPM, but I could be way off.

I understand a typical metal bandsaw runs at 120 FPM so even with a PowerPro you would still need a speed reducer to get to that speed.

This thread discusses another way to slow down a bandsaw:
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... dsaw+speed

Scroll way down.

So has anyone actually done the pulley arrangement deal and how does it work in practices? I would think you could get the parts relatively cheap compared to a speed reducer.

The PowrPro and a Speed Reducer is excellant for lower speeds. However, I made what I called a "Poor Man's Speed Reducer/Increaser" many years ago for aluminum and metal cutting.

I took a Gilmer Drive headstock and removed the broken Gilmer belt. I installed a 1 1/2" OD V-belt pulley (machined ID to 5/8") on the idler shaft and the largest V-belt pulley (around 8"-9" OD) that had a long hub on the drive sleeve shaft that would fit. I installed a second set screw on the larger pulley's hub side that did not have one. I used a 5/8" ID to 3/4" OD insert drilled for the set screws. I used a link belt and added a 5/8" OD stub shaft (hub end of the Drive Sleeve) to the top pulley so I could still drive a SPT. I believe this gave me around 200 RPM at the slowest speed.

I had removed the belt housing when first using this set-up but put it back on later. It was not a pretty sight but worked. I had planned to make a belt guard for these pulleys but never got around to it. I reversed the pulleys and used the headstock to check the quill and drive sleeve bearings at 12,000-15,000 RPM until they got real noisely. I tried several makes of bearings trying to determine the best bearing for higher speeds.

I used this headstock to drive my bandsaw which I used to cut aluminum and metal material. I finally brought 2 metal cutting bandsaws, one for steel and one for aluminum. Then, I sold the headstock after 5 years of use to a customer to use for bowl turning.

There is another method of cutting thin steel that uses a high speed toothless blade to actually heat the point of the cut hot enough to melt a cut through the steel. I have only used it with a circular blade on a hand held power saw to cut steel roofing. Very noisy, lots of hot sparks but does a decent job. The wheel is cooled some by the spinning but the edge stays hot enough to do the melt job.
I have read about using a bandsaw the same way but have absolutely no first hand experience doing it. It might actually require a bandsaw without rubber tires. I have many other ways to cut steel so I never pursued it. Some Google searching may yield more info than you want.

.

You could try these guys

http://www.evolutionpowertools.co.uk/us/index.html

I don't know if it is available in the US, but they have a multi purpose blade that is quite incredible to watch.

If any of you guys cut wood with nails in it this is the saw blade for you.

The way it cuts wood, mild steel, tiles etc... is interesting.

h-bomb wrote:You could try these guys

http://www.evolutionpowertools.co.uk/us/index.html

I don't know if it is available in the US, but they have a multi purpose blade that is quite incredible to watch.

If any of you guys cut wood with nails in it this is the saw blade for you.

The way it cuts wood, mild steel, tiles etc... is interesting.

Pretty cool but no bandsaw stuff that I could find so not much help.