- Joined
- Jun 5, 2012
- Messages
- 1,071
Adding the portaband to the shop was something I should have done when I first got started. The first time I used it I had 5 fully profiled knives in the time it used to take me to do one. That means I can spend more time in other areas and provide better overall quality to my customers.
I think the most important thing is to go low and slow, tool steels are rough on blades, even when "soft". For instance, on my HF unit, I have to use the second to lowest speed and even that is a bit too fast, the lowest is just unusable, so it almost doesn't count.
The portaband is also a bit louder. I think the 4x6 is superior in every way, but the portaband is a good alternative.
I already have a 14" clone that I souped up a bit for metal cutting, but in the end I decided to keep it as a wood machine in case I wanted to do small resawing to cut handle blanks for stabilizing. It's also nice to have a dedicated machine for handles, and one for blades. In a perfect world, I would finish converting my 14" to metal by adding a gearbox, and then buy a second 14", but that isn't in my budget or space contstraint. The main reason I went portaband was that I could just stick it on a shelf when I wasn't using it. I made up a little doohickey for the handle that lets me hold it in the vise without damaging it. Next I'm going to make up some kind of hacked together screw adjuster for the trigger so I can get some semblance of speed control between a bit too low, and a bit too high.
I plan on getting a "real" metal cutting bandsaw when I have a shop, so I didn't want to invest more than the cost of the HF portaband. It's a little funky, but it works quite well. I'm still on the stock blade and my second bar of 3/16" XHP (9 knives). It isn't a great blade, but I've been dripping a bit of cutting oil on the teeth and the cut line to help it out (probably the only reason it's survived this far).
cutting tool steel on a bandsaw:
-Proper blade speed, keep to the low end
-Tooth count correct for material thickness (or at least within reason)
-a bit of oil or blade lube (comes in a stick) definitely doesn't hurt
-medium pressure, hard enough for each tooth to cut a proper chip, but not so hard that the teeth get overloaded/overheated
-blade intended for tool steels if possible, but at least a decent bimetal
(I know these have pretty much been mentioned, just wanted to make a little list)
I think the most important thing is to go low and slow, tool steels are rough on blades, even when "soft". For instance, on my HF unit, I have to use the second to lowest speed and even that is a bit too fast, the lowest is just unusable, so it almost doesn't count.
The portaband is also a bit louder. I think the 4x6 is superior in every way, but the portaband is a good alternative.
I already have a 14" clone that I souped up a bit for metal cutting, but in the end I decided to keep it as a wood machine in case I wanted to do small resawing to cut handle blanks for stabilizing. It's also nice to have a dedicated machine for handles, and one for blades. In a perfect world, I would finish converting my 14" to metal by adding a gearbox, and then buy a second 14", but that isn't in my budget or space contstraint. The main reason I went portaband was that I could just stick it on a shelf when I wasn't using it. I made up a little doohickey for the handle that lets me hold it in the vise without damaging it. Next I'm going to make up some kind of hacked together screw adjuster for the trigger so I can get some semblance of speed control between a bit too low, and a bit too high.
I plan on getting a "real" metal cutting bandsaw when I have a shop, so I didn't want to invest more than the cost of the HF portaband. It's a little funky, but it works quite well. I'm still on the stock blade and my second bar of 3/16" XHP (9 knives). It isn't a great blade, but I've been dripping a bit of cutting oil on the teeth and the cut line to help it out (probably the only reason it's survived this far).
cutting tool steel on a bandsaw:
-Proper blade speed, keep to the low end
-Tooth count correct for material thickness (or at least within reason)
-a bit of oil or blade lube (comes in a stick) definitely doesn't hurt
-medium pressure, hard enough for each tooth to cut a proper chip, but not so hard that the teeth get overloaded/overheated
-blade intended for tool steels if possible, but at least a decent bimetal
(I know these have pretty much been mentioned, just wanted to make a little list)
....and I use angle grinders with cut-off wheels quite a bit, but not for cutting out knife blades. 1/16" thick cut-off wheels wear down fairly quick, like to grab, and throw crap everywhere. I think it would take a box full of cut-off wheels to cut the same number of knife blades one portaband blade would cut.
