Bandsaw - wood and metal ?

Might you be better to get a common metal cutting horizontal bandsaw and a handheld electric jigsaw for cutting wood curves etc?

I have a toolmakers Do All bandsaw made in uk under licence by G H Alexander it was possibly made during 1950/60s 2 speed motor varable speed down to below 100 ft per min,capacity ,it will cut steel up to 6 ins thick,it has a sort of "power feed" comprising a cast vee frame and a length of cycle roller chain,the the v lays flat on the table and the chain wraps around the outside of the vee ,the chain ends are attached to a cord which via a pulley system has a large weight on the end of the cord, the weight is enaged via a foot pedal and a screw system adjusts the load applied to the cord. ,cutting heavy pieces of steel would require extreme physical effort so there would be no chance of cutting 5 inch material in a vertical bandsaw. Also cutting any round material in a vertical bandsaw is a no no,DO NOT TRY IT. a horizontal band saw which really is only a modern development of the power hack saw with a big vice is the best way of cutting round material ,the advantage of the horizontal is that it saves time as there is no idle return stroke. An old Rapidor 6 inch is the best machine for cutting blanks,if there is no room in the workshop why not keep it in the garden with a "dog Kennel type shelter on wheels to keep it dry, a friend did this so that he could cut up long lengths of bar. Another way of achieving larger blanks is to get the metal supplier to sell you cut blanks at extra cost,Rounds or other shape cut via flame cutting,water jet, etc are usually cut from flat sheet which usually has poor machining qualities.

Update - I took a punt on a Femi 728xl. Excellent delivery and a sensible design. But as so often these days, a good product is let down by a few quality issues. For any one else buying one here's what I found.

1) Drive pulley

As it was cold outside I took the liberty of running it in on the dining room floor. Im pleased I did because after a few moments I noticed crumbs of rubber dropping out from the blade box. Dismantling showed that the head of the main hinge bolt was rubbing against the edge of the drive pully. The bolt head was standing proud because someone had stuck a way too course star-washer under it. What made it worse was that there was already a slot in the casting to prevent rotation of the bolt and the round star-washer didn't fit the slot. The remedy was simple. I removed the bolt cleaned up the slot with a die grinder. I then found a thinner star-washer and ground flats onto it so that both the washer and the bolt head would fitted snuggly in the slot.

2) Vice

When I turned the handle it oscillated between tight and loose with each rotation and the moveable jaw swashed in sympathy with it. This suggested a bend in the shaft. Sure enough, when it was all in pieces this was found to be the case. However it wasn't so much the main shaft that was bent, it was the stud on the end with the M6 thread that was out of line with the main shaft. Some careful re-bending and machining sorted this.

What was somewhat surprising was that the vice unit had been carefully shimmed up with shimming washers so that is didn't distort when bolted to the non-flat frame. I wasn't expecting such refinements and all the shims fell onto the table when I unbolted the vice. I didn't take long to re-shim.

3) Angle adjuster

When the machine was all reassembled I noticed that that the blade wasn't quite square with the vice axis. I thought it was just simply a case of adjusting the eccentric stop but that didnt work because the clamp bolt was hard up against the end of its slot. So out came the die-grinder again. With a slightly longer slot I was then able to alight the blade perfectly and fix the position with the eccentric stop. The real zero degree position is now slightly off the scale but I'm happy with that knowing that I can find the real zero every time.

4) Blade guide

The support roller for the back edge of the blade is set in a spindle which sits in a cast 'v' groove. The groove is a little too deep which meant that if the blade is ever pushed this far back, the blade teeth will be running on the corners of the pairs of guide bearings for the side of the blade. This will destroy them quickly. I sorted this by putting thinner much thinner washers under the guide bearings to drop them down a little. Its not a perfect repair but will do for now.

General conclusion...

All this took me the best part of the day but I'm not unhappy about it as I am a bit on the fussy side. I can sleep at night now knowing I have four less things to worry about So overall, would I recommend this product ? Oh yes! It cuts beautifully. Here's my very first trial on a 45mm bar of aluminium. I was able to cut a slice less than 1mm thick and just look at the surface finish !!!

I'd be very wary of connecting a "£50 RS controller" to any machine-tool unless it is genuinely compatible with the motor - by type as well as voltage and power values.

The sort of 1-3ph inverters you seen often mentioned on this forum slow the speed of a synchronous motor by reducing the frequency, while keeping most of the Watts up. Does that from RS work in the same way for a 1ph motor, or is it simply an amplitude-chopper that slows the motor by reducing the power? If the latter, it would be useless for controlling a machine-tool like a steel-cutting band-saw.

Also, it's not good to run a motor very slowly for long, if only for cooling; and on any machine-tool it is cutting speed, not the motor speed, that has to be lowered with minimum power-loss between motor and work. I can run my Harrison lathe at about 70rpm - but using the gears to keep its 3ph motor happy at around 1000rpm.

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Don't be misled by work-speed alone. You need consider the feed as well - dictated by the amount of material each tooth can shave off. That a material can be cut at high speeds does not mean it has to be, but many materials can only be cut at very low speeds, on the sort of machines we generally encounter anyway.

A saw made primarily for cutting wood may cut fairly thin aluminium plate with an appropriate blade - not the wood-sawing blade - moderately well, but is far too fast for steel.

A saw made primarily for cutting metals including thick steel will cut wood, with a suitable blade, without problems. It just take longer because the blade speed is low.

In both cases each tooth should be removing its fair share of metal or wood, but at a lower speed just takes a bit longer to do so. Not on piece-rates are you?

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Conventional vertical band-saws do not have vices so are not suitable for cutting steel bar-stock, although some have geared or belt transmissions allowing low enough speeds for steel. Also, the throat depth obviously limits the maximum length handled.

I used at work, a Startrite band-saw that could cut 2ft X 2 ft squares of 1/4" gauge-plate - hand-fed, very slowly and tediously, at its lowest speed - but it was a machine made for metals-cutting; and I had the range of blades necessary for the work I did on it.

Conventional horizontal band-saws for cutting metals have a vice, and though limited on height and width do not impose length limits. They will also cut wood, though preferably with a wood- cutting blade, coarser and with wider set. A fine blade suitable for solid steel will clog on most woods.

The common dual horizontal / vertical band-saws sold under a number of badge-brands are versatile but tend to suffer from two drawbacks. The tables supplied are small and not well-supported, and the upper blade-guide cannot be lowered closely to the work. These do not help accurate work. Nevertheless they are useful provided you realise their limitations.

(The " pressed-tin" stand supplied with some of those leaves much to be desired, as well. Like many users, I treated mine to a strong trolley on heavy-duty castors.)

SO....

If you need cut metals even if mainly cutting wood, but have room only for one "universal" machine, you are better off with one of those vertical/horizontal machines that can cut the relatively hefty steel sections. Their lowest speeds are optimised for mild-steel, with an appropriate blade (typically 14tpi), but will run fast enough for wood, although a coarser blade is better for that.

Hi Gerry,

Your first posting indicated the use of a vertical blade - so did you buy the table kit, to be able to convert it for vertical operation?

At 3 or 4 times as much as the aldi/lidl offering I expect it is likely to last a lifetime of hobby use.

Tuffsaws indicate that their blades can last longer than those advertised on stakesys. They are likely a little cheaper, too (mine were) - especially if buying multiples as differing tooth counts.

I’ve no experience of blade life comparisons yet, but Tuffsaws do get good reviews, particularly from forum members.

Hi Gerry,

It sounds as if you have just about licked the machine into shape for metal cutting.

A 14 tpi blade will cut timber, but a coarser one would be better for that, to reduce then risk of clogging.

Howard