Looking for band saw advice

G

Gosolo

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Sep 17, 2020
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I currently am using a cheap, light weight, 9”, “Central Machinery” band saw, that runs 1725rpm and is 1/3 HP.
It’s probably the weakest piece in my shop and I am looking forward to seeing it replaced.
My hope is that this can be done for less than $1,200.00. Please let me know your recommendations and experiences.
In my dreams, someone in northwestern Oregon comes out of the woodwork and says that they have an extra one, lol!
Thank you in advance!
 
Gosolo said:
I currently am using a cheap, light weight, 9”, “Central Machinery” band saw, that runs 1725rpm and is 1/3 HP.
It’s probably the weakest piece in my shop and I am looking forward to seeing it replaced.
My hope is that this can be done for less than $1,200.00. Please let me know your recommendations and experiences.
In my dreams, someone in northwestern Oregon comes out of the woodwork and says that they have an extra one, lol!
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

I only have a Milwaukee porta band, mounted on a shop made base. $300 and sum
I'm a tool room machinist/product developer by trade. At work we have a Huge and powerful metal cutting bandsaws made probably before the war......
It Isn't much better than mine.

I can't imagine needing more for knife blades.

What are you using yours for? Just knife blank steel?
or do you need a taller throat for resawing Logs/wood Too?

usually those are different machines, different rpm's
 
Yeah, what Crag said.

What are you using it for? The parameters for a good wood saw and good metal saw almost opposite.

Whatever you go with get a variable speed, both metal and wood benefit from having the ability to speed up or down depending on tooth count, thickness and hardness of material.

Personally, I've got a DeWalt port-a-band for metal and a old Craftsman 10" wood bandsaw that I converted to variable speed with a motor and vfd.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I only have a Milwaukee porta band, mounted on a shop made base. $300 and sum
I'm a tool room machinist/product developer by trade. At work we have a Huge and powerful metal cutting bandsaws made probably before the war......
It Isn't much better than mine.

I can't imagine needing more for knife blades.

What are you using yours for? Just knife blank steel?
or do you need a taller throat for resawing Logs/wood Too?

usually those are different machines, different rpm's
Click to expand...
My knives are almost exclusively Damascus, so cutting pieces for stacking and welding as well as slices for mosaic are priority use. Followed by cutting up wood, brass and micarta, handle shaping, bolsters and butt caps. A high speed will work on the softer stuff but a slower speed is essential for the steels. A large throat is also important because sometimes I start with small log sections of ironwood, cherry or oak burls.
 
Maybe a 4x6 metal cutting horizontal/vertical bandsaw? You could use it to slice the damascus billets for mosaic tiles on the horizontal setting and stand up to use like a regular metal bandsaw for the other tasks?
If you do a lot of burls where you need the throat height, get a Harbor Freight 14" wood bandsaw and a 6" lift kit and you can cut down up to 12" tall pieces of wood. You will also want a 6x48 or 12" disc sander to flatten the cut scales too.

I am debating about converting my HF 14" to a VFD, roller guides, etc so it would do better with metal and give me more versatility and save some room in the shop. A. McPherson, have you tried yours as a metal bandsaw after converting to a VFD?

You can often find older, good tools on facebook marketplace that are more solid/beefier than the new tools. Find a good, old 10 or 14" wood bandsaw, convert it to a VFD with a new motor, change up the bearings and guides.
 
Taz said:
A. McPherson, have you tried yours as a metal bandsaw after converting to a VFD?
Click to expand...
No.
It would probably work, but I don't have the greatest faith in the blade guides. It has roller bearings at the rear of the blade that the blade pushes against, but the guides are just pieces of metal instead of roller bearings that you see on metal band saws.

Plus then I'd have to change belts every time I needed to do a different task.

Although the added bench top space would be nice....
 
I am thinking of doing a 1.5 or 2 hp motor, cheap 110V conversion VFD and getting Accura roller bearing guides for mine. It would be around $450 to do it, so I am not sure if it would be worth it? $250 for motor, $100 for VFD, $100 for upgraded guides.
 
I've got a Milwaukee portaband with a 35 3/8" blade, and variable speed. It's pretty great, but it goes through blades a little faster than I'd like. If I could do it over, I'd get a saw with a longer blade and a little more spatial capacity. Sometimes I have to be pretty creative in getting my saw to cut bigger pieces. Hell of a lot better than a hacksaw, all things considered
 
Taz said:
I am thinking of doing a 1.5 or 2 hp motor, cheap 110V conversion VFD and getting Accura roller bearing guides for mine. It would be around $450 to do it, so I am not sure if it would be worth it? $250 for motor, $100 for VFD, $100 for upgraded guides.
Click to expand...
I don't know... the reasons I converted mine to a VFD are because the old motor died, I already had a VFD I can use on multiple devices and I got the saw for free on the side of the road.

If I were to start thinking about spending money on a bandsaw and I had 450$ to spend, is start watching craigslist and ebay and estate sales. Guaranteed you can find an old, awesome and useable metal bandsaw that will kick the snot out of a converted HF 14in wood bandsaw.

Just my take on it! Good luck!
 
I picked up a cheap Chinese clone of the portaband with a pivot on a small stamped steel table. This will buy me some time while I’m searching for something better. I’ve placed a zip tie on the handle switch so I can let it cut while I go about other tasks.
Not sure how long it will last but it’s good for now.
 
My Accura roller bearing bandsaw guides arrived today, I may install them tomorrow to see how they work. After that, I can see about repowering the bandsaw to a vfd version.
 
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