Can you use wood bandsaw to cut metal?

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Looking for a band saw to cut metals such as mild carbon tubings and 1/4" plates but don't have a lot money to blow.  Preferably vertical.Found several cheap 14"-16" band saws, but have been told that they're too fast for cutting metal. Thoughts?I've thought about tuning/changing it to variable-frequency drive for changing pulley ratios to get the speed way down when I need to.  I have lathe if I need to shave something. Thanks
Reply:Have one converted to cut metal, but many mods, flywheel and extra reduction pulley's.....it's now a multi-speed machine.
Reply:I'm pretty sure a cheap vertical wood cutting bandsaw modded to cut metal would cost just as much, if not more, than a cheap horizontal/vertical metal cutting bandsaw.John 3:16(2) Miller Pheonix 456(2) Millermertic 252Dynasty 210DXHobart 210MVPDoringer D350 SA Cold SawScotchman 350LT Cold SawWebb 10x50 MillWebb 15x40 LatheGeka Bendicrop Ironworker
Reply:Can cut aluminum of many thickness (with care) and very thin sheet metal with a piece of thin plywood for backing..  Otherwise, forget it.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30"  vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:Piece of cake.Best starter machine is a 14" Delta - solid machine, parts are readily available.  Use a 30:1 gear reducer and appropriate pulleys to gear the speed down. Most wood saws run 3000 fpm, steel will need 160 fpm.  No biggie, I ran one for years.And, there are plenty of reasons to have a true vertical band saw as opposed to a flip up deal.  Vertical saw has to be the most versatile tool in my shop.Who is John Galt?
Reply:Aluminum can for the most part be cut and machined using wood working tools, as can many soft metals. Anything harder and your looking at using dedicated metal cutting tools or tools made to work slow enough and rigid enough to cut them.
Reply:Most of the other folks have laid out the various reasons for looking for something in the "ready to go category", keep an eye on craigslist or your local nickel ads or other classifieds. You can often find older vertical bandsaws that are reasonably priced and will still have plenty of life in them AND are designed to cut metal. A lot of the time they just need a little "tuning" to get them accurized. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:There is a Delta 16" 3 wheeled bandsaw that is designed to do both.  This is not a crappy "homeowner" saw even though it sort of looks like one--the frame is cast iron and the machine is tough, weighing enough to pop a hernia when you muscle it.  To change speeds and run metals, you simply put the belt in a different position (with a different blade, obviously).These were sold at Costco a decade or two ago before Delta sold out to cheap chinese so come up on craigslist and other places at a fairly good price quite often.  Might be an option for you.  Mine works great and the 3 wheeled design gives you extra clearance to cut longer/larger pieces.(Photo from internet, not mine)
Reply:I have a delta 14"  (14" is the diameter of the wheel - which can limit the size of what you cut) wood/metal saw.I think the gear reduction is more like 58:1.  If you don't have the right pulleys (and I don't) you will be struggling to get enough speed on the blade.The porta-band-saws typically run about 400 fpm.  Ideal speed for a typical mild steel blade is more along the line of 300 fpm.http://www.lenoxtools.com/Guides/LEN...d%20Sawing.pdfSo.... with a 1750 rpm motor, 14" wheel, total speed reduction to the wheel needs to be on the order of 21x14" wheel is ~44" circumference.  That's 3.67 ft.  To get 300 fpm, you need to spin the wheel 300/3.67 per minute - or 81 rpm.Its hard to get that much reduction with just pulleys.  But it can be done:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...peed-ReductionCon Fuse!Miller Dynasty 350Millermatic 350P-Spoolmatic 30AMiller Multimatic 200Hypertherm PowerMax 1000G3Miller Maxstar 200DX
Reply:ok call me stupid why would I need  bandsaw vs a chopsaw? I have yet to need a bandsaw to work on any of my metal projects on my farm. I guess for a  chunk of sheet metal it might be the way to go and we had a metal band saw that basically worked like a chop saw in our metals class in school back in the day but I like my chop saw so much faster. the metal band saw I am familiar with did not have a table for vertical use, u basically clamped your piece in it and it was weighted/balanced and you turned it on, tilted it and let it eat its way through the piece you were cutting slowly like a chop saw. what am I missing here?
Reply:I like the metal bandsaw better than a chopsaw because if the motor is strong enough to where you're not worried about it binding up, you can start the cut and go about other business. It turns off when it's done, it's not noisy and it doesn't spray sparks and metal/blade powder. Although a chopsaw is a bit quicker on some things. Where I used to work, they often cut 4" round bar stock and that never saw a chop saw.I could see an advantage for a repurposed vertical wood bandsaw if you were cutting aluminum or thin metal although aluminum cuts fine without any mods, depending on the blade. But personally I wouldn't want to use it for anything other than that. I have both: a wood bandsaw and a horizontal/vertical metal bandsaw and each has it's place and they seldom cross over.
Reply:Originally Posted by HelloStrangerLooking for a band saw to cut metals such as mild carbon tubings and 1/4" plates but don't have a lot money to blow.  Preferably vertical.Found several cheap 14"-16" band saws, but have been told that they're too fast for cutting metal. Thoughts?
Reply:Rikon makes an 18" bandsaw that will cut metal or wood. Unfortunately, it came out about 2 years AFTER I bought their model 10-345, which is not much cheaper, but cuts only wood.
Reply:I bought a handheld bandsaw at Harbor Freight and made a table for it, it works great.AHP AlphaTig 200x 3rd gen.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP
Reply:Nicely done!
Reply:Yes nice idea