Saw Help

[Joshua Wilcox]

So I am trying to spec out a dual purpose metal / wood band saw that works well vertical and horizontal. I typically prefer to avoid shipping cost on items this large and my price point is near 100 bucks. Lowe's carries this model which looks decent. I was wondering if anyone knew of a better model around this price and what the potential was to switch the blades in this machine for wood working?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/JET-5-in-x-6-in-Horizontal-and-Vertical-Metalworking-Bandsaw-414458/100489508#.UakcLkA-Z0o

[Tim Miller]

Dual purpose on this will only bring tears, confusion and anger. People have proven that they don't care to understand the difference multiple times now.

 Two things this does not have that a useful wood cutting saw would be is the cutting speed; this is really a hard metal saw. Aluminum and brass may not cut cleanly on this and wood would be miserable affair. There is no dust collection system.

On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 6:21 PM, Joshua Wilcox <joshua....@gmail.com> wrote:

So I am trying to spec out a dual purpose metal / wood band saw that works well vertical and horizontal. I typically prefer to avoid shipping cost on items this large and my price point is near 100 bucks. Lowe's carries this model which looks decent. I was wondering if anyone knew of a better model around this price and what the potential was to switch the blades in this machine for wood working?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/JET-5-in-x-6-in-Horizontal-and-Vertical-Metalworking-Bandsaw-414458/100489508#.UakcLkA-Z0o

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[Chris Worth]

ok...  as somebody that owns a wood bandsaw.  and has used metal cutting bandsaws a whole lot

 

when you run a metal cutting bandsaw you usually have to use lubricant.  so that total makes a mess of things when trying to use it for wood cutting.

 

I would suggest a portaband for metal and a jet 14" bandsaw for wood.

 

chris

 

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[Ben Hibben]

*IF* we were going to go for dual-use I'd recommend something like this at a minimum:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/JET-14-in-Woodworking-and-Metalworking-Vertical-Bandsaw-414500K/204070734#.UalRaM4-Qak

HOWEVER Tim has rightfully pointed out that this is a bad idea because we can't count on people to change the blades or transmission speed (fast to slow, etc.).  Even if we use a blade capable of doing both, as we do in my dad's shop.  We don't use any lubrication on metal-cutting but we don't cut anything thicker than an inch much and that's rare.  Usually it's 1/4 inch or less.  We use a 14 TPI blade as I recall; works OK on wood but it's slower than a real wood blade wood be and can burn if you push too hard on a really thick piece.  A wood blade would make that easier.  Not worth the time to change the blade for us, though; knife handles aren't big.  Tim's argument has been to get a couple of full-sized bandsaws, one for metal, one for wood, and set them up in their respective shops.  This costs around the same as a decent dual-use saw (e.g. around $800 each) and reduces the risk of tool mis-use.  We have the space for both.

When last we had talked about it we were waiting for more research on RFID restricted tool use (for expensive tools prone to misuse by beginners), as I recall.

Blenster

[Greg Miller]

That Home Depot saw looks like it might just be a rebranded version
of the same saw Harbor Freight carrys for half the price.
http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-shop/stationary-band-saw/horizontal-vertical-metal-cutting-bandsaw-93762.html

I have the Harbor Freight one and am pretty satisfied with it. I
usually just cut aluminum with it, and have a separate one for woodworking.

[Jeff Johnson]

I'm with Tim and chris.  Unless you plan on changing blades every time you change material, you don't want a dual purpose (wood/metal) bandsaw.  If budget is tight, look at craigslist for something used and you'll probably get a superior machine (or set of machines) for a similar price.

[John Coder]

I concur. Given that these tools are open to anyone that walks in, it's rather silly to think that someone that has used the band saw once at their parents house will know to change the saw- blade when you change from wood to metal.

[Luslugger]

I like the portaband idea for metal.
Bob S