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Post: Metal Cutting Blades (Topic#752629)

tommegow
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South Ga.
Reg: 12-17-04

10-16-05 14:58.19 - Post#775548

Got my HF metal cutting bandsaw Friday. Tried to Use Jerry's advise and cut some low carbon steel. The blade grabbed real bad. I figured out it came wth a blade that has a small "kink" in it. I doubt HF will send me a replacement but any way where do y'all get your replacement blades??

Rashid
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Reg: 09-27-05

10-16-05 15:52.49 - Post#775572
In response to tommegow

What HF sells with their bandsaws are worthless
carbon blades. I have both HF's 4x6 and portable, and these are great values for the money, but don't
waste your money ordering replacement blades from HF.

Instead, get a quality bimetal blade - from MscDirect, McMaster etc. You'd probably need
2 types:

- vari-tooth, 14-18 , for when you're cutting thicker stock - 3/8+ or cutting thin stock on wide side.

- regular tooth, wavy 24, for cutting outlines of knife from thinner stock (3/16 and thinner)

There's a rule that no less than N teeth has to always be in contact with metal (5 or more, if I remember correctly), otherwise a tooth will break, then the one behind it will go and blade will become unuseable.

Bimetals will last you 10x compared to a HF-variety carbon blade.

If you break a blade, you can silver braze it and the join will be as strong as the original metal. Google for more info on it (I posted some a long while back).

Another thing: if you do break a tooth, stop immediately, unmount the blade and try to "recrecreate" the broken tooth with a (diamond) needle file.

You will know right away when a tooth breaks

-
as it will only break when you're hand feeding thin stock into the blade - for example, when cutting outline of a knife.

When cutting to size, never cut thin stock on it's narrow side - wide side only. In other words, don't stand thin stock up when cutting - always lay it down.

Not sure what you got, but if it is 4x6, go to mini-lathe.com - there's an excellent section on the beast.

==============
Handy quote from McMaster:

More teeth per inch are required for thinner materials, harder materials, and where the finish is most important. Fewer teeth per inch are required for thicker materials, softer materials, and where speed of cut is most important. In general, three to six teeth should be in contact with the work at all times (three teeth is the minimum for bimetal blades; six for carbon steel). When cutting metal, having 6 to 12 teeth engaged is ideal.

http://www.mcmaster.com/param/asp/PSearch2.asp?req...

Edited by Rashid on 10-16-05 16:05.40. Reason for edit: No reason given.

tommegow
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Loc: South Ga.
Reg: 12-17-04

10-16-05 18:19.33 - Post#775647
In response to Rashid

got the portable. Thanks for the info, good stuff!

txcwboy
Master Member KnifeNut!
txcwboy

Loc: Plano Tx
Reg: 09-12-04

10-17-05 16:21.05 - Post#776125
In response to tommegow

I bought Old Milwaukee from Home Depot.Bi Metal blade.I havent used it due to my HF factory blade still going strong even cutting TI !

Dave

win if you can,loose if you must..but always cheat

http://leisuretimeleather.com/sv17/

medit8
Journeyman KnifeNut!
medit8

Reg: 05-14-04

10-18-05 18:33.05 - Post#776825
In response to Rashid

Yo Rashid,
Thanks for posting this info. I ordered the 14-18 blade for my HF from McMaster, but the 24 TPI only cones in a 1/2" x .020 x 64 1/2" and the HF calls for .025 I then tried MscDirect and they also only have the .020 size. With the HF being so tempermental I don't know if it's even worth trying the .020 to see if it will work. McMaster's service rep is supposed to get back to me if he finds they can get the .025. I probably actually need the 24 tpi as I'm using 1095 in 3/16" almost exclusively now. If I ever find where to get the .025 I'll post it, but since I just busted up my last 2 blades and am down to my last HF one, I'm really glad that you pointed to the next (and better) step to take.
Thanks,
Bob

Rashid
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Reg: 09-27-05

10-19-05 11:05.07 - Post#777255
In response to medit8

You won't see much difference in 20 thou vs 25
blade thickness. Both are plenty strong.

When cutting outlines/profiles of the blade,
don't get the curves too tight. You can always
make 2 straighter cuts instead of 1 really curvy
one.

WD40 often so that blade runs nice and easy.
You won't overhead the blade or the stock when
outline cutting in these thicknesses so it's not
a problem.

Keep the blade tensioned right. The HF's 4x6 require as much pressure as you can put via that
knob when turning it by hand (use a rag for help)

Lower the upper guide closer to the stock to provide for more support for the blade

medit8
Journeyman KnifeNut!
medit8

Reg: 05-14-04

10-19-05 18:52.04 - Post#777600
In response to Rashid

Yo Rashid,
Thanks for the input. I will order the .020 24 tpi and give it a try. I do have one question though - I remember a post months ago that had a warning about not using oil because it made the blade slip and was very difficult to clean up. Unless I'm misunderstand something, this makes me wonder about using WD40.
Thanks again,
Bob

Rashid
Journeyman KnifeNut!

Reg: 09-27-05

10-20-05 04:34.52 - Post#777779
In response to medit8

WD40 is pretty light and is not messy at all.
I use it all the time. Properly tensioned blade
is impossible to get to slip. Most heavy duty
bandsaws supply steady flow of lubricant/coolant of some sort to the blade.

Plenty of HF's 4x6 were modded this way too.

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