Profiling My Blades

M

MikeColeman

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
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tomorrow, I want to purchase some way to profile my blade. I have read a lot of material over the last year here. I know that some of you use a portable band saw to rough out your blades. I got my grinder today. I have a good drill press. I have a disc sander. I have collected tons of hand tools. I need to figure out how to profile my blade. My design is ready and the steel is on hand.
What should I buy?
 
Sounds like you can profile it with what you have right now, may not be the easy way... what is your budget like?

I use a portable Band saw, for a year I just used a vice to hold it upright, now I have a Base from "Swag off Road" the porta band sits in. I don't think I would do it any differently today! I use the Variable speed saw so I can cut my steel and scales.
 
The swag offroad unit is sweet. I bought this old milwaukee saw for $150 and used it for a year with it strapped to a leg on my workbench and worked ok. helluiva lot better than cutting it out by hand!The other day i got a stand from worked and rigged this up with a footswitch its a dream to use.
You could easily make a stand from 2x4's or something
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I've blown my savings account and several paychecks already. One more won't hurt. I was just thinking that maybe I should use a saw to profile as close as possible to save on belts. My budget for the saw is maybe a couple hundred bucks. I'm also picking up an el-cheapo buffer from HF tomorrow. I have the steel now. the handle material and such will be ordered Monday.
 
Dang, That looks like an easy fix. There is a pawn shop down the road with several porta-bands. I'll just check them for tracking and pick one up. Could I wire up the foot pedal from a sewing machine to work?
 
Sounds like a Second hand Porta Band is doable Mike. They are Durable, Blades are easy to find.

Sticky, I saw your earlier thread on the stand you grabbed. Great find!
 
you can get a brand new momentary on footswitch from harbor freight for 10 bones.
 
I love this forum!!! I want to make knives. I have the desire and the cash (after months of wrangling). But, every time I get stumped, you guys pitch in. I thank you very much.
 
RyanW said:
Sounds like a Second hand Porta Band is doable Mike. They are Durable, Blades are easy to find.

Sticky, I saw your earlier thread on the stand you grabbed. Great find!
Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah i see a LOT of great stuff go out in the metal dumpster. They threw out 10 fifty five gallon drums full of new timken roller bearings! copper tube, brass, stainless bar stock, stainless tubing, fittings etc. its unreal. I never lack material to make gaurds and bolsters and stuff!
 
Mike, I think the sewing machine pedal might be a bit tricky since it is spring loaded and set up for Variable speed. I went with the HF one Sticky referred to, can't beat the price. The one I have is press once "ON" Press again "OFF". while it was in the vice back in the day I just zip tied the Trigger on the porta-band (Still zip tied for the foot switch) and just plugged and un-plugged.

Good luck, let us know what you end up with.
 
Another option is to watch for the HF 4X6 horizontal/vertical band saw to go on sale for about $200. It will allow you to cut longer and wider steel than the portaband will allow.

What ever type of saw you get, order a quality Lenox (or similar) B-metal blade for it. The cheap carbon steel blades won't last more than a few feet of steel cutting before they are trashed.

All this talk about power saws aside, there is a good and cheap alternative.....a high tension hand hack saw. They are in the same section as the regular hack saws, and cost about $25. That and a 12 pack of Lenox Bi-metal hack saw blades will set you back about $40 total. With the blade blank clamped firmly in a strong vise, cutting out a blade profile will only take a few minutes. Use full even pressure strokes, and it will cut fast.
 
Stacy,
is this the saw you are referring to? I know the description says "Vertical" does it have a work top to rest the work on while cutting in vertical mode? I am guessing one would have to be made, similar to the Porta-band method.
 

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I never profile with either of my metal cutting bandsaws. Basically I use those for phenolic materials.

I use a chop saw to cut the bar to length. A fiber wheel from the HD makes fast work of this. Way faster than my 4x6 bandsaw or my portaband. Then the profiling of the blank takes 6 minutes or less on my KMG with a wheel and a 36 grit blaze belt. Nothing to clean up either. I've profiled 45 blades in one day. Dylan is even faster than I am.
 
Hey Andy, do similar to you just cut striaght lines close to my design lines, then use the KMG Flat Platen with a 36 belt and squared Tool rest to take it down to the lines. I think the OP is limited at this point.
 
RyanW said:
Stacy,
is this the saw you are referring to? I know the description says "Vertical" does it have a work top to rest the work on while cutting in vertical mode? I am guessing one would have to be made, similar to the Porta-band method.
Click to expand...
That's the one.I also use one like this.It comes with a rinky dink tabe for vertical use,I stripped of all the clamping parts and sit and cut,Been running for 7 years.
Stan
 
Okay, today I went everywhere. I ended up buying a lot of crap at harbor freight. I spent $291. I also ended up with a porta-band saw. It seems to track and cut well. I am going to mount it directly to a 3"X3" metal stud on the wall of the shop. I did purchase the foot switch. I also got a 6" bench buffer with cloth wheels at HF. I have been playing with it and like it a lot. I now have one of the shiniest stainless steel forks I have ever seen.

I bought polishing rouge, blades, sandpaper, pin files, a bench grinder and all kinds of crap I didn't really have to have. I also got a magnifying visor. It came with 5 lenses and was dirt cheap.

I have 2 knives designed and 2 pieces of cpm154. I'm ordering some maple scales, pin material, bolster material and epoxy on Monday. I am getting so close that I can feel it. I can't wait to turn some flat bar into quality scrap bin material.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who has so patiently helped me to understand. Keep your fingers crossed. Next weekend I hope to really start learning.
 
bladsmth said:
Another option is to watch for the HF 4X6 horizontal/vertical band saw to go on sale for about $200. It will allow you to cut longer and wider steel than the portaband will allow.

What ever type of saw you get, order a quality Lenox (or similar) B-metal blade for it. The cheap carbon steel blades won't last more than a few feet of steel cutting before they are trashed.

All this talk about power saws aside, there is a good and cheap alternative.....a high tension hand hack saw. They are in the same section as the regular hack saws, and cost about $25. That and a 12 pack of Lenox Bi-metal hack saw blades will set you back about $40 total. With the blade blank clamped firmly in a strong vise, cutting out a blade profile will only take a few minutes. Use full even pressure strokes, and it will cut fast.
Click to expand...
X2 on that. The blade that comes with the saw will last you about 2 weeks even with minimal use. A real blade will last you many months if not longer.
 
I can't wait to get a metal band-saw. I've been profiling with an angle grinder with cut of disks. I can get quite a good profile using this method but it's very noisy and messy. The neighbors are probably ready to pitch in together and buy one for me just to shut me up. :D
 
MikeColeman said:
Okay, today I went everywhere. I ended up buying a lot of crap at harbor freight. I spent $291. I also ended up with a porta-band saw. It seems to track and cut well. I am going to mount it directly to a 3"X3" metal stud on the wall of the shop. I did purchase the foot switch. I also got a 6" bench buffer with cloth wheels at HF. I have been playing with it and like it a lot. I now have one of the shiniest stainless steel forks I have ever seen.

I bought polishing rouge, blades, sandpaper, pin files, a bench grinder and all kinds of crap I didn't really have to have. I also got a magnifying visor. It came with 5 lenses and was dirt cheap.

I have 2 knives designed and 2 pieces of cpm154. I'm ordering some maple scales, pin material, bolster material and epoxy on Monday. I am getting so close that I can feel it. I can't wait to turn some flat bar into quality scrap bin material.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who has so patiently helped me to understand. Keep your fingers crossed. Next weekend I hope to really start learning.
Click to expand...

sounds like your set! take it slooow. its easy to get in a rush! and be very careful with the buffer...those things are dangerous as f.
 
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RyanW said:
Stacy,
is this the saw you are referring to? I know the description says "Vertical" does it have a work top to rest the work on while cutting in vertical mode? I am guessing one would have to be made, similar to the Porta-band method.
Click to expand...

Yep, that is the one.
If you will be cutting a lot of larger metal stock, you can put the vise and stuff on when assembling, but a lot of guys just leave them off and sit on the bed while cutting. There is an accessory table with the saw that screws in place to make it vertical. You can make a more robust table if you wish and replace the sheet metal one they give you.

I put an old English riding saddle on the bed and used to sit on the saddle while cutting. Others have duct-tapped a pillow/cushion on the bed.

After a few years of having the saw take up a lot of floor space, I just removed the cutting arm from the bed ( kept the saddle and trashed the bed) ,made a simple base plate, and bolted it to the workbench. It is rock solid and only takes up a corner of the bench now.

As far as using a chop saw to cut up steel bars, and using an angle grinder to grind profiles......it is fine in a dedicated shop with non-flammable construction and fire systems, but can be very dangerous in any other shop setup. Ask Raymond Richards about what can happen to your shop/barn. I know several folks have set leaves and dry grass burning in their yard doing it outside

BTW, A foot switch is a good accessory to use with any device you need both hands to operate.
 
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