[TheForge] brainstorming and other thoughts on cutting sheetmetal

[DragonsWatch]

So Terry,
    Have you considered stacking several plates of stock together to increase the
thickness being cut?  Maybe use some double sided masking tape to bond the sheets
together while cutting which may also act to cushion the steel and lessen vibration.
Just a thought.

Larry

"terry l. ridder" wrote:

> 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 ><>
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