$&*#*^@ Stainless Steel!

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Well, i'm building a small stock rack, and just cut and drilled out 6 peices of stainless flat bar for the mounting brackets.  Took me 1:45 between cutting on the band saw, and drilling one 1/8" hole in each of them.  And to boot, I missed CSI!Owner of Welding Wiki,The free wiki based resource for weldor's around the world.http://www.weldingwiki.comWe have cookies!
Reply:You must be doing something wrong man- I used something like 4 tons of stainless last year, and we cut and drill it just exactly as quick as mild.First- you gotta use bimetal blades on your bandsaw- but you should use them for mild steel too. I know, they cost 20 bucks or more, but they last 5 times as long, and will cut anything, including stainless, like buttah.Second, on the same lines, decent drill bits, properly sharpened, and the right speed and feed on your drilling. Relatively slow speed, with 1/8" material that means probably the slowest speed an import drill press will go. Use a lube, like tapmatic or cool tool, and use a very hard, but steady downfeed pressure. If you let the bit spin, without a hard downfeed, it will work harden the stainless, and then, or course, take forever to drill, while dulling the bit.It helps to learn how to hand sharpen drill bits on the grinder- sort of a basic skill if you drill metal, as otherwise you are constantly buying new ones, and throwing away perfectly good ones.
Reply:Ah yes, I was using a carbide blade.  I went slow to keep things nice and cool, as it turns out I only needed 3 of the 6 parts I made.Owner of Welding Wiki,The free wiki based resource for weldor's around the world.http://www.weldingwiki.comWe have cookies!
Reply:Do you really have a carbide blade on your bandsaw?The only carbide blades for bandsaws I have ever seen were for resawing wood, and they are usually about 2" wide blades, with a carbide tooth brazed on every inch or so. Or do you mean a bi-metal blade, which is just two kinds of steel, a harder, longer lasting one for the teeth, a softer more flexible one for the main part of the band.
Reply:I dunno, i forget what it is, had that blade for a long time...just bought a new hss one though...and a new upright bandsaw...Wilton 14", 8 speed 1hp wood/metal. Owner of Welding Wiki,The free wiki based resource for weldor's around the world.http://www.weldingwiki.comWe have cookies!