Thoughts on bandsaws.

[Gary Westfall]

Understand what you mean about having to buy mill-run lengths. Same thing here. I can get them to run off pieces cut to length for my application, but it costs considerably more than my few minutes to stack the material in the saw and cut them to length. Unless we are talking something like 5000-piece quantities. Then it makes sense to consider pre-cut stock. I just ordered 5 each 12-foot sticks of 6061-T6 in 3-inch by 5-inch rectangular bar - they wanted $2.98 a cut to cut it into 9-1/4 inch long brick. Needless to say - I got sticks (of course they weight a bloody ton .....).

I have one of the Roll-In saws - it is a vertical bandsaw that "rolls" down a slight incline to saw through material on the table. It has been an excellent performer so far. Maybe someday I will get an automatic saw (not anytime soon though).

[John Stevenson]

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[This message has been edited by John Stevenson (edited 08-17-2001).]

[Derek13]

To me it would just seem like it's less safe... (ie chips would be comming off AT you instead of AWAY from you... i know it's a bandsaw, but still there's the possibility)... and it's running against the moveable jaw, not the fixed jaw... which in my understanding you usually want the force of your cutting/milling etc, to go towards you FIXED jaw.

[zl1byz]

Hell John I beleive the water swirls in the oposite direction over there too.

Interesting all the band saws I have used run as you said down into the fixed vice jaw. They must be older ones. Thinking about it though a lot of hacksaws run the way you sugest, but they need good feed control. I wonder if the same would be true with band saws? Perhaps the smaller ones that rely on gravity would have trouble in the horizontal position too.

[ibewgypsie]

I got a buddy who has a harbor freight saw out in the weather, rusty.. Same blade that came on the saw, over two years old. About once in two or three months he cuts something with it. It should not work, the saw, the motor, the blade.

I never had a saw blade rust that was worth a flip, throwed them away after they turn red.

Sometimes you just get a good blade.

------------------
David Cofer, Of:
Tunnel Hill, North Georgia

[John Stevenson]

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[This message has been edited by John Stevenson (edited 08-17-2001).]

[wierdscience]

One reason could be that using the old method the driving contact on the blade is 1/4 of the circumfrence(under load that is)where the newer method has the drive wheel making 1/2 contact.

Also wouldn't the driving load be cut in half since the tracking wheel is now acting as sheave instead of a simple overhung load?

[This message has been edited by wierdscience (edited 10-01-2004).]

[zl1byz]

There's no doubt your on to something John. Trying to picture the dymanics of it. Could be something the same as climb milling on a mill, certinaly has advantages including tool life, but the machine needs to be capable or big disastor.

[zl1byz]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by John Stevenson:
During my time at this game I have noticed that the horizontal bandsaws usually had the blade running down to the fixed vise jaw i.e. anti clock looking fro the vise side.

John S.</font>

John! Do your clocks go the other way over there too?

[John Stevenson]

Standing to the right of the machine looking at it the blade comes off the jockey wheel, thru the work onto the drive wheel and over the top back to the jockey, that's anti clock in my book or does British Summer Time run different to Pacific Standard ??