What bandsaw do y'all use, Andy?

chainring

chainring

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Ready to quit screwing around with a chop saw and get a bandsaw for profiling blades - what do you guys run at the shop? Looking at the Grizzly G0621X on the advice of Dan Koster. I don't really need variable speed or woodcutting capability at this point, but it still might be the best choice. About ready to pull the trigger on it, along with some bi-metal bands.

Any input?

Thanks, Matt
 
Hey Matt, we actually don't bandsaw the profiles. we chop the bars to the length of the scribed profiles then do all of the profiling on the grinder with 36 grit.
 
allen456 said:
Hey Matt, we actually don't bandsaw the profiles. we chop the bars to the length of the scribed profiles then do all of the profiling on the grinder with 36 grit.
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I see. That's a lot of 36 grit belts and steel dust.
 
Typically we get about 20 profiled blanks per 36g belt. We use the "blaze" belts
 
You ought to see the steel dust piled up on their floor.......I always see a whole bunch of knife blades down there waiting on a dust pan.
Plan on getting a couple of pounds of the stuff and seeing if it will work in a "canned" damascus project sometime this year. One of the reasons I like forging better, not much steel dust leaving my shop.

Unless you are doing a lot of production like work like And & Co., you might consider getting a quality deep-throat portaband and setting it up for cutting out your blanks. Cheaper, much smaller footprint and can be stowed away if need be. It will also pull a lot of other duty uses the longer you have it. Lot of different threads on setting one up for this here on Blade Forums, KNF, and KnifeDawgs, take a cyber cruise and check it out.
 
We use a milwakee portaband that has been altered and mounted on the wall and I also have one that a stand was made for that I use at home. It will have several uses for many other applications as Carl mentioned. Before I started with Andy, I was cutting out all of my blanks with mine. The only problem I found, especially using mostly cpm154, is that I only could get maybe 4 profiles cut before I needed to change the blade. Either way works, just seems grinding the profiles is quicker and more cost efficent for us. Loveless actually ground the profiles out too and Jim Merritt continues to follow this approach.
Basically, it boils fown to what will work the best for you, lol.
 
crex said:
You ought to see the steel dust piled up on their floor.......I always see a whole bunch of knife blades down there waiting on a dust pan.
Plan on getting a couple of pounds of the stuff and seeing if it will work in a "canned" damascus project sometime this year.
Click to expand...

This sounds super cool! I would love to see the in progress and finished pics of this damascus project! One of these years I'm back in the States I hope to make it to Trackrock so I can do some learning!
 
Condor, better hurry, most of us old guys have forgotten more than we know......and it ain't getting better. We have to brain pool a lot more these days.
Not sure of the "contamination" factor on the dust, may kill all bets on a good weld. But then, Andy said I can have all I need to play with.

Allen, since I don't use cpm154 (just doesn't forge well), I get a good bit of life out of my saw blades. I did find (like so may other things in life) that not settling for mediocre blades I get better cuts and durability. I do however make sure my steel is dead soft before cutting. What kills my blades quickest is when I'm cutting out wrought iron guards from old wagon wheels. Between the trapped silica and grit they go pretty fast. I usually pre-forge and flatten to tighten the layers a bit before sawing up. Definitely a trade off for a bigger floor unit, but does what I need quite well.
 
Carl, you want us to bring a bucket of steel shavings up to Trackrock next month?
 
Probably not on the magnet, too many different things getting mixed in the grindings. I'll just have to make a trip over and try to catch a "pure" O-1 grind pile. Of course it might be interesting to see if the cpm154 will mix in a can weld. Looking at some interesting temp dynamics.
I'll not sure I'll be set for a can weld by TR, got a lot to figure out between now and then (don't want to risk pulling a ligament with all the extra thinking!).
 
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