Im adding to my metal building & need to cut some 6x2" hollow steel shipping rack beams up to use for wall studs. Im thinking of getting a horizonal bandsaw from either harbor freight or one with swivel head from homier.com, each have a 6x4" capicity which should be ok but im wandering if it will really cut straight, I would like to use my 14" chop saw but its to small for this cut & im to cheap to get a real metal cutting bandsaw.
Mine is older and abused, and I bought it used, but it cuts straight enough that I haven't had to check it, much less tune it tune it. But others report that after some time spent tuning they can repeatedly cut thin wafers from 2" round stock with under .003 variance.
With a band saw?! OK, if you say so.....
What they *don't* say is the wafers are shaped like a Pringles chip! ;^)
I've got one of the HF cheapies and without any tuning it cuts more that straight enough to do the cut-clamp-weld routine. That's even without going to the effort of getting a support stand to the exact level to support the 12' of stock hanging out the back end, just using a regular jack stand at the closest setting which is probably 1/4" off. I expect that the HF saw will be more than sufficient for framing in a metal building. Just pickup a good made-in-USA blade (I got an Olson for $15 at Tractor Supply) which will cut a lot faster than the blade the saw comes with.
Pete C.
I've cut a LOT of tubing with my HF bandsaw. I fully agree with the part about getting a good blade (I use Sterrett). As long as the blade is reasonably sharp, the saw will cut reasonably straight, certainly straight enough for welding. As the blade dulls, it starts to wander... For relatively thin wall tubing, you need at least a 16 tpi blade...
Jerry
Ive found that the recommended blade speeds tend to wear the blade faster than it should when cutting steel. By running the blade at the lowest speed they last for ever, but buy the best blade you can... Matrix blades or equivilent.. I use starett blade too. M42
John
Another lesson I learned so long ago I kind of forgot about it. But, yes, slower speed equals long blade life... And it cuts through the metal just about as fast.
Jerry
Thanks for the info, Homier was in town last night so I bought the last 03111 swivel head bandsaw they had, seems to be well made for a import. Any tips or hints on these would help. I also need to find a local source (Lowes, home depot, northern tool?) for a good bimetal 64 1/2 " blade and a idea of the price for a good brand.
Put "wheelie" bars on the back. They tend to dump themselves rather aruptly if you lift a bit too high.
I use MSC for a lot of stuff like that. they will have a good range of blades. But specifically for band saw blades, I use Doall. They have locations in many areas. I just call my closest Doall place
1-800-92DOALL and order their Imperial 101, 10 teeth. I don't like the finer blades and have never stripped a tooth off of one of these blades. These blades are about $20 each, but well worth it in my opinion. The only down side to using an expensive blade is if someone else (a kid?) comes into the shop and tries to cut off a hardened steel axle shaft. Then you have a dull blade. By the way, IMHO one of the biggest reasons for a band saw like this cutting crooked is when the set gets stripped off of one side of the teeth. The blade still feels sharp to the touch, but only one side is cutting on the edge, so the blade moves over that way.Pete Stanaitis
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snipped-for-privacy@c>>>John
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