[TheForge] Band saw

[ries]

All used tools are different.
And depending on where you live, there may be lots of great deals on  
used $10,000 industrial saws for $100, or there may be no used  
equipment at all.
So if you have some specific saws you are looking at, then let us know  
what they are.
Generally, there are two kinds of bandsaw- horizontal and vertical.
A vertical bandsaw is like the wood cutting saws- primarily for  
cutting sheet.
Good brands include Do-All and Grob, and older Powermatics, among  
others.

For a blacksmith/fab shop, I find a horizontal saw a lot handier- you  
can usually tilt them up, and cut some sheet metal, and then use them  
to cut pipe, bar, angle, round, and so on, turning them on and leaving  
them to gravity cut and turn themselves off when they are done.

I consider a taiwanese 4x6 horizontal bandsaw to be as essential as a  
4 1/2" grinder in a metal shop- we have two, along with a bigger 7x10,  
and we use em every day.
We tilt em up, sit down on the saw, and freehand cut sheet metal,  
(within the size restrictions of the throat size) up to 1/2" plate, we  
freehand notch and miter stuff, and then we run em for hours on end  
using length stops to cut hundreds of identical parts in every metal,  
all kinds of profiles, and sizes.
I like Jet, myself- mine have been ready to run right out of the box,  
with made in Taiwan motors, (dont know if they still do this) no  
adjustments to speak of. I have a 3 man shop, we do mostly stainless,  
and we run those little suckers for years on end. I run Lennox  
Diemaster 2 bimetal blades, and blade might last 3 or 4 weeks of  
stainless fab.
They run anywhere from as cheap as $150 or so for a no name, all  
chinese bottom feeder, to about $475 for a Jet- and to me, the extra  
cost is well worth it- the jets have better bearings, motors, real  
bolts, they cut pretty square, can be adjusted, and last me years and  
years.

I consider a $500 tool to be a consumable, though, the amount we use em.
A real, industrial bandsaw, new, can easily run you $10,000 to $30,000  
or more for a nice new auto feed Amada- so a few hundred bucks for  
such a versatile tool is a real bargain.

Ries


On Aug 29, 2008, at 11:39 AM, jim poulmas wrote:

Hi all,
I'm looking to get a band saw but many that I've seen are for wood.
(I'm talking used stuff here.) I've heard that if you get the right
blade and a low enough speed that it doesn't matter. I'm not cutting
anything except sheet metal and maybe some .5" square. Any
suggestions?
Thanks,
Jim
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/