vertical bandsaw

i have been looking for a vertical bandsaw and all the ones i find are for wood cutting what would happen if i put a metal cutting blade in it and use it for metal cutting????

i think the speed is the only thing i see as a problem as metal you cut slower and wood you cut faster. your thought please

Find yourself a good used metal cutting one as opposed to using a wood cutting version. Some people have converted them by slowing down the blade speed, and I considered doing that myself before I found mine. I kept looking on Craigslist for the longest time and finally found a metal shop going out of business, so I bought his metal cutting one for $ 250.00. It has made cutting stuff so much better and safer than using our combination horizontal/vertical one..........the speed is very slow so you can control the cut very well.

With the lousy economy lots of businesses are going under and you can find shop quality equipment at very good prices, you just have to have patience and be the first guy there with cash in hand. You will wonder how you ever got along without one when you finally score.

Just be careful because I ran an ad on Craigslist saying I wanted to buy a metal cutting one and I kept getting calls from people trying to pawn off wood cutting ones as metal cutting ones.

Don

have you got any buddys with a shop? theres couple times a year that a guy comes to our shop from the carolinas with a truck load of stuff, press's, jack's, and they normaly have convertable , metal cutting badsaws, i bought one a few years back . you can ly it down or stand it up . have you tried harbor freight . i think they sell them . metal cutting bandsaw
http://www.harborfreight.com/horizontal-vertical-metal-cutting-bandsaw-93762.html

i have a horizontal band saw already but i want a verical bandsaw. i have been looking for a vertical bandsaw but i keep finding ones for wood cutting and the ones i find for metal cutting are a grand and i think its to much.

thanks for your help ill keep looking

band saw

Hi
have you thought about just converting your horizontal to be used verticaly.
You can make a table to fit it and that will work fine I have done that with mine for years. I just stand up the saw and install the table using 2 bolts at the blade area and the vice to hold a leg, take about 1 minute to switch. Unless you want a bigger throat.
have fun
Tom

well i want to make my horizontal bandsaw a swivel head so it will be faster to cut stuff. right now i got to keep moving the vise and the table and its a pain

As I mentioned, we also have a Jet horizontal/vertical bandsaw and love it, but on the vertical mode it wasn't quite the same as a true vertical. The blade is too wide to do intricate cuts and the speed is too fast. The used vertical I bought has to be 30-40 years old but still works like a champ.

They are out there, you just have to keep looking. I also bought a 4 inch belt sander/12 inch disc sander combo from the same guy, but we refuse to use it. It spins like 4,000 rpms and is downright dangerous. The sandpaper disc flew off of the disc and hit my Son in the head, so we won't go near it now. I'm going to figure out a way to slow that one down.

Don

H/F Band Saw

Believe it or not, the H/F verticle/horizontal band saw is one of the best items they sell. Before you hate me google- harbor frieght band saw modifications. You should find a sight that is chock full of incredible knowledge on mini lathe, mini mill, and the H/F band saw, and the modifications easily done at home to make this unit very good for most any light to medium metal working duty's. Yes even in a shop enviroment. The biggest issues are of course replacing the blade with a GOOD bi-metal blade like a Lenox, replacing or just modifying the cheap base, and then to make a better table for using in the verticle. They are currently on sale for less than $200. I know of several shops that use them daily.

donsrods said:

As I mentioned, we also have a Jet horizontal/vertical bandsaw and love it, but on the vertical mode it wasn't quite the same as a true vertical. The blade is too wide to do intricate cuts and the speed is too fast. The used vertical I bought has to be 30-40 years old but still works like a champ.

They are out there, you just have to keep looking. I also bought a 4 inch belt sander/12 inch disc sander combo from the same guy, but we refuse to use it. It spins like 4,000 rpms and is downright dangerous. The sandpaper disc flew off of the disc and hit my Son in the head, so we won't go near it now. I'm going to figure out a way to slow that one down.

Don

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Don, have you tried the variable speed router control that they sell at H/F to control the belt/disc sander? I think they are like $10.00. The one I use with my die grinder is like 7 years old. I know you cant use them to slow down a drill press or table saw, but it might work well on the sander.

2muchtorque said:

Believe it or not, the H/F verticle/horizontal band saw is one of the best items they sell. Before you hate me google- harbor frieght band saw modifications. You should find a sight that is chock full of incredible knowledge on mini lathe, mini mill, and the H/F band saw, and the modifications easily done at home to make this unit very good for most any light to medium metal working duty's. Yes even in a shop enviroment. The biggest issues are of course replacing the blade with a GOOD bi-metal blade like a Lenox, replacing or just modifying the cheap base, and then to make a better table for using in the verticle. They are currently on sale for less than $200. I know of several shops that use them daily.

Click to expand...

I have a band saw like this one and as long as you invest in good blades it does the job just fine

im not going to look anymore lol everytime i look for something i find it and its way to much and i was looking for a sheet metal brake then gave up then i found 1 the other day its a box and pan brake i got it for 300.

2muchtorque said:

Don, have you tried the variable speed router control that they sell at H/F to control the belt/disc sander? I think they are like $10.00. The one I use with my die grinder is like 7 years old. I know you cant use them to slow down a drill press or table saw, but it might work well on the sander.

Click to expand...

I considered that, but one to control this one is about $ 300 at Grainger. Plus, this thing likes lots of current. I tried running it on an extension cord and it wouldn't come on, so I'm afraid if I tried cutting the voltage down with a controller it would burn it up. I am going to cut it up and redo it some day, gearing it down about 1/3 of the current speed. I really could use the belt sander portion but the disc is something we already have.

Don

dumb question but how fast or slow does a metal cutting band saw run???? i found a bandsaw for 100 bucks in really good shape it has a 3/4 hp belt driven single speed but what speed is good to use for metal??? i mean 100 bucks is cheap for a bandsaw and plus working on cars and stuff you need to cut wood also but id rather have it for metal

They run really slow compared to a wood cutting one, maybe 1/2 or 1/3 the speed. Guys have made jackshafts to run different sized pulleys on them to slow a wood cutting one down, but be sure you can get a metal cutting blade in the correct length before you start spending money on pulleys and belts.

Don

Jet

I looked for a metal cutting bandsaw for a while and could not find one without spending an arm & a leg so I went to Sears and bought me a Jet wood cutter.I changed the blade and pulleys to slow it down a bit and it is PERFECT......Wouldn't trade it for nothing...I run a blade size of-----Lenox EDP # 04043
7'-9 1/2" X 1/2 x .025......Cuts anything you need to cut...Hope this helps and Good Luck !!!!!

Leonard

I found an old 14" throat AMT it's basically the same as the harbor freight wood vertical bandsaw.

Got a free treadmill and took the motor from it - 2 hp baldor DC motor, bought a DC motor controller and a metal blade works great.

50 for the bansaw (Craigslist)
62 for the Motor cotroller (Ebay)
29 for a blade
0 for the DC motor.

I don't need to change pulleys to change the speed. I just turn the dial.

Works awesome. Check craigslist sometimes you can get a treadmill for free or for 50 or less and have everything you need. I have see several people do this.

I could not find a band saw at any price when I need one so I bought an Enco bandsaw and put a 4 to one chain drive on it and use it on its slowest setting if I use a lenox bimetal blade I can cut 1/4 inch steel with it but I use a lot of wax on it to keep the blades alive blade speed is around 250 fpm 225 is recommended. Now on aluminum it has no equal. (What I made it for).

I looked and looked for a long time, trying to find a metal cutting vertical bandsaw. Every time I would see one on Craigslist I would go to see it and find out it was really just a wood cutting one. Then I found an old man who had a sheetmetal shop and who was retiring. He had an old true metal cutting one that I bought for $ 250 and it is an absolute pleasure to use. It runs so slow you don't feel like you are going to lose your fingers when cutting small pieces of steel. Just used it tonight and love that thing.

I would suggest you just keep looking until you score a real metal cutting one. With the economy there are lots of businesses closing and equipment is starting to show up for sale as a result.

Don

This threads a little old but I thought I'd bring this up.
There's always variable speed Milwaukee portable bandsaws on craigslist. I got lucky and grabbed mine for $25. Just needed a new blade and cleaned up a bit. They usually run around $100 for a good used variable speed. Combine it with this and you've got a quality metal cutting bandsaw at a cut rate price. Takes up a lot less room than a free standing one too...............
Portable bandsaw mounting system

My vertical bandsaw runs from 80 FPM, feet per minute up to 1250 FPM. About 125 is good for general shop work. You can almost see the teeth at that speed and the blade has lasted me almost 2 years. DONT dick around with a wood saw. I bought it used for 300 bucks about 5 years ago. 110volt with base and wheels....16 inch I think.