Bandsaw Not Cutting 1075 Steel

R

Ryan Buchheit

Joined
Jan 19, 2021
Messages
6
Hi, super new here so bare with me. I tried searching around and can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.
Trying to cut 3/16” annealed 1075 on my bandsaw but it is doing absolutely nothing to the steel. Bought a new blade and it’s not cutting it at all either. Can anyone help so I don’t buy more blades that don’t work!

blade I got is a bimetal 10-14 vari tooth pattern. Cutting with it on lowest speed (80fpm). Blade is going in the right direction. I can try to post pics and video. If it helps.
 
If everything is right as you state, the only thing I see is that the blade is a bit coarse for 3/16 steel. 22TPI is what you want.
Also, are you sure the steel is fully annealed?
 
I got the steel from Rose Metal Products. It says high carbon annealed steel billets. I assume it's fully annealed by that but again I'm super new to this so maybe isn't?
 
It has to be the steel. Even if that TPI may be in the lower interval, it should be cutting and just wearing faster. Don't go less than 14 TPI on knife thickness stock.
 
I agree with Scaniaman. Depending on how the steel was cut, there could be a thin layer of hard steel at the edge. Will a file bite into the steel?
 
Do you have a metal-cutting bandsaw?
Is your blade designed for metal, or wood?
 
Wow you were right I think on the hardened steel at the edge. I ran it on the belt grinder on one side a little and now both my hacksaw and band saw will cut just fine in that area. Still won't cut where I didn't grind it some first. I would have never guessed that to be the case. Thank you for the help!!
 
Take a regular hacksaw and see how it cut the metal. If it doesn't want to cut, like the bandsaw, it is the steel. If it cuts much better than the bandsaw, it is the blades.

Edit:
I see that the edges are hardened. This happens for several reasons. If the saw doesn't cut it is always a good idea to grind the edge back a tad to get past the hardened skin. Hopefully, you didn't do much damage to the blade.

Additional Info:
A new metal cutting saw blade should be broken in. Cut mild steel about 1/4" thick at the slowest setting and feeding VERY slow. Make a couple feet of cuts. The blade will last longer and cut better after breaking in.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the advice. I will definitely check the edge from now on, much better than tearing up a blade. I ran some mild steel through it but not to the extent you mention. Something I'll need to do going forward as well!
 
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