Saws, bandsaws, hack saws, etc

As a reference, here is a chart of recommended speeds for cutting metal on a bandsaw with a bimetal blade. This information is taken from the commercial website sawblade.com. Additionally, here is a chart from the commercial website bladeserpent.com, which gives blade speeds for a number of nonferrous metals:

I've been quite happy with my horizontal bandsaw for cutoff work, but I've been thinking that a vertical bandsaw would be convenient for lots of other tasks. One option that's occurred to me is to take a smallish bandsaw (like this 10" benchtop model from my local FB Marketplace: ) and using a gear reducer (like this one from my favorite industrial surplus place: ) to get the blade speed down to between 150 and 250 feet per minute. Any thoughts?

While cutting the 4x4 square tubing for my power hammer build, I got the blade square to the tube, but the up-down cut was off by at least 1/16". It's not a big deal when cutting thin stock, but that's a lot of steel go grind off on thicker stock if you need it to be square. I thought the issue of the blade's plan of travel not being perpendicular to the surface of the vice area was because of a casting or milling errors. While changing my bandsaw blade, I noticed these mounting screws that attach the backside of the bandsaw assembly itself to the spring loaded arm that is attached to the frame. I inserted a couple of thick washers (ground into a U-shape so I cou…

I'm looking at buying a used MSC bandsaw. I can't seem to find much information about the company. How do they fare in quality compared to other brands? Thanks,

Saw these about a year ago and wanted one bad. They were out of stock every time I went there. Finally went there looking for ratchet straps to help haul home some sliding boards for the kids and thought to look and they had them. They went up about $20. But still worth it vs. the alternative. I have a bauer corded hand held saw and the milwaukee. It will work for both and has brackets to fit hercules, bauer, milwaukee and dewalt. I set mine up for the table to cut for frederick crosses and other cuts. It is well built and heavy gauge. Not flimsy junk. Just sharing incase anyone might find use in it. You would have to remove the table to change a blade. …

The old Craftsman 10" horizontal bandsaw I've been bringing back online was working great until earlier today, when the rubber tire on the drive wheel slipped off. Looks like it's in decent shape, and I'm planning to put it back on. Does anyone have any recommendations about specific adhesives to help keep it in place? (Commonly available at a local hardware store preferred.) Thanks in advance.

My old Craftsman horizontal bandsaw stopped working a little while back, and I finally got around to figuring out why. In short, the motor was spinning, but the saw wasn’t. It seems that the central hub of the drive wheel has cracked where it joins the main disc, throwing the wheel out of alignment so that its gear teeth can’t engage the bevel gear on the main drive shaft. A little gentle tapping put the hub back in its proper alignment, but I doubt it will function under load. (NB: The paint was pretty flaky, so I scraped it off to get a better view.) The crack is pretty tight, and I suspect it would respond well to feeding cyanoacrylate glue i…

Hi, folks! I have been putting off a few projects because I lack the correct cutting capabilities (e.g. a Friedreich's cross). I feel like it's to up my game, but I don't have the spare cash for a full on vertical band saw. I have an old 1/3 HP Craftsman horizontal saw that needs some TLC but will function. I'm trying to decide if I should get a vertical/horizonal combo like the harbor freight one, or get a Portaband and mount it to a table. My budget for this is around $300-$450. I'm not sure if need the portability of the Portaband, but I think it's still a plus.

Yes it is There all kinds of tutorials and youtube videos on this. I know, I looked at all of them. Disclaimer: I am not a welder and I don't play one on TV. I am a woodworker but it didn't seem the way... I don't make a lot of videos either...but I do learn from them...no video here. Here is my solution. I've been using it for several months, cutting up to 1/4" plate steel, 2 1/2" and 3" schedule 30 pipe, ABS pipe, leaf springs and some brass rod. Broke a blade today and had enough forethought to order a package of 3 Dewalt 44 7/8, 14 tpi blades at the same time I bought the saw. Materials/method: WEN Portable Band Saw (Amazon), milk crate…

This is where I shall post any work I do to extend the lifespan of this reciprocating cutting device. In the meantime, here's a video if it chugging along through a jackhammer bit. First order of business, replace the light switch with a proper 20A switch.

I just picked up this Racine Model 816 power hacksaw. I have found myself with a small pile of train rail that needs cutting, so I had been on the hunt for a decent bandsaw. I have scored and snapped rail before, but I want to make clean, square cuts all the way through. I lucked out and found this on FB marketplace, only had to drive 260 miles round trip to get it. Absolutely worth it. The saw is in great condition; the motor is not original and part of the stock gauge is missing, but otherwise it is in great shape. I have found the Racine sales pamphlet online regarding their power hacksaw lineup, but so far i have come up dry regarding a user's manual or parts exp…

I admit I can be impulsive. Quite a few months ago, I bought an old Horizontal Bandsaw. 1HP motor. And I am trying to find a manual for it so I can order parts. One of the blade guide rollers is missing. Which if I had looked a little closer I would have realized. From what I can read on the plate, it is a King Machinery Inc Heavy Duty Metal Cutting Band Saw I have more pictures if anyone would like to see. Also I have googled and found Similar size horizontal band saws, I am just not smart enough to know if those parts would fit. Any thoughts, ideas or info would be greatly appreciated. ARMY…

All, I am looking at some chop saws on Amazon and I wanted to see what people thought about the best saw to get. As a hobbyist I will never "use up" one of these saws but some I have found are better than others. One is a Rage cold cut saw and I worry that I will mess up a $85+ blade on hard or thick steel. Any how, please let me know if going on band name alone because model number will be too much information let me know you thoughts. Thanks in advance. Hitachi $159 DeWalt $165 Makita $168 Bosch $185 Evolution RAGE2 $188 Milwaukee $212 Metabo $219

Hi everyone, looking for some input on horizontal bandsaws, I’ve found a few older saws near me in my price range, but none with a miter head on the saw. I also have found a used Ellis 1600 (only two years old) that is just about the same price as a Grizzly G0613 with freight. I’m mostly going to be cutting bars of damascus for restacks and tiles. Would it be better to have a slightly smaller blade (0.75”) and run coolant, or run an Ellis with a 1” blade without coolant and without the air cooling system (no compressed air in the shop)? Or should I just pick up an older saw for maybe half the price that doesn’t have a miter head? Thanks…

How tight do you go on your horizontal bandsaw. I just upgraded to a 10"x16" capacity saw with a 1"x132" blade. I've heard to tension until it rings when plucked, but that feels like I'm putting too much strain on the machine to get to that point. How do you know when the blade is tight enough? Thanks,

Had a few hours spare yesterday afternoon and decided to make a stand for my Portable Band saw using up some scrap steel I had lying around. Had it all Cut, welded, painted plus 8 beers down the hatch before the wife and kids got home. All in all a good afternoon in the shed. Used 10mm plate for base, 3mm Galv plate for the table and 50mm Square tubing for the actual Stand. This saw has variable speed and a light so I mounted it like this so they were easily accessible. Secured it with some 10 mm Dynabolts. Tried it out last night and it works great even with longer pieces. I get about 160mm cutting depth with the table a bit longer on the side. Looking to put a…

So i have decided i am going to get a portable cordless band saw. Must be deep cut, at least a 4" cut and durable. Right now i am in a toss up between DeWalt or Milwaukee. Both set ups are around $500, Milwaukee a little cheaper till you find it does not come with blades, then it evens out. Not that i wouldnt buy blades any way. All my power tools, drills, sawsall, impact, etc are DeWalt. So i am really leaning more towards the DeWalt. The DeWalt is also powered by the 20v lithium which i have no less than 3 chargers for already, but i have the short stack batteries, so the new batteries are also desirable. Anyway just looking for thoughts and recommendations before …

I have a Racine 14” power hacksaw and I attempted to connect the coolant but there’s no flow. Pump is clean and in good conditions and lines are clear. I’m trying to use water for testing and the pump is a gear pump. Does it need to be oil? Cutting fluid isn’t that much thicker than water though

So I am in the market for a relatively small metal cutting bandsaw for the shop. I've about had it with my abrasive chop saw. I have a circular steel saw but the chips. The el cheap-o harbor freight one for about 300 bucks seems ok, but not large enough for certain things and it does dry cuts only. What do you guys think about this> I dont really want to spend over 700.

As described elsewhere, I'm in the process of converting a wood-cutting bandsaw to metal cutting. The original blade guides were short lengths of 1/4" round steel rod, but are now missing. As I see it, I have three options: Buy or make replacement steel guides. Make replacement guides from 1/4" brass rod. Buy a set of Cool Blocks (for those who don't know, these are a low-friction graphite-impregnated phenolic resin). I'm currently leaning towards trying #2 and seeing how it works, but I'm interested in anyone else's thoughts, recommendations, and/or experiences.

I have a 108-22920 craftsman power saw and I am in search of a feed cylinder

Heres a power hacksaw I cobbled together years ago because I tired of using my arm and couldnt afford an Enco. There is no lift mech on the backstroke and isn't osha ok. I've never put anything on you tube, this is an experiment so delete/move if it chews up too much bandwidth or whatever. https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=UQ7YmcBbmaU

So I purchased an old Armstrong #2 power hacksaw yesterday off of FB marketplace. I downloaded the manual, and tonight loosened everything up and oiled it well. Motor runs and the the machine wants to work, but it's hanging up at the beginning of the draw stroke. Any ideas on where to start tinkering with it?

Over the weekend, I picked up an old Acco-Campbell Sever-All chop saw for very cheap from the industrial surplus place. It's missing the motor and switch, but is otherwise complete. (Shown here with the handle and the back guard removed.) This is currently set up to use abrasive discs, but it occurred to me that I could possibly set it up to be a cold-cut saw. Haven't made up my mind yet, but I thought it would be worthwhile to solicit some opinions from those with more experience. Some data: The saw has a 1-1/4" arbor and takes a 14" blade (if memory serves; I'm currently typing this up in the airport, so please forgive any inaccuracies). I bel…

I seem to be getting only about 30 cuts out of my 14" chopsaw blades despite the fact that I wear them down to a 7" nub. I have not been cutting much heavy stuff. 1" angle iron, 1" pipe, 5/8" rebar and the like. It works out quite expensive. I'd appreciate some recommendations for a blade with a longer life. Also, I am wondering about using the stubs in my angle grinder with an arbor adapter. I would think that since they are rated for the RPM I should be able to use them. Thanks