Flood Coolant on a Harbor Freight 4X6 Bandsaw?

[kev74]

I've been thinking about running coolant on my 4X6 bandsaw. Looking around, I hadn't seen anyone else doing so, so either its a bad idea or I'm a genius!

A drip pan, reservoir and pump should be easy enough to cobble together well enough to not make a mess. I'm wondering if the effort would be worth the benefit.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[Ed ke6bnl]

I have a $18 mist coolant sprayer from ebay the one with air and fluid control on it. I attach it to what every with a hard drive magnet and can move from one machine to another. I have one permanent for the lathe. it is on a post connected to a speaker magnet. not usually enough fluid to have to catch the extra, maybe a rag. about 4 oz. per gallon.

[JRouche]

A drip pan, reservoir and pump should be easy enough to cobble together well enough to not make a mess. I'm wondering if the effort would be worth the benefit.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I think it is a great idea. That and a top quality blade will make it a dream to use. I had the HF saw and liked it, was just a lil small so I got a 7" version with flood lube.

If you do it maybe take lots of pics. Many use that saw and might like to do what you are considering. JR

[mickeyf]

I have the pump from a broken water-pic and a baking pan that have been waiting in my get-around-to-it pile for just this. So you are not the only one to think of it, though you may well end up being the first to actually do it.

[Sparky_NY]

I used to have coolant on my old 4x6 before I upgraded to the 7x12. I used a real small submersible pump and a 2 gallon plastic pail with lid. It worked well. You will need a big enough catch pan under the saw.

[Bob Engelhardt]

What is the purpose of a coolant? I.e., what is the advantage to a cool blade? Longer life? Does an un-cooled blade get that hot?

[mickeyf]

With a smallish saw like the 4x6 the blade is short enough that it may get hot depending on speed and hardness of material. With a longer blade it has more chance to cool before it comes around to the cut again. But apart from that, the "Cutting Oil" aspect make a big difference. Without a pump I just dribble cutting/tapping oil for steel, or squirt on WD40 for aluminum, and it does make a difference in how well the saw cuts. But It's messy with no catch pan, and another manual task that should/could be automated

[lakeside53]

Way way easier to just upgrade to a 7x12; coolant is standard together with containment and recovery.

[ed_h]

I did this some years ago, but frankly, don't use it now. I used a tub reservoir with a submersible pump, and a needle valve to control flow. The tray has a drain that sends coolant back to the tub. Pump is in a baffled area that keeps chips out of it.

Ed

[JRouche]

What is the purpose of a coolant? I.e., what is the advantage to a cool blade? Longer life? Does an un-cooled blade get that hot?

Well, its all in the users choice.

I purposely said I use lube, as in Lubricant.

I dont use Coolant with my saw. No heat really. My blade likes oil. Mobilmet. Omicron JR

[J Tiers]

There are disadvantages.

IIRC, the Atlas saw's book suggests NOT using "coolant" or cutting oil, because it makes the blade slip on the wheels.

That might depend on whether the saw uses a "tire" of some sort, or runs direct on the metal wheel.

[true temper]

My 7x12 came with a coolant set up, I used it for a while but I haven’t used it for a long time. I couldn’t tell it made a difference and it sure made a mess.

[Mcgyver]

What is the purpose of a coolant? I.e., what is the advantage to a cool blade? Longer life? Does an un-cooled blade get that hot?

that was my first reaction, why? I run flood on lots of machines so am very aware of its advantages, but don't see much of an advantage for the home shop bandsaw (we do run coolant on saws at the plant). Work piece temp/accuracy is hardly an issue, the cut is so interrupted the blade doesn't seem to get hot. Use is infrequent enough that I find a blades last about forever or until I break the first tooth, i.e. I'm almost never wearing them out. And that's with Starrett carbon blades not bimetal (which I consider a waste of money for the home shop.)

[JCByrd24]

Edit: Mcgyver beat me to it...

Coolant or oil on these saws is not really necessary. Parts coming off the saw are not hot and the blade doesn’t really get warm unless you’re running the wrong speed. My blade life is always limited by a work holding error or cutting too thin of material, haven’t worn one out yet.

[J Tiers]

"...for the home shop", "...for the home shop", "...for the home shop", "...for the home shop",..............Should not make any difference at all. It's a shop, the saw cuts metal....

I have never thought that most of the uses of "coolant" had much if anything to do with "cooling" the work or tool (some obviously do). The name is totally misleading and often a flat lie, although one has to use the term or others may not understand what you are saying. It's not as if the cutter/blade/whatever is otherwise going to get red hot and fail.

Mostly, the "coolant" serves to wash away chips, preventing re-cutting. Also functions to lubricate the cutter (in this case the blade) where it, or it plus chips, may rub on the work behind the cutting edge.

It appears that those functions will apply to a saw as much as, if not more than, they apply to other types of cutters. I notice quite a lot of "carry around" on the saw blade (or end mill, etc) with some materials, such as aluminum, and I expect that "flood coolant" would fix that, if the saw were made to take it.

Most other forms of applying cutting fluid (dabbing with brush, misting, tiny drips, etc) seen to just provide "glue" to make the "carry around" 5 x worse than it was dry. That is as true on a saw as with an end mill.