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Post by bradblazer on Feb 11, 2009 14:38:54 GMT -5
TSC in Hickory has a 7x12 Clarke bandsaw on clearance for $499. Regular price around $750.   |
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Jake
CTW Member
I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Smells like.. Victory!
Posts: 58
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Post by Jake on Jun 23, 2009 2:36:10 GMT -5
nuts... see what I get for not keeping up with the forum...  |
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Jake
CTW Member
I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Smells like.. Victory!
Posts: 58
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Post by Jake on Jun 13, 2011 8:44:04 GMT -5
picked up a 4x6 from Northern.. it's basically the same chinese unit Harbor Freight sells. It seems to do a decent job as it is (if you're patient). The blade that comes on it is, as expected, only slightly better than a wet string.. but, it does cut, and will do until its bi-metal replacements arrive. The tension spring downforce deal doesn't thrill me, but will do until I decide how I'm going to go about rigging a hydraulic downfeed. Also, going to rig up a coolant system for it. (speaking of which, I have coolant questions which I may post in a different thread). ..but, as it is, it cuts.. straight and square. I've already made numerous cuts through 1x3 steel bar (cold finish).. and it did just fine.  |
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Post by Rich Waugh on Jun 14, 2011 0:07:40 GMT -5
Jjake, I have a 5x6 Grizzly horizontal band saw with the swivel head and I really love the thing. The cast iron head on it is heavy enough that it uses a hydraulic cylinder with a bleed valve to control the drop[. Works fine, actually and would be an easy thing to reverse engineer. A 1/2" or 3/4" by 6" hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder (no real pressure so an air cylinder would work fine and be cheaper) with a needle valve to allow the fluid to pass from one side of the piston to the other - that's really all there is to it. I use dry stick lube with my say. Lube the blade before a cut and again after a few cuts. The stuff is a wax with graphite in it. www.pecfrictionfighters.com/product.aspx?prodID=63 is the stuff. I don't recall where I got it now - I've been using the same stick for about ten years and thousands of cuts. A plain tallow stick also works well, particularly for aluminum. |
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Jake
CTW Member
I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Smells like.. Victory!
Posts: 58
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Post by Jake on Jun 15, 2011 12:03:48 GMT -5
thanks for the info Rich.. I think I will end up cobbying up a hyd downfeed for it. ..will probably still do a little coolant system for it, because; 1-I want to  ..and 2-the bulk of it's use will probably be larger/thicker steel. Smaller stuff, I'll probably continue to use my portable at or near the project location. probably make one for the lathe too, while I'm at it. |
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roy697
CTW Advanced Member
Roy's Pond
Posts: 303
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Post by roy697 on Jun 15, 2011 17:40:21 GMT -5
What do you use for coolant or lube?  ? |
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Post by Rich Waugh on Jun 15, 2011 20:58:11 GMT -5
I regularly cut 4" square bar with y little 5x6 saw, using only the dry stick lube. I use only Lenox Diemaster 2 blades in the 10-14 varipitch tooth design and get six months or more life from a blade - that's hundreds of heavy cuts, maybe thousands overall.
I've said several times I was gong to put a coolant pump and reservoir on the thing, but i never have. I use the vertical band saw the same way - dry stick lube and Diemaster blades. It is really a wood working saw with a jackshaft to slow the blade speed down to about 700 sfpm, which is a bit fast for steel but I get away with it.
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Jake
CTW Member
I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Smells like.. Victory!
Posts: 58
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Post by Jake on Jun 16, 2011 8:09:57 GMT -5
What do you use for coolant or lube? ? HA! ;D That was going to be my next question to the folks that do more of this than I do/will.. when I make the flood coolant system, suggestions for what to use in it). ..as of yet, I've only used some light compressor oil for lubrication applied with a brush or can. I regularly cut 4" square bar with y little 5x6 saw, using only the dry stick lube. I use only Lenox Diemaster 2 blades in the 10-14 varipitch tooth design ... I just picked up a couple Olson bi-metal 10/14 & 14/18 blades. I don't know how good they'll turn out to be, but figure I'll probably like 'em better than what the saw came with. |
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Post by Rich Waugh on Jun 16, 2011 12:43:55 GMT -5
Olsen blades are fine, I just prefer the Lenox. They'll be about 100X better than the crap served up with the saw. ;D You should "break in" the bimetal blades. Run them with just light feed pressure for the first dozen or two cuts and then gradually up the feed pressure until you get to normal. They last a lot longer if you do this. Also, run them at pretty high tension - when yo u pluck the blade in an open span you want to hear something like middle C or a bit higher. If run at all slack they die an early death. If I ever get around to making a coolant pump system I'll probably run a water-based polymer cutting fluid, the stuff that big industry uses. It does necessitate periodic testing for proper pH, but it doesn't have the fire hazard that oil fluid has - something important in a shop like mine where there are forges, torches and other ignition sources running much of the time. I'll make the final decision when/IF I ever actually do something about it.  |
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roy697
CTW Advanced Member
Roy's Pond
Posts: 303
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Post by roy697 on Jun 17, 2011 8:26:47 GMT -5
MY brother has a rock saw, much different I know, but he uses RV antifreeze with a diamond blade.
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Jake
CTW Member
I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Smells like.. Victory!
Posts: 58
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Post by Jake on Jun 17, 2011 9:34:04 GMT -5
You should "break in" the bimetal blades. ... Also, run them at pretty high tension ... Ah.. thnx for the tips. Probably shaved a few months off my typical learning curve. |
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Jake
CTW Member
I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Smells like.. Victory!
Posts: 58
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Post by Jake on Jun 17, 2011 9:41:22 GMT -5
MY brother has a rock saw, much different I know, but he uses RV antifreeze with a diamond blade. I'm pretty sure as a coolant, it would work great. The only concern I'd still have is rust. Does he have any trouble with that? ..or are the rust inhibitors in the antifreeze adequate? I have no experience with RV antifreeze but figure it's at least somewhat similar to auto antifreeze/coolant. I'll inevitably experiment with a couple different things before I settle on something I'm comfortable with.  |
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Post by Rich Waugh on Jun 17, 2011 13:04:22 GMT -5
The rust inhibitors in antifreeze aren't that effective in an open system, Ron. I've tried them with little success. Since heavy industry has spent millions of dollars in research to develop cutting fluids.coolants for production systems where they "consume" hundreds or thousands of gallons daily, I think the sensible thing to do is piggy-back on their work and use what they use.
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Post by bradblazer on Jun 29, 2011 20:54:22 GMT -5
Jake, I have a selection of old pneumatic cylinders that might work for your downfeed. Let me know if you are interested and about what size you need. You can have one for the shipping or maybe we can get together.
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PJ
CTW Expert
Posts: 176
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Post by PJ on Jan 1, 2012 8:41:03 GMT -5
MY brother has a rock saw, much different I know, but he uses RV antifreeze with a diamond blade. I'm pretty sure as a coolant, it would work great. The only concern I'd still have is rust. Does he have any trouble with that? ..or are the rust inhibitors in the antifreeze adequate? I have no experience with RV antifreeze but figure it's at least somewhat similar to auto antifreeze/coolant. I'll inevitably experiment with a couple different things before I settle on something I'm comfortable with. DO NOT CONFUSE RV ANTIFREEZE WITH AUTO ANTIFREEZE! They are two completely different chemicals. Auto antifreeze is very toxic, RV antifreeze, designed for drinking water systems, isn't. |
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..and 2-the bulk of it's use will probably be larger/thicker steel.
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