[TheForge] brainstorming and other thoughts on cutting sheetmetal

[terry l. ridder]

hello larry;

i tried the stacking method. i used several c-clamps to hold the stack
together. worked better than a single rose petal disk but still not
quite there. eventually, i have to remove the c-clamps because they
interfer with the table. i next tried using several neodymium
supermagnets that i had laying around. those worked better than the
c-clamps but all the metal chips and small burrs were attracted to the
disk stack. the bandsaw jammed a number of times. then there was the
problem of removing the neodymium supermagnets from the stack. the
neodymium supermagnets did solve one problem but created several new
ones.


On Mon, 30 Dec 2002, DragonsWatch wrote:

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

terrylr> "terry l. ridder" wrote:
terrylr> 
terrylr> hello steve;
terrylr> 
terrylr> i have a delta machinery metal bandsaw, nearly identical to the harbor
terrylr> freight horizontal bandsaw. i tried using a bimetal 24 tpi blade to
terrylr> rough cut the rose petal disks. that did not work well at all. there are
terrylr> not enough teeth in contact with the 24 gauge sheet metal. i have not
terrylr> found a source for 64-1/2inch x 1/2 bandsaw blades with higher tpi.
terrylr>
terrylr> 24 gauge is roughly 0.025 inches thick.
terrylr> 24 tpi is roughly one tooth every .042 inches. at best there is only one
terrylr> tooth cutting at anyone time, but there are times when no teeth are in
terrylr> contact with the material. really want at least three teeth in contact
terrylr> with the material being cut at anyone time.
terrylr>
terrylr> 16 gauge is roughly 0.0625 inches thick.
terrylr> i cannot compare this since i do not know what 'fine' teeth equates to
terrylr> in teeth per inch.
terrylr>
terrylr> so basically, been there, done that, on to trying something else.
terrylr>
terrylr> jewelers saw blade 6/0 has 76 tpi. 76 tpi is roughly one tooth every
terrylr> .013 inches. this would give at least one tooth in contact with the
terrylr> material being cut.
terrylr>

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> On Mon, 30 Dec 2002, Steve Bloom wrote:
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 ><>