Re: Entire head coming down at an angle?
I did a bit of testing today. The saw itself wasn't level, so I leveled it out (using the roller feet to come down to the ground and stay level). It helped a little bit...the difference from the top of my square to the bottom (about 4") became < 0.04" (as measured by my calipers). Probably about 0.038" mean measurement.
Then, figuring I'd stress-relieve the table, I untorqued all the bolts that attached the table to the base and then retightened them. To my surprise it made the problem worse again (> 0.04" as measured by the calipers), and the table was no longer level.
I'm thinking I should probably just untorque the bolts and leave them snugged but not torqued down.
|
Re: Entire head coming down at an angle?
I just had another thought.? As an alternative to drilling/tapping 2-3 holes on the side that is highest, drill/tap ONE hole on the other side, on the very top of the fixed part of the hinge.? ?In addition to being turned down a bit, the pin on that side will have a drilled/tapped hole so a bolt can be run through the hole in the hinge and pull the pin UP.? This also will fix the pin in place, no added "slop" (but would remove the ability to correct for a horizontal alignment problem).? If need be, a bit of shim could be put in there to get the vertical alignment dead on.? I'm not saying it would be easy to shim, but if there's motivation there's going to be a way.
Since the bandsaw head will have to be removed anyway in order to remove and replace the pin, either side of the hinge can be modified this way.?
Caveat:? This is all speculative.? Based on examination of my own band saw, my gut feeling is that it could work; and it won't make it impossible to go back to the saw's original state if it doesn't pan out.
Mark
|
Re: Entire head coming down at an angle?
If you have a lathe or have access to one you might be able to turn one of the ends of the hinge pin down to correct the angle.? That side will drop by the amount you take off the radius so you will want to carefully measure the angle and calculate how much you need to remove.? The original pin is held in place with a roll pin so it wouldn't be too difficult to make one, rather than risking the original.
There are some limits to how much of a correction you can achieve this way.? Turning the pin down a lot will make it weaker; and the other end of the pin must have enough "slop" so it can rotate through a small angle.? Based on John's permanent fix #1, I have to assume there is enough free play to accommodate at least some angular displacement.
That's not an ideal solution by itself because it also introduces more play in the hinge.? To address that, you can use John's grub screw suggestion.? Drilling and tapping 2 or 3 holes can be done with a hand drill and tap.? The grub screws also might assist in correcting minor alignment problems on the horizontal axis.
The advantage to this approach is that you can always go back to the original condition of the saw, since the casting(s) have not been substantially altered to the point where they're not compatible with the OEM replacement parts.? Plus that way you have a hole to apply lube to the hinge :).
Mark?
|
Re: Entire head coming down at an angle?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Nov 24, 2020, at 8:14 PM, Jack Dinan <jack@...> wrote:
? I also have this problem. It makes my saw almost useless for cutting in the vise.? I resort to cutting on the little table whenever possible. ?
I went back and forth adjusting the blade guides, tracking, and whatnot over and over again trying to get my Harbor Freight red to cut straight. Eventually I realized I was chasing my tail by putting a long straight edge on the vise bringing the saw up and down. At the top of the straight edge, the blade was at least a couple mm to the right (if facing the on-off switch) of where it ended up when it finally came all the way down! So this means the entire head is attached to the table crooked and the head of the saw is coming down to the table at an angle, rather than perpendicular. Ugh.
Is there any way I can deal with this problem? The saw assembly seems to pivot on this big pin that is between two pillow block-like things that are part of the table casting. I don't see anywhere that I could add a shim or anything to correct this. Is there something I can do to get this cutting straight down and perpendicular with the table? Is the whole thing just junk because of this manufacturing flaw?
|
Re: Entire head coming down at an angle?
I also have this problem. It makes my saw almost useless for cutting in the vise.? I resort to cutting on the little table whenever possible.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I went back and forth adjusting the blade guides, tracking, and whatnot over and over again trying to get my Harbor Freight red to cut straight. Eventually I realized I was chasing my tail by putting a long straight edge on the vise bringing the saw up and down. At the top of the straight edge, the blade was at least a couple mm to the right (if facing the on-off switch) of where it ended up when it finally came all the way down! So this means the entire head is attached to the table crooked and the head of the saw is coming down to the table at an angle, rather than perpendicular. Ugh.
Is there any way I can deal with this problem? The saw assembly seems to pivot on this big pin that is between two pillow block-like things that are part of the table casting. I don't see anywhere that I could add a shim or anything to correct this. Is there something I can do to get this cutting straight down and perpendicular with the table? Is the whole thing just junk because of this manufacturing flaw?
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
John
I think I have unintentionally misled... When I say tube steel, I mean either square or rectangular hollow?tubes, not round. I realize you are referring to round tube, which would be unsupported until near?the middle of the cut.? This is a throwback to my?days during?the construction of nuclear power plants. The A&E called square and rectangular hollow material ¡°tube steel¡± and I just assumed that I was clear. Sorry about that!?
Thanks a lot for your reply!
John Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
The waste material is most stable when pulled back against the fixed jaw while being cut.? To sandwich the tube means the waste on the movable jaw side would be unsupported until it got near the middle of the cut. That would vibrate badly.? If you've only got thin waste material, multiple layers between the tube and fixed jaw will work as well as a single thick piece - jv ?? Thanks Bruce!
I wonder what benefit I¡¯d see if I made a tube?sandwich by placing sacrificial material of about the same height and thickness before and after the stainless tube? Would that arrangement serve to prevent tooth breakage? That seems logical...
John Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app: Another technique that I've used on a thin piece of metal tubing that could chip off a tooth or two is to put in a sacrificial piece of something like plywood, aluminum, hardwood, etc., behind the piece and cut both at the same time.? That way there is much less chance of catching a tooth.??
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
The waste material is most stable when pulled back against the fixed jaw while being cut.? To sandwich the tube means the waste on the movable jaw side would be unsupported until it got near the middle of the cut. That would vibrate badly.? If you've only got thin waste material, multiple layers between the tube and fixed jaw will work as well as a single thick piece - jv ??
Thanks Bruce!
I wonder what benefit I¡¯d see if I made a tube?sandwich by placing sacrificial material of about the same height and thickness before and after the stainless tube? Would that arrangement serve to prevent tooth breakage? That seems logical...
John Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app: Another technique that I've used on a thin piece of metal tubing that could chip off a tooth or two is to put in a sacrificial piece of something like plywood, aluminum, hardwood, etc., behind the piece and cut both at the same time.? That way there is much less chance of catching a tooth.??
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
Thanks Bruce!
I wonder what benefit I¡¯d see if I made a tube?sandwich by placing sacrificial material of about the same height and thickness before and after the stainless tube? Would that arrangement serve to prevent tooth breakage? That seems logical...
John Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
Another technique that I've used on a thin piece of metal tubing that could chip off a tooth or two is to put in a sacrificial piece of something like plywood, aluminum, hardwood, etc., behind the piece and cut both at the same time.? That way there is much less chance of catching a tooth.??
|
Re: Entire head coming down at an angle?
Hi Morgon The saw is not junk, but it is the most difficult problem to fix on a 4x6. There are 2 things that must be met for a saw to cut vertically square:? 1. The bottom of the workpiece must be parallel to the PIVOT SHAFT (normally met by the vice table being parallel to the length of the pivot shaft in elevation (looking from the front?over the vice table)) and 2. The blade-body (the steel band above the teeth) must be square to the pivot shaft,?(This is always adjustable).? Everything to do with squarenes relates to the pivot shaft?The description you gave shows that the?surface of the vice table is not parallel?to the pivot shaft.? This is quite a common?fault caused by boring?the?ears out of?parallel to the vice table or, the?casting twisting as it stress-relieves after machining (not sure which, maybe both) Although there are multiple ways to address it. There are a couple of quite viable quick fixes, though each has its limitations,
but none of the permanent fixes are easy.?
Quick fixes One quick fix is to create what is in effect a small sine bar to put on the vice table underneath the workpiece to make the base of the workpiece parallel to the pivot shaft.? You need 2 identical ones, each about 1/4" wide x 1/4" high x 6" long.? You can easily make them from key steel with a small v.short grubscrew?in one end, to tilt it the required?amount.? Any square steel will do but key steel is best because it is hardened and ground square and straight but still soft enough to tap the screw?thread. You won't?be able to accurately cut anything less than 1/4" wide, but they have the advantage of being adjustable so you can tune it to be just right.? You have to remember to put them in each time,?use the?2nd one for wider workpieces.?
Another quick fix (that I use) is to stick a strip of shim stock to the proper side of the vice table with double sided adhesive tape
to correct the parallelism?problem (see attached pic).? Stick the strip down outside the area where the movable vice jaw runs.? It is the quickest and you can cut any width but only if the workpiece?is longer than the vice infeed table is wide. As you can see if the shim is thin, even stainless shim dings and it needs replacing from time to time.
Measuring?how much it's?out of parallel To figure out how thick?the shim (or how big sine bar?correction) needs to be, use the squareness measuring method given in my article on buying a 4x6.? It's near the bottom of the 4th page (article in the Files section of the site: /g/4x6bandsaw/files/Buying%20a%20Used%204x6%20Bandsaw%20v4.pdf).? Remember the difference in thickness from one end of the test piece to the other is twice?the thickness of the shim you need (or offset in the sine bar).? You need to subtract
tape thickness from the shim thickness (Sellotape brand double sided tape is 0.004" thick).
Permanent fixes 1. The one that you can do by hand involves drilling out at least one ear of the pivot shaft bearing in the base casting and filing it out so that a thin brass bush (15mm ID available from any bearing supply?place) can be centred with 3 grubscrews so the pivot shaft is parallel to the existing vice table, then epoxying the bush into the ear.? Tedious but needs no machinery. 2. Mill or grind the surface?of the vice table so its parallel with the pivot shaft.? You might also have to mill the underside to the vice-nut ways to get them back parallel if the vice table was humped in the middle.? This will cost more than the saw is worth?if you don't have access to the machinery.? 3.? Overlay the vice table with a laser-cut ground steel plate, screwed and glued in place that is set parallel to the pivot shaft. Lots of work and potentially expensive.
My advice is to try a quick fix and if you can't put up with the inconvenience, sell it and get a saw that you check out before buying - jv?
I went back and forth adjusting the blade guides, tracking, and whatnot over and over again trying to get my Harbor Freight red to cut straight. Eventually I realized I was chasing my tail by putting a long straight edge on the vise bringing the saw up and down. At the top of the straight edge, the blade was at least a couple mm to the right (if facing the on-off switch) of where it ended up when it finally came all the way down! So this means the entire head is attached to the table crooked and the head of the saw is coming down to the table at an angle, rather than perpendicular. Ugh.
Is there any way I can deal with this problem? The saw assembly seems to pivot on this big pin that is between two pillow block-like things that are part of the table casting. I don't see anywhere that I could add a shim or anything to correct this. Is there something I can do to get this cutting straight down and perpendicular with the table? Is the whole thing just junk because of this manufacturing flaw?
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
Another technique that I've used on a thin piece of metal tubing that could chip off a tooth or two is to put in a sacrificial piece of something like plywood, aluminum, hardwood, etc., behind the piece and cut both at the same time.? That way there is much less chance of catching a tooth.??
|
Entire head coming down at an angle?
I went back and forth adjusting the blade guides, tracking, and whatnot over and over again trying to get my Harbor Freight red to cut straight. Eventually I realized I was chasing my tail by putting a long straight edge on the vise bringing the saw up and down. At the top of the straight edge, the blade was at least a couple mm to the right (if facing the on-off switch) of where it ended up when it finally came all the way down! So this means the entire head is attached to the table crooked and the head of the saw is coming down to the table at an angle, rather than perpendicular. Ugh.
Is there any way I can deal with this problem? The saw assembly seems to pivot on this big pin that is between two pillow block-like things that are part of the table casting. I don't see anywhere that I could add a shim or anything to correct this. Is there something I can do to get this cutting straight down and perpendicular with the table? Is the whole thing just junk because of this manufacturing flaw?
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
Another nice tip! In fact, I made jigs?of various sizes to hold square and rectangular style steel on a diamond shaped (corner up / down)?orientation for cutting ferritic tube steel and I can understand how this?will hold even more importance with cutting?stainless steel.
Thank you! Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
I agree with the previous comment¡ 24 tpi would be a good choice for thin walled tubing. Another trick is to hold the tube on its diagonal in the vise. That way, the same thickness is being presented to the
blade through the whole cut. I¡¯ve had good luck with that.
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
I agree with the previous comment¡ 24 tpi would be a good choice for thin walled tubing. Another trick is to hold the tube on its diagonal in the vise. That way, the same thickness is being presented to the
blade through the whole cut. I¡¯ve had good luck with that.
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
John?
Thank you very much for your well-considered reply! Now, to apply that! I should get my tube steel next week, hopefully before Thanksgiving.
John? Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
Hi John In general (i.e. when cutting solid stainless): Most stainless is softer than mild steel in normal?condition, but can work-harden?to the point where even a bimetal blade won't?touch it.? You have to avoid that as much as possible with your set-up.. Work-hardening happens when you rub a susceptible material, like stainless or titanium, with something hard (like the HSS tip of a bimetal tooth), How long you rub and how hot it gets determines how much it workhardens. The act of cutting stainless always work-hardens it a bit.? In lathe work you use slow speed and high feed to get under the work-hardened?skin, but that's not possible on a bandsaw. In bandsawing solid material, even under optimum conditions, you have many teeth, all skimming off less than a 1/10th of a thou" each? (it really is v.v. thin). So the teeth are always cutting in the work-hardened?zone, and speed should be only 60% of mild steel.? On a 4x6 always?use 'slow' speed. If you have a choice of blade TPI,
on stainless
use 4-6 Teeth-in-Cut rather than the normal optimum of 9 TiC - less teeth means more weight on each tooth and thicker chips so you're cutting in slightly softer material,?
TiC =?blade TPI * length of cut (in inches).? Set the bow weight in range 8-9 lb, no heavier?or you'll?damage the blade.
Its also prone to stalling in the cut at 10 lb or above (with possible motor?damage).
but you do want the weight on the teeth. ? Never let the teeth just rub, lower them into the cut as quickly as possible. Coolant keeps the heat down so it workhardens less, flood coolant is best but even a spray bottle of water is better than nothing.? You're not protecting the edge of the tooth (HSS teeth have more than enough hot-hardness), it's the metal you're cutting that you want to keep cool. To minimise the deflection of the blade from the higher bow weight, keep the top guide as close the work?as possible.?
BUT: Be v. careful when you're cutting tube, as it is very easy to go below 3 TiC and?you'll rip the teeth out of the band!?? An 18TPI blade has teeth?spacing of 1/18",? i.e. 0.055", so when you're cutting 0.043" thick tube wall the whole thickness of the material will fit between one tooth and the next, and you take anything up to 100x the correct chip thickness - people often rip the teeth out of the blade when cutting tube and sheet metal.? Even at 0.130" there are less than 3 teeth-in-cut.? A 24TPI straight pitch bi-metal blade is better for the cutting you want to do.? With just 0.042" between teeth-tips, you get 1 tooth-in-cut on 0.043 and just over 3 TiC when cutting 0.130".?? If you're?going?to cut a lot of tube then hydraulic downfeed is well worth the effort and expense (see recent thread on how to DIY). You can back up the tube with a bit of thicker scrap steel to slow down the cutting, but you'll soon get sick of that. If you control the downfeed rate by hand you WILL lose?teeth off the band (esp. if you're using a coarse TPI blade).? But blade TPI doesn't matter at all if you have hydraulic downfeed, what you save in not buying the high-TPI blades, you can put toward the downfeed control conversion and use a normal 10-14 Bimetal blade to cut the tube. All of your cutting, for the life of the machine, will be better with hydraulic downfeed control.
Hope this helps - jv Thank you! And I should have stated that I¡¯ll be working with 304 stainless.
John H Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
On?Saturday, November 21, 2020,?Terry Coombs?< snagone@...>?wrote:
On 11/21/2020 12:00 PM, John H via wrote:
> Dear Group!
>
> I have been cutting and TIG / MIG welding ferritic steel tube steel
> successfully for several years, and I am now ready and very eager to
> finally strike an arc on stainless steel.
>
> The tube steel material I can envision working with is from 1/2" X 1/2"
> through 2" X 2" stainless tube steel with wall thickness from about
> 0.043" through around 0.13".
>
> Can I please get advice on the blade teeth / inch, saw blade speed and
> down force. My band saw only has a spring to sort of control down force,
> so I will be lowering the blade onto the material by hand and by feel only.
>
> I have an Harbor Freight 4" X 6" bandsaw that has served me very well on
> ferritic steel, and I want to be sure that I have a good idea for safely
> cutting stainless tube steel so I don't go ruining my blade before I
> blink an eye. And even worse - not know why it happened.
>
> Please help me by providing me with your advice on this subject.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> John Hayden
>
? An 18 TPI bimetal is a good place to start . It'll be slow at the
start and finish , but you won't be stripping teeth when it's in the
thin . Which alloy are you working with ? 304 has been known to work
harden if you sneeze at it - likes slow blade speeds and a fairly heavy
cut . 303 and 316 not so much . I haven't worked with 400 series , but I
think they are all hardenable .
--
Snag
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
Hi John In general (i.e. when cutting solid stainless): Most stainless is softer than mild steel in normal?condition, but can work-harden?to the point where even a bimetal blade won't?touch it.? You have to avoid that as much as possible with your set-up.. Work-hardening happens when you rub a susceptible material, like stainless or titanium, with something hard (like the HSS tip of a bimetal tooth), How long you rub and how hot it gets determines how much it workhardens. The act of cutting stainless always work-hardens it a bit.? In lathe work you use slow speed and high feed to get under the work-hardened?skin, but that's not possible on a bandsaw. In bandsawing solid material, even under optimum conditions, you have many teeth, all skimming off less than a 1/10th of a thou" each? (it really is v.v. thin). So the teeth are always cutting in the work-hardened?zone, and speed should be only 60% of mild steel.? On a 4x6 always?use 'slow' speed. If you have a choice of blade TPI,
on stainless
use 4-6 Teeth-in-Cut rather than the normal optimum of 9 TiC - less teeth means more weight on each tooth and thicker chips so you're cutting in slightly softer material,?
TiC =?blade TPI * length of cut (in inches).? Set the bow weight in range 8-9 lb, no heavier?or you'll?damage the blade.
Its also prone to stalling in the cut at 10 lb or above (with possible motor?damage).
but you do want the weight on the teeth. ? Never let the teeth just rub, lower them into the cut as quickly as possible. Coolant keeps the heat down so it workhardens less, flood coolant is best but even a spray bottle of water is better than nothing.? You're not protecting the edge of the tooth (HSS teeth have more than enough hot-hardness), it's the metal you're cutting that you want to keep cool. To minimise the deflection of the blade from the higher bow weight, keep the top guide as close the work?as possible.?
BUT: Be v. careful when you're cutting tube, as it is very easy to go below 3 TiC and?you'll rip the teeth out of the band!?? An 18TPI blade has teeth?spacing of 1/18",? i.e. 0.055", so when you're cutting 0.043" thick tube wall the whole thickness of the material will fit between one tooth and the next, and you take anything up to 100x the correct chip thickness - people often rip the teeth out of the blade when cutting tube and sheet metal.? Even at 0.130" there are less than 3 teeth-in-cut.? A 24TPI straight pitch bi-metal blade is better for the cutting you want to do.? With just 0.042" between teeth-tips, you get 1 tooth-in-cut on 0.043 and just over 3 TiC when cutting 0.130".?? If you're?going?to cut a lot of tube then hydraulic downfeed is well worth the effort and expense (see recent thread on how to DIY). You can back up the tube with a bit of thicker scrap steel to slow down the cutting, but you'll soon get sick of that. If you control the downfeed rate by hand you WILL lose?teeth off the band (esp. if you're using a coarse TPI blade).? But blade TPI doesn't matter at all if you have hydraulic downfeed, what you save in not buying the high-TPI blades, you can put toward the downfeed control conversion and use a normal 10-14 Bimetal blade to cut the tube. All of your cutting, for the life of the machine, will be better with hydraulic downfeed control.
Hope this helps - jv
Thank you! And I should have stated that I¡¯ll be working with 304 stainless.
John H Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
On?Saturday, November 21, 2020,?Terry Coombs?< snagone@...>?wrote:
On 11/21/2020 12:00 PM, John H via wrote:
> Dear Group!
>
> I have been cutting and TIG / MIG welding ferritic steel tube steel
> successfully for several years, and I am now ready and very eager to
> finally strike an arc on stainless steel.
>
> The tube steel material I can envision working with is from 1/2" X 1/2"
> through 2" X 2" stainless tube steel with wall thickness from about
> 0.043" through around 0.13".
>
> Can I please get advice on the blade teeth / inch, saw blade speed and
> down force. My band saw only has a spring to sort of control down force,
> so I will be lowering the blade onto the material by hand and by feel only.
>
> I have an Harbor Freight 4" X 6" bandsaw that has served me very well on
> ferritic steel, and I want to be sure that I have a good idea for safely
> cutting stainless tube steel so I don't go ruining my blade before I
> blink an eye. And even worse - not know why it happened.
>
> Please help me by providing me with your advice on this subject.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> John Hayden
>
? An 18 TPI bimetal is a good place to start . It'll be slow at the
start and finish , but you won't be stripping teeth when it's in the
thin . Which alloy are you working with ? 304 has been known to work
harden if you sneeze at it - likes slow blade speeds and a fairly heavy
cut . 303 and 316 not so much . I haven't worked with 400 series , but I
think they are all hardenable .
--
Snag
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
Thank you! And I should have stated that I¡¯ll be working with 304 stainless.
John H Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app:
On 11/21/2020 12:00 PM, John H via groups.io wrote:
> Dear Group!
>
> I have been cutting and TIG / MIG welding ferritic steel tube steel
> successfully for several years, and I am now ready and very eager to
> finally strike an arc on stainless steel.
>
> The tube steel material I can envision working with is from 1/2" X 1/2"
> through 2" X 2" stainless tube steel with wall thickness from about
> 0.043" through around 0.13".
>
> Can I please get advice on the blade teeth / inch, saw blade speed and
> down force. My band saw only has a spring to sort of control down force,
> so I will be lowering the blade onto the material by hand and by feel only.
>
> I have an Harbor Freight 4" X 6" bandsaw that has served me very well on
> ferritic steel, and I want to be sure that I have a good idea for safely
> cutting stainless tube steel so I don't go ruining my blade before I
> blink an eye. And even worse - not know why it happened.
>
> Please help me by providing me with your advice on this subject.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> John Hayden
>
? An 18 TPI bimetal is a good place to start . It'll be slow at the
start and finish , but you won't be stripping teeth when it's in the
thin . Which alloy are you working with ? 304 has been known to work
harden if you sneeze at it - likes slow blade speeds and a fairly heavy
cut . 303 and 316 not so much . I haven't worked with 400 series , but I
think they are all hardenable .
--
Snag
|
Re: Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
On 11/21/2020 12:00 PM, John H via groups.io wrote: Dear Group!
I have been cutting and TIG / MIG welding ferritic steel tube steel successfully for several years, and I am now ready and very eager to finally strike an arc on stainless steel.
The tube steel material I can envision working with is from 1/2" X 1/2" through 2" X 2" stainless tube steel with wall thickness from about 0.043" through around 0.13".
Can I please get advice on the blade teeth / inch, saw blade speed and down force. My band saw only has a spring to sort of control down force, so I will be lowering the blade onto the material by hand and by feel only.
I have an Harbor Freight 4" X 6" bandsaw that has served me very well on ferritic steel, and I want to be sure that I have a good idea for safely cutting stainless tube steel so I don't go ruining my blade before I blink an eye. And even worse - not know why it happened.
Please help me by providing me with your advice on this subject.
Thank you very much!
John Hayden
An 18 TPI bimetal is a good place to start . It'll be slow at the start and finish , but you won't be stripping teeth when it's in the thin . Which alloy are you working with ? 304 has been known to work harden if you sneeze at it - likes slow blade speeds and a fairly heavy cut . 303 and 316 not so much . I haven't worked with 400 series , but I think they are all hardenable . -- Snag
|
Need Advice for Cutting Stainless Steel Tube
Dear Group!
I have been cutting and TIG / MIG welding ferritic steel tube steel successfully for several years, and I am now ready and very eager to finally strike an arc on stainless steel.
The tube steel material I can envision working with is from 1/2" X 1/2" through 2" X 2" stainless tube steel with wall thickness from about 0.043" through around 0.13".
Can I please get advice on the blade teeth / inch, saw blade speed and down force. My band saw only has a spring to sort of control down force, so I will be lowering the blade onto the material by hand and by feel only.
I have an Harbor Freight 4" X 6" bandsaw that has served me very well on ferritic steel, and I want to be sure that I have a good idea for safely cutting stainless tube steel so I don't go ruining my blade before I blink an eye. And even worse - not know why it happened.
Please help me by providing me with your advice on this subject.
Thank you very much!
John Hayden
Groups.io Links:
You receive all messages sent to this group.
_._,_._,_
|
dpidwerbecki@... updated the album Dave P's Mods: This is a folder of the modifications that I did to my 4x6 bandsaw. I bought this bandsaw very used for $20. I've been trying to make it as good as or better than new.
|
Re: Hydraulic Downfeed Cylinder
I finally got my nylon tubing to finish my downfeed.? ?It works pretty good.? I went with a 1.25" diameter? x 4 inch stroke Parker cylinder.? ?I made the connector rod that went between the cylinder and the 3/8" rod end.? ?I also made the bracket that holds the valves, tee, and pressure gage.? ?I pretty much purchased everything else.? ?I used a 5/16" tie rod on the non-rod side of the cylinder to provide a little angle so that the air would more likely be purged from the cylinder.? ?The maximum pressure on the cylinder is roughly 160 psi or a rod force of about 130 lbf.? ?I chose to have both a ball on/off valve and a needle valve.? ?I think that this was a good decision.? ?I had to buy a lot of stuff but I did have the brass TEE and the pressure gage.? ?I probably spent $115 for everything, so this was not cheap.
I tried to download the pictures to the album but I was not allowed to download pics.? I don't know why.? ?I tried to add them to this thread but was denied.? ?I'll add the pictures when allowed.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Dave
|
John Vreede