Vertical Band Saw: Useful?

[spro]

Hi Steve! This sounds great. Yes a vertical bandsaw is super but as we know, it needs slowed down for metal. You have that option and a vfd may be right for Steve G's saw. Depends upon the motor. I rigged up stuff with pulleys, shafts etc to slow the speed.

[spro]

My working vertical bandsaw has a two speed gearbox but there are step pulleys . I think it was used for friction sawing awhile. The guides and support bearings were in bad shape.

[spro]

The Tannewitz site has great info about " Friction Sawing". They should know because that name of band saws, has been around over 100 years.

[whateg0]

I may do it. The VFD will set me back a few dollars, however.

I might go Chinese just for the heck of it. Some people claim to get good performance from them.

I have a Fuji Electric on my 10ee and it's great. It replaced a cheap Chinese VFD that I had there for awhile. The Chinese one was very simple. On, off, change speed via the keypad or potentiometer, but no brake. The only reason it didn't work for the lathe is the lack of a brake. Without a brake, it would over voltage and error out. On a bandsaw, that isn't going to be a problem since it can coast down without consequence.

Dave

[whateg0]

Oh, be aware that AC motors lose torque at slower speeds, which is where you need the torque for cutting metal. So, you might find that you still need to pulley it down. A DC motor really is a better solution, but it's not as easy or cheap to implement in these days of cheap VFD and 3ph motors.

Dave

[Mr Ron]

I have a wood cutting bandsaw that I use to cut aluminum. I have not had any problem cutting aluminum of any thickness even though I am using a wood cutting speed. What would you suggest as the best speed for aluminum? The easiest way out for me would be to put cone pulleys on the saw.

[John Evans]

Aluminum is just shinny wood,wood speeds work just fine. I have a cheap Chinese 14" and that is it's purpose in life is cutting aluminum and the odd bit of wood.

[spro]

Hey there John. You know about friction sawing. Does it create hot embers which could ignite things?

[Mr Ron]

Aluminum is just shinny wood,wood speeds work just fine. I have a cheap Chinese 14" and that is it's purpose in life is cutting aluminum and the odd bit of wood.

Thank you. I probably should get a blade for aluminum, like bimetal.

[John Evans]

Hey there John. You know about friction sawing. Does it create hot embers which could ignite things?

Sorry SPRO don't have a clue ,never seen it done.

[spro]

Well Tannewitz says it is an old concept. They make saws which run very high rpm /sfpm and the blade is cooled with air jet after the process. They recommend saws with 36" wheels and above. Side rake doesn't matter. The blade is going so fast that the metal is melting before it clears the cut. There are references to this in books about WWII. One way or another, a person / slave is going to cut that amount of metal in short time. One bullet at back of head and then another. They dragged the dead body away and the next listening to the screaming nazi or commisar. I'm sure there were issues with wheel balance too. Total war. Not to be forgotten.
However; for this, it is super heat between the blade and object to cut. You see, the blade is slightly cooled to keep its integrity but the thicker metal retains the heat of the cut. It keeps going and the process is akin to a very fine torch.

[revrnd]

I have a 16" vertical King metal cutting band saw. And use it all the time. It was 1 of the 3 machines (the other being a lathe & mill) that I got first off when equipping my shop. Lots of jobs just require cutting steel & drilling holes, no m/c work needed.