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Band Saws and Blades
eligius1427 -
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 7:30pm
band saws Well, i think i'm going to take Rich up on his offer and try to get my Band Saw running right instead of selling it. I have a few projects coming up where it would come in handy,but before I call for the set up advice i wanted to get some new blades for it to make sure that i can rule poor blades out as the problem. Rich had said Lenox was the ticket for him so I was going to give those a try, but their website lists lots and lots of different blade types. Any advice on what type of blade to get from them? I have a job coming up where I will need to cut lots of 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" sched 40 stainless steel pipe, other than that it will probably be large mild steel tubing, heavy mild steel bar stock, or stainless bar and pipe. The blade size is 64-1/2"x 1/2". Jake  Thanks
eligius1427 -
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 8:50pm
Thanks so much for the info Rich. I'll order a couple of blades tomorrow and try to square away some time to get this figured out before you leave for your blacksmithing adventure. Jake Jake Balcom » reply  Hey Jake- I will reiterate
Nathan Logsdon -
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 7:20am
Hey Jake- I will reiterate what Rich has said. Diemaster II is the way to go. Best blade for the money and an excellent everday blade. Been using them exclusively now for six years. MSC- gotta love next day delivery! » reply Thanks for the input Nathan,
eligius1427 -
Friday, August 28, 2009 - 10:50am
Thanks for the input Nathan, the Diemaster II seems to be the clear cut winner. Jake Jake Balcom » reply  Too bad I won't be right
Rich Waugh -
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 11:55am
Too bad I won't be right near you on my trip, Jake, or I'd pop over to your shop and help you with the set-up in person. When you get ready to do the deed, make sure you have a 6" or so piece of 3/8-18 threaded rod on hand to make a new tensioning screw. I just welded a T handle on the end and a washer for a shoulder and let it go at that, but you can get as fancy as you like. Just yank the old one out and make the new one an inch longer. You'll need metric allen wrenches, a #2 philips head screwdriver and a few open- or box-end wrenches to do the job. A bottle of the red Loctite is probably good to have on hand, too. We'll get it working just fine, I know. Rich » reply  saw blades
Stephen Fitz-Gerald -
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 7:15pm
Stephen Fitz-Gerald » reply No, there is no lube system
Rich Waugh -
Thursday, August 27, 2009 - 3:10am
No, there is no lube system on the little Grizzly. I use dry stick lube and get good blade life. It would be easy enough to add a lube sump and pump, I just don't like the mess and haven't needed it badly enough. Rich » reply water soluble oil.
Stephen Fitz-Gerald -
Thursday, August 27, 2009 - 6:54pm
Stephen Fitz-Gerald It IS a bit messy. » reply Thanks for the input
eligius1427 -
Friday, August 28, 2009 - 10:52am
Thanks for the input Stephen, I had been squirting a little cutting oil on the blade back when i was using the saw and even that was a bit messy. I'm going to look for that Dry Stick Lube, seems like that might be perfect. Jake Jake Balcom » reply That would have been
eligius1427 -
Friday, August 28, 2009 - 10:53am
That would have been fantastic! The threaded rod doesn't have to be metric as well? I thought everything on it was, but it really wouldn't surprise me if the saw had both metric and standard threads. Jake Jake Balcom » reply Now you've got me doubting
Rich Waugh -
Friday, August 28, 2009 - 9:10pm
Now you've got me doubting myself, Jake. (grin) I'm going to run over to the shop right now and verify that thread pitch. I'll be right back... » reply I'm baaaack!
Rich Waugh -
Friday, August 28, 2009 - 9:29pm
Jake, Once again, the old dude still has his marbles - well, some of them, anyway. :-) I measured the OEM tension knob/bolt and it is, in fact, 3/8-16 thread, with the stop collar 4-1/4" from the end. I made the replacement one from a 6" piece of 3/8" thread rod with a washer welded 1-1/4" inches down from the "T" handle and it works dandy. You could cut that down to as little as 1/2", but I don't like busting my knuckles so I opted for a bit more relief. The 4-3/4" of working shaft gives me the little bit of extra slack in the blade to make blade changing easy without it coming unglued. Well worth doing, believe me. Rich » reply Thanks for double checking,
eligius1427 -
Saturday, August 29, 2009 - 10:30am
Thanks for double checking, I'll have them ready Jake Jake Balcom » reply |
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ArtMetal
Jake, I recommend the Lenox
Jake,
I recommend the Lenox Diemaster II blades. They're a really top quality bi-metal blade that has worked extremely well for me, cutting the same sorts of things you mention. I cut everything from thinwall tubing up to 4" solid round bar with the saw. The Lenox Diemaster blades give me very good life, generally on the order of six months or more, using it essentially every day.
I mostly use the 14/18 variable pitch blades in the horizontal Grizzly saw, and only change to a coarser 10/14 pitch blade for really big stuff. With those two blades you'll be able to cut pretty much anything you need to.
My most recent purchase of the blades was from MSC Industrial Supply, as they had a 30% off sale on them that I couldn't pass up. In the past I've bought blades from Bandsawbladesdirect.com and other online Lenox dealers. Lenox will only authorize dealers who use the proper type of blade welder and process, so you'll get good blades from any authorized dealer.
When you have the new blades and some time, give me a call and we'll go over what you need to do to that saw to make it play nice. I'll be away from the 8th of September to the 28th on an odyssey of blacksmithing conferences, but I'll be available on my cell phone even then.
Rich