P

Pmanf4

Member
Hi all,

Wondering if the speed (SFPM) of my 12 inch Jet Band Saw is too fast for cutting some of the items during the Quick Build of an RV8?

Like most other wood band saws, mine is rated at 2750 SFPM, (feet per minute), much faster speed than what is recommend for cutting metal. The speed of my saw is constant, it is not a variable speed saw.

Everything I read indicates aluminum should be cut between 500-1000 SFPM. However, in other threads, many builders have indicated they have used saws that have similar speeds as my mine, and they seem to be satisfied with the results.

Question, with a proper blade installed, is the speed of my saw right for use during building a Quick Build RV8? Other than what is required for the construction of my RV, I am not interested in cutting any metal.

Thanks for your help!!
 
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Go slow

Yes, a wood worker's bandsaw is much too fast. I've seen a couple of homemade setups that take the motor to an interim pulley which then goes to the saw, thus reducing the blade speed to 1/3 or 1/4. At that speed, and with the right blade, they cut aluminum parts.
 
My understanding is that aluminum works just like wood, i.e whatever blades/tools you use for wood will work on aluminum.

I have a Delta 14" band saw (don't know the speed of the blade) but it worked well with aluminum. I used an 18 TPI 1/4" blade and cut everything aluminum without any problems. Like wood, the thinner the material the more TPI are necessary and conversely the thicker material could be cut with fewer TPI. I used the 18 TPI for everything and accepted that the blade would dull more quickly. The duller the blade the hotter the aluminum got as it was cut.

John Ciolino
RV08
N894Y
 
John,

Thanks for the info. Does your Delta saw have the ability to vary the speeds, or is it just one constant RPM?

Thanks,

Mike
 
Mike,

It is a single speed tool. Motor speed is 1725 RPM which I think is standard, but it attches to the band saw through pulleys so I have no idea of the feet per second (or minuite?) the blade is traveling.

Nice thing about a band saw is that is is the safest power tool in the shop: the work piece will not move unless you move it; there is no kick-back. The worse thing that can happen is that the blade breaks and as long as you have the cover doors closed that is a non-event from a safety standpoint.

John
 
Thank you John for your reply. Do you know the model number of your Delta Band Saw? I could look up the SFPM.

Thank you!!

Mike
 
I have no idea what the FPM is for my Ryobi band saw, but it cuts everything up to 1" Al stock just fine, as long as the blade is sharp (using a 14 tpi metal blade).

greg
 
I have a little 10" craftsmen with a 'stock' wood blade. The teeth are for wood, but it cuts that aluminum like butter. The first time you put a piece of angle stock up against that blade with big teeth going at high RPM you're sure the world is going to fly apart, but it works well.
 
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John Ciolino said:
Nice thing about a band saw is that is is the safest power tool in the shop: the work piece will not move unless you move it; there is no kick-back. The worse thing that can happen is that the blade breaks and as long as you have the cover doors closed that is a non-event from a safety standpoint.
Click to expand...

Just make sure you use some kind of a push-piece to hold your material whenever band-sawing small parts really close to the moving blade instead of holding the part with your bare fingers. One slip and.... well, my left thumb knuckle is almost completely healed up now:eek:
 
The faster the better for aluminum

For Aluminum, the faster the better. The only limiting factor for speed is if you start to get aluminum chips welding themselves to the steel blade. Even if that happens, all you need is some light lube like WD40 or similiar to help cool/lube that steel blade.

We routinely cut hundreds of feet of 1.5 inch thick aluminum with our band saw running as fast as it can. We even rebuilt the primary drive to get a little more speed.


Now, the blade pitch is very important for the specific material you are cutting. You should have a fine enough TPI to have at least 2 teeth constantly engaged in the material you are cutting. So, Fine pitch (High number TPI) for thin materials, and course pitch (Low number TPI) for thick stuff.

When we are cutting the 1.5 inch thick material, we use either a 4 or 6 TPI skip tooth blade (Depends on what is more readily available) Running as fast as the band saw will run.

The thinnest material we typically cut is 0.125 thick and we use a 16-20 TPI blade also running as fast as it will run. It is terribly noisy when cutting the thin stuff though!!!!! :eek:
 
Also, just a little tip I learned the hard way: You get the best control when the blade guide is as low as it will go for the material you're cutting.;)
 
whoever said the 18TPI blade was the best (metal cutting blade) for aluminum

well...I use the wood cutting blade, and it's 100x better, unless it's .60 sheet or thinner aluminum

but for angles, bars, etc, the wood blade is the way to go
 
If you put the thin aluminum between two pieces if 1/8" "plywood" you can cut it with your wood blade. ;)
 
Wood and aluminum

Cutting a thin piece of scrap wood with the aluminum does a great job of keeping the blade from loading up with aluminum. Blades last much longer this way, and it isn't messy like cutting oils.

Soap (in bar form) and boelube work well where scrap wood isn't practical.
 
Miter saw

A bit of thread drift here, but related: I have a Dewalt Miter saw that does a great job cutting through the thick angle stock. It makes nice square cuts that require almost no sanding or filing to final shape. Be sure to wear eye protection, though (or better yet, a full face mask) as the chips will be flying everywhere, and they are HOT.

20071105-01-tn.jpg


It also works great on UHMW:

20090302-02-tn.jpg


Note, this image is a bit staged as I had actually clamped a piece of wood to the fence in order to better support the workpiece.
 
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