[TheForge] brainstorming and other thoughts on cutting sheet metal

[terry l. ridder]

hello steve;

i have a delta machinery metal bandsaw, nearly identical to the harbor
freight horizontal bandsaw. i tried using a bimetal 24 tpi blade to
rough cut the rose petal disks. that did not work well at all. there are
not enough teeth in contact with the 24 gauge sheet metal. i have not
found a source for 64-1/2inch x 1/2 bandsaw blades with higher tpi.

24 gauge is roughly 0.025 inches thick.
24 tpi is roughly one tooth every .042 inches. at best there is only one
tooth cutting at anyone time, but there are times when no teeth are in
contact with the material. really want at least three teeth in contact
with the material being cut at anyone time.

16 gauge is roughly 0.0625 inches thick.
i cannot compare this since i do not know what 'fine' teeth equates to
in teeth per inch.

so basically, been there, done that, on to trying something else.

jewelers saw blade 6/0 has 76 tpi. 76 tpi is roughly one tooth every
.013 inches. this would give at least one tooth in contact with the
material being cut.


On Mon, 30 Dec 2002, Steve Bloom wrote:

terrylr>
terrylr> At 01:08 PM 12/30/2002 -0600, Terry L. Ridder wrote:
terrylr> [snip] since i am using 24 gauge black sheet metal cutting with an
terrylr> oxy-fuel torch is out ( unless someone out there would care to share the
terrylr> secret of cutting it with an oxy-fuel torch. ). plasma torch would be an
terrylr> option but still seems like overkill to me. a metal cutting scroll saw
terrylr> was more what i have in mind.
terrylr>

steve> 
steve> Have you considered
steve> (1)  the cheap Harbor Freight band saw ($140..$170 depending on sales)
steve> (2) with a decent base (beef up the one provided with shelving)
steve> (3)  a bimetal blade with fine teeth ($20), and
steve> (4) a sturdy vertical table (1/4" plate ~10" x 18" slotted for the blade, 
steve> welded
steve>       to an upright that clamps in the saw's jaws and is tall enough to get 
steve> the plate level with
steve>       the lower blade support) --
steve> If I can cut out knife profiles, templates out of 16 gauge black steel, 
steve> etc., it might
steve> work. Don't expect sharp curves but I've cut out copper roses on mine with 
steve> little problems
steve> other than a bit of deburring (flap wheels work nicely for that).
steve> 
steve> Steve
steve> 

-- 
Terry L. Ridder ><>