More Bandsaw (and blade) choice questions (and reasons why)

[Horsewright]

Yeah, but that one doesn’t have a bandsaw attachment...

Ya just ride right up to the bandsaw!

Not every bandsaw has equestrian access!

 

[A.McPherson]

Ya just ride right up to the bandsaw!

Not every bandsaw has equestrian access!

Lol! Must be a well trained horse to run a bandsaw...

 

[Cushing H.]

Stacy ... am I going to get in to trouble for starting this thread???

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Stacy ... am I going to get in to trouble for starting this thread???

No, we are just horsing around.

 

[tiguy7]

Ya just ride right up to the bandsaw!

Not every bandsaw has equestrian access!

Do you ever put a knife band in the saw to cut stacked leather?

 

[Horsewright]

Do you ever put a knife band in the saw to cut stacked leather?

No I haven't. In fact I'm such a SWAG table/portaband kinda guy I recently gave away that bandsaw pictured with the wife horseback there cause I wasn't using it. It had blown a tire and I kept telling myself I needed to order another one and months had gone by and then it was a year or so and I realized that the little portaband was doing everything that I needed a bandsaw to do including cutting up elk sheds, resawing wood to handle scales or blocks, cutting out blades, pins, bolster material and trimming handle material once on the knife etc. Working in big batches like I do, thats a lot of sawing, (the wife cut out about 40 blades yesterday while I was shaping handles on another 25 odd). We do all our leather cutting with roundknives that we've made. Well except real light chap leather then we use one of those Olfa roller knives.

The daughter cutting out some blades for me. What kind of saddle is that?

When I say elk sheds I mean elk sheds:

Lol! Must be a well trained horse to run a bandsaw...

Exactly! Its amazing what that one can get done with out any opposable digits! My son was "cowboss" on a big buckaroo kinda place in eastern Or.

My wife was looking for a "quiet" horse to add to her string. My son called and said got the horse you're looking for. He's only 3 but I've been using him to bring in the horses at night, (thats an older, very seasoned horse's job). As cowboss it was part of his job to bring in the horses for the crew for the next morning.

So he drives into the place when he's come home visiting one day. Unloads this scraggly, just off the desert, should be scared of everything colt (in cowboy, any young horse is a colt regardless of sex or complete lack there of, a gelding), only he ain't. Toss my saddle on, jump on, call Floyd, he jumps on and they toss me the flag ( a plastic bag taped to a stick that will scare the ever living poop out of most horses that aren't use to one) and I say Honey I think we found your quiet horse:

Sometimes he just stops and smells the roses (a metaphor, here our friend Cara is sitting on him)

Or he'll count the goldfish with Josie:

But put him to work with that portaband and look what he gets done:

I'd put him on the payroll full time if he had thumbs.

 

[tiguy7]

That looks like a high quality Portaband. I would be inclined to use a larger saw just so I didn’t have to change the blade as often. You need a matching pair of foot rests.

 

[Horsewright]

That looks like a high quality Portaband. I would be inclined to use a larger saw just so I didn’t have to change the blade as often. You need a matching pair of foot rests.

Yep its a DeWalt:

The wife finished cutting all 93 blades in this batch yesterday. Before she got started:

Her spidey senses were tingling, she realized I was taking pics:

Besides the 93 blades cut out, (steels were: A2, AEB-L, damascus, 26C3 and 1095), I also used the saw yesterday morning to trim all the excess handle material and bolster material off of this batch I'm working on and the day before to cut all the pin and lanyard tube stock for them and a couple days prior to that to cut all the bolster material:

Anyhoo went through 3 blades with all that cutting and the third still has life in it yet. Takes about a minute to change blades on this saw. I pay $14 a two pack for Milwaukee blades. I can live with that, for what it gets done.

 

[tiguy7]

That’s pretty impressive, time wise and money wise. Are the blades bimetal? Does the saw operate at one speed?

 

[Horsewright]

That’s pretty impressive, time wise and money wise. Are the blades bimetal? Does the saw operate at one speed?

Variable speed with a dial adjustment, not changing pulleys or anything. Yes the blades are bimetal and available locally in our little mountain town. In fact the Depot is very close to the ranch.

 

[Cushing H.]

Interesting. Seems though to be an argument in favor of the portasaw, and not the cutoff saw (takes up more space, more expensive (?), and needs a saddle