AEBL Blues

Judcargile

Judcargile

Joined
Jul 3, 2022
Messages
145
I have a portaband and I have yet to discover any blade that will handle 3/16 AEBL. Cutting disk ain't exactly winning either.
It comes in an annealed state. It drills and grinds just fine.
I can go with a bigger saw and get proper blades, as I suspect or someone has been here or AEBL is a pain to cut and need a plasma cutter?
 
Judcargile said:
I have a portaband and I have yet to discover any blade that will handle 3/16 AEBL. Cutting disk ain't exactly winning either.
It comes in an annealed state. It drills and grinds just fine.
I can go with a bigger saw and get proper blades, as I suspect or someone has been here or AEBL is a pain to cut and need a plasma cutter?
Click to expand...
How many TPI blade you use ? You need at lest two teeth on steel you cut ?
I have not yet met steel that the cutting disk will not cut ? You use cutting disk for stainless , right ? Most likely you glazing cutting wheel . . . . .
 
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I have good results with bi-metal 14/18 tpi for 3/16 aeb-l. Love it, cuts like butter (we won’t mention the warping though).
 
Yep something up cause I use a Portaband to cut it up all the time. While I normally use thinner stock the last batch I did had a sheet of 3/16 I needed for several special order knives. It cut.
 
picked up some 154CM awhile ago, same problem. It should cut and machine easily but it don't. Kinda chafes my ass that I'ma have to anneal it myself- something went wrong somewhere
 
I also use a portaband style saw and cut 1/4” AEBL regularly. I use Morse or Dewalt blades in 14/18 or 16 too depending on availability. I think your steel may be an issue…in general, it should not be a problem.
 
My last AEB-L was .200" thick.

Cut like butter.
 
Chuck makes a good point. "Breaking in" a bandsaw blade is nothing more than deburring the teeth so there aren't any sharp, jagged edges where the teeth were ground into the band.
A few cuts yhrough some scrap wood, and 3-4 cuts at slow speed and low feed will do the trick.

It makes a difference in blade life...
 
To break in a metal cutting blade: (usual portaband blade is around 12-14TPI)
1) Set the saw speed to the desired speed. (usually around 200SFM)
2) Use a bar of steel about 1/4" thick. (annealed 1080 is a good choice). Mark the bar at 1" intervals with a sharpie.
3) Feed the steel into the blade using a wooden pusher block at about 25% of the normal feed rate. After about a minute of cutting, gradually increase feed rate to full speed. (normal feed rate is around 6" per minute for 1/4" stock) Start with cutting the first 1" line in 1 minute, then the next line in 30 seconds, , ending by cutting a 1" line in 15 seconds. At this point the blade is ready to cut up blade stock.

Pro Tips:
Don't expect a portaband to cut much of a curve. Cut multiple straight cuts to get a rough shape and grind in the curves. Trying to cut curves will greatly shorten the life of the blade ... or destroy it. If you try to cut a tight curve you will wear the teeth badly on one side. This makes the blade try to cut a curved line. If you can't cut straight without angling the sheet of steel, just change the bade ... because you have ruined it.
As a rule of thumb, a portaband can cut a curve that arcs about 1/4" in 2" of cut. That might work for a blade belly, but handle curves should be ground in.

50 grit ceramic belts are cheaper than good bandsaw blades. Use belts to get final shapes and curves! Let the bandsaw do what it does best - cut straight lines.

Don't try and cut hardened metal. If it won't cut easily, anneal it first. Cutting hardened metal will shorten the life of the blade ... or destroy it in 60 seconds.

Stainless steels are much tougher to cut. Slow the speed down by 50% (around 100 SFPM), slow the fed rate by 50% (around 2-3 IPM).

Use a little cutting fluid/lubricant. (Smoothsaw and Lenox Band-Aid are good water soluble lubricants.)
A cheap Kool-Mist clone from Amazon is also a great idea for a portaband. It can be set to barely deliver more than a fine cold mist.
If you cut a lot of steel, consider a coolant flow setup on a modified HF 4X6.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
To break in a metal cutting blade: (usual portaband blade is around 12-14TPI)
1) Set the saw speed to the desired speed. (usually around 200SFM)
2) Use a bar of steel about 1/4" thick. (annealed 1080 is a good choice). Mark the bar at 1" intervals with a sharpie.
3) Feed the steel into the blade using a wooden pusher block at about 25% of the normal feed rate. After about a minute of cutting, gradually increase feed rate to full speed. (normal feed rate is around 6" per minute for 1/4" stock) Start with cutting the first 1" line in 1 minute, then the next line in 30 seconds, , ending by cutting a 1" line in 15 seconds. At this point the blade is ready to cut up blade stock.

Pro Tips:
Don't expect a portaband to cut much of a curve. Cut multiple straight cuts to get a rough shape and grind in the curves. Trying to cut curves will greatly shorten the life of the blade ... or destroy it. If you try to cut a tight curve you will wear the teeth badly on one side. This makes the blade try to cut a curved line. If you can't cut straight without angling the sheet of steel, just change the bade ... because you have ruined it.
As a rule of thumb, a portaband can cut a curve that arcs about 1/4" in 2" of cut. That might work for a blade belly, but handle curves should be ground in.

50 grit ceramic belts are cheaper than good bandsaw blades. Use belts to get final shapes and curves! Let the bandsaw do what it does best - cut straight lines.

Don't try and cut hardened metal. If it won't cut easily, anneal it first. Cutting hardened metal will shorten the life of the blade ... or destroy it in 60 seconds.

Stainless steels are much tougher to cut. Slow the speed down by 50% (around 100 SFPM), slow the fed rate by 50% (around 2-3 IPM).

Use a little cutting fluid/lubricant. (Smoothsaw and Lenox Band-Aid are good water soluble lubricants.)
A cheap Kool-Mist clone from Amazon is also a great idea for a portaband. It can be set to barely deliver more than a fine cold mist.
If you cut a lot of steel, consider a coolant flow setup on a modified HF 4X6.
Click to expand...
I'm guilty of trying to push a curve.....
Doesn't work. Don't do it.

These are all good points.
My wife sucks at making candles, and fancy/artsy soap..... I'll use her Ugly ones for bandsaw lube. Works great.
 
I believe that some coolant will make a big improvement.

It would seem that my biggest problem was pressure, as it is cutting;
But, I have been cutting lesser metals on a regular basis for decades with these. I had never seen one struggle or at least cut that slow. Thankfully it has a variable speed and I can run low RPM.
 
Coolant in a portaband? I have not tried this but using one on my grinder I would not use it on my portaband. Have you done this?
 
You can use stick type blade lubes or old candles easily on a portaband. Stick-Kut is readily available, cheap, and works quite well.

You can use a mist system set to make a cold air mist that is almost dry. It requires about 100PSI to do that. I had that setup on my 4X7.
I haven't seen a need for it on the Milwaukee portaband, but don't see why it wouldn't work.
 
Huh... I never thought to use wax to lube a portaband. I'll have to give that a shot...

That said, I've never had any issues cutting AEB-L, and it's been my go-to stainless for quite a while now.
 
I like the idea of using sticks to lube. But, would this create a buildup of fine metal shavings in the portaband?
 
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