Friction cutting steel revisited...

[Guy Thomas]

O.K people, the search button has once again reappeared so I searched the archives on friction cutting. Seems to be a divided opinion here, some say only for Ti, others say thin steel also. I'm sure there are a lot of us that would like to purchase a bandsaw that would do double duty without variable speed. Bottom line, will friction cutting steel on a woodworking bandsaw destroy the saw or at the very least ruin it for precision wood cuts?

 

[JW Smith]

Originally posted by Silent:. Bottom line, will friction cutting steel on a woodworking bandsaw destroy the saw or at the very least ruin it for precision wood cuts?[/B]

I have been using a Craftsmen wood cutting bandsaw with an 80" blade since 1984 to cut anything that gets in front of it

I've cut up to 5/32" thick ATS-34,BG-42,440V,420V,440C,5160 &1084. I also cut Titanium,L6 saw blade,nickel, 15N20,& Carbon fiber. I also use it to cut down the length of my hardened reamers and drill bits. It's also great for trimming golf club shafts.
The only thing that friction cutting does to the saw is wear the guides out pretty fast.
Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by JW Smith (edited 02-09-2000).]

 

[tom mayo]

yeah...like he said...i have a variable speed metal cutting bandsaw that i put expensive blades on ($35 each) and ti ruins them.....so i cut up to .187 ti on my wood bandsaw....of course the blades are no good for wood after that...but they are relatively cheap compared to the other ones. stan fujisaka cuts all of his everything on a wood cutting bandsaw....one note of CAUTION: some of the stuff coming out of the bottom of your saw will be VERY hot...you should at least blow all of the wood dust out of your saw before using it for metal and be aware that it could start something on fire....

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http://www.mayoknives.com

 

[Guy Thomas]

Tom and JW, thanks for the posts, when the time comes to buy a bandsaw I'll be armed with great information on what I can accomplish with it!-Guy T.

P.S.-Sorry for being lazy but I don't feel like going back into the search archives, but am I right in remembering that an RPM of 3000 is necessary for friction cutting? The Ridgid 14" model doesn't seem to be rated at that, I don't know ac=bout the Delta model.