HELP!!! Please!!! Another porta band question. :(

F

Fng007

Joined
Jan 29, 2022
Messages
16
Hello everyone!!! First let me apologize if this isn’t the right area to post but I’m really at a loss and looking for some guidance. I am absolutely brand new to knife making, (have only made two knife like items so far) but I do love the process even the frustrating parts! Lol anyway here is my dilemma…..

My wife bought me the classics Bauer porta band from HR as well as the swag table, I used a HR blade and cut out my first little blank from some 5160 3/8th steel. Everything seemed to work great, then I went to cut out another blade and got no where barley even a scratch on the same stock. I thought maybe I hardened it by grinding on it to long so I tried to cut some 80crv2 and got the same thing. So now I was stumped, started doing my research and figured it’s probably just the cheap HR blades, they worked for one but maybe that’s all I would get so I decided to try some Milwaukee blades from The Depot, excited again got a couple different TPI was ready to rip get them on the saw and go to cut and nothing AGAIN…..ok ok I think maybe I messed up the saw itself, went and got a new one same out come won’t scratch the steel ordered some 1095 annealed and some Lenox wold blades from Amazon tried those blades and once again nothing. So now I have tried cutting three different steels with three different bi metal blade manufacturers and two different porta bands and got no where. As dumb as it sounds I have made sure the blades were installed correctly and traveling in the right direction. I even tried to cut it at every speed that thing has to offer. I am so lost, I have read so many different reviews that the HF band saw was plenty capable…..

Anywho I was just hoping one of you fine humans out there would take pitty on my soul For the safety of my family and give a frustrated guy some advice…..what on earth am I doing wrong? Lol thank you so so much, oh and if anyone can help me fix it I’ll gladly owe you a beer or 10. :) look forward to hearing from you all. Have a great day, one love.

E
 
I was gifted a Bauer portaband. It cut steel just fine until it ate the armature. Harbor Freight did not sell replacement parts so that was the end of that. That being said, and assuming you are using metal cutting blades, you must have the blade mounted incorrectly.
 
Difficult to say really... Have you tried cutting some plain mild steel?
 
Steve Beckwith said:
I was gifted a Bauer portaband. It cut steel just fine until it ate the armature. Harbor Freight did not sell replacement parts so that was the end of that. That being said, and assuming you are using metal cutting blades, you must have the blade mounted incorrectly.
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Ty, yea the blade is mounted correctly, maybe somehow my stock is to thick or just to hard. 🤦🏻‍♂️
 
A.McPherson said:
Difficult to say really... Have you tried cutting some plain mild steel?
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Yea it seems to cut the mild stuff on, maybe some how the 5160, 1095 and 80crv2 came to hard or are to thick. I don’t know I’m gonna try and order something different again. Lol
 
what is the tooth per inch of the blades?
 
Sorry F Fng007 that I can't help you on the saw (I'm sure it'll get sorted out).

But, I would like to say you must have an amazing wife! Congratulations.
 
Sando said:
Sorry F Fng007 that I can't help you on the saw (I'm sure it'll get sorted out).

But, I would like to say you must have an amazing wife! Congratulations.
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No worries! Lol

Yea she’s a keeper. But I think the gift was more
About keeping me out of her way! Lol
 
I'm assuming the blade is still moving, just not cutting? Are the teeth breaking off? Some pics or a video might help. Quality bi-metal blades to make a big difference. I like to "break in" new blades by slowly cutting a few inches of mild steel. This helps to round over the points on the teeth slightly so that they're not as prone to snag and break off. Aside from that, you typically want to have to about 2-3 teeth in the stock at any given time. Less than that, and you start breaking teeth off, more than that, and things take forever to cut.

Let the saw do the work. If you start seeing blue chips (or dust) or your blade or material starts glowing, then you're doing more rubbing than cutting and your blades are going to be toast.
Start off at the slowest speed your saw will run and keep a steady even pressure. Sometimes I'll drip or brush a little bit of cutting oil on the outside of the blade. You don't want to go crazy, but a little bit does make cutting some materials a lot easier. If you don't have any cutting lube, get a gallon of sulfurized thread cutting oil in the plumbing section of your nearest big box store. FYI, WD40 only works on aluminum.

Again, you only need a little, and I try not to get it on the inside of the blade where the tires will get all oily.
 
Drew Riley said:
I'm assuming the blade is still moving, just not cutting? Are the teeth breaking off? Some pics or a video might help. Quality bi-metal blades to make a big difference. I like to "break in" new blades by slowly cutting a few inches of mild steel. This helps to round over the points on the teeth slightly so that they're not as prone to snag and break off. Aside from that, you typically want to have to about 2-3 teeth in the stock at any given time. Less than that, and you start breaking teeth off, more than that, and things take forever to cut.

Let the saw do the work. If you start seeing blue chips (or dust) or your blade or material starts glowing, then you're doing more rubbing than cutting and your blades are going to be toast.
Start off at the slowest speed your saw will run and keep a steady even pressure. Sometimes I'll drip or brush a little bit of cutting oil on the outside of the blade. You don't want to go crazy, but a little bit does make cutting some materials a lot easier. If you don't have any cutting lube, get a gallon of sulfurized thread cutting oil in the plumbing section of your nearest big box store. FYI, WD40 only works on aluminum.

Again, you only need a little, and I try not to get it on the inside of the blade where the tires will get all oily.
Click to expand...
Drew thank you so much for all the suggestions, stay tuned I’ll post a video tomorrow of nightmare! Lol.
 
Go buy your self a LENOX blade from a electrical supply house. If put on correctly IF it doesn't cut then you saw is bad. PERIOD>
 
LCoop said:
Go buy your self a LENOX blade from a electrical supply house. If put on correctly IF it doesn't cut then you saw is bad. PERIOD>
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Is there a special type of LENOX blade? I bought LENOX Wolf-band 1140. And they barely scratch any of the steel.
 
are you running it slow?
 
The guys have already mentioned the quality of the cutting blade. A bi metal blade shouldn't have any trouble cutting annealed stock. I routinely cut 1/4 inch stock. If I've got a decently sharp blade in it and it's doesn't cutting within the first 10 seconds I stop and anneal the steel.
Speed is your enemy. I run mine between four and seven depending on steel.
How was your steel processed to size? Was it sheered, plasma or water jetted? Local metal company started carrying nice clean 1095. Tried to cut some. Harder than all get out. They'd plasma cut it and edges were super hard. Hard enough to dull a new biade. Took a propane torch to edges and it cut like butter.
 
velegski said:
The guys have already mentioned the quality of the cutting blade. A bi metal blade shouldn't have any trouble cutting annealed stock. I routinely cut 1/4 inch stock. If I've got a decently sharp blade in it and it's doesn't cutting within the first 10 seconds I stop and anneal the steel.
Speed is your enemy. I run mine between four and seven depending on steel.
How was your steel processed to size? Was it sheered, plasma or water jetted? Local metal company started carrying nice clean 1095. Tried to cut some. Harder than all get out. They'd plasma cut it and edges were super hard. Hard enough to dull a new biade. Took a propane torch to edges and it cut like butter.
Click to expand...


Oh, I don’t know how it was processed, maybe I’ll try and torch the Edges, thank you for the advice. I’m going to try and figure out how to post a video tomorrow so you all don’t think I’m crazy.
 
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