[TheForge] cutting stainless (a little OT)

[ries]

Sawzall?
thats the worst for bi-metal with stainless.
the bi-metal blades are very brittle at the weld connection, where the  
harder tooth material has been welded to the softer blade/band material.
the back and forth motion of the sawzall is pretty much guaranteed to  
snap those teeth off, and as I said, once one goes, they all go.
I think you would be better off with non-bi-metal blades on a sawzall  
for stainless.
go as slow as you can, and use some kind of cutting oil.
But mostly, instead of a sawzall, I use .040 cut discs on a 4 1/2"  
grinder for cutting stainless that you cant get in the saw. The discs  
are cheaper than sawzall blades, they last a long time, and are much  
quicker and controllable, too.
You need to be careful, and wear a face sheild- sparks and grit flies,  
and, of course, they will cut flesh quicker than stainless, but in 10  
or 15 years of using em, I dont have any stiches from em.
Central carries em.

ries


On Jul 10, 2009, at 12:07 PM, Andy Gladish wrote:

Thanks!
I bet it's a speed issue, I had the sawzall speed backed way off for
cutting a36, probably way too fast still for stainless.
Blades get eaten quickest on that, then portaband (which was running on
faster speed setting), horizontal saw seems ok and wouldn't you know it?
is the slowest of the bunch.

Andy G.

On Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:58:46 -0700, ries <ries at riesniemi.com> wrote:

> how fast you going?
> Slower is probably better.
> tooth spacing?
> 3 teeth in the metal is the optimum- obviously, thats not always
> practical, but for 1/8" to about 3/4" thick material, I find the 10-14
> variable pitch lennox blades work pretty well. Thinner than 1/8", you
> need a finer blade, up past 1" or so, a coarser one.
> Are you freehand cutting, or using a horizontal band saw?
> freehand will eat saw blades the fastest, as its much easier to jam it
> in and break a tooth.
> With bi-metal blades, once one tooth goes, the rest start ripping out
> in short order.
> I find the Lennox blades last a month or so of cutting stainless, not
> all day, but a lot of cuts.
> 304 will not vary much in hardness, from annealed to fully hard, so
> its probably not a hardness/temper issue.
> I use cool tool for a lube, just cause it works on most everything- I
> use it for drilling, milling, turning, sawing, and sometimes even
> tapping, and it is relatively non-toxic.
> But cutting oil of most any type should help.
>
> ries
>
>
> On Jul 10, 2009, at 11:14 AM, Andy Gladish wrote:
>
> Yikes!
> This stainless bar is eating my saw blades!
> I only use Lenox bi metal, assumed that it would be tough enough...any
> suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
> Andy G.
> ______________________________________________________________
> TheForge mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>
> TheForge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> Password: anvil
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> Ries Niemi
> Industrial Artist
> http://www.riesniemi.com/
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> TheForge mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>
> TheForge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> Password: anvil
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html



-- 
Andy Gladish, Metal Work
Element Forge
www.ElementFe.com
Online Store at: ElementFe.Etsy.com
Email:  andy at elementfe.com
Portfolio @  elementfe.carbonmade.com
Work blog @ elementfe.blogspot.com

Benjamin Franklin said : 'So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable
creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything  
one
has a mind to do.'
______________________________________________________________
TheForge mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net

TheForge mail list group photo site is
http://www.photoaccess.com
Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
Password: anvil

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/