Re: Band Saw Question, before I buy

tater schuld · 2003-11-27T17:01:38+00:00

have you read the new astron workshop?my suggestions would need to know what kind of rocketry you want to do. I'lladmit with a slow hand a bandsaw cannot be beat for making any small-tomedium sized parts

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Doug Sams 22 years ago

Bob Kaplow wrote to Ray Dunakin:

Ray,

Bob's right.

You know, and have been told for decades, that smoking's bad for you.

Well, unfortunately, breathing glass dust hasn't gotten the same attention. But here goes:

Doug and Bob's General Warning: It had been determined that breathing fiberglass dust can be hazardous to your health.

I have shaved my goatee off just so I can get a good seal with my breathing gear while I'm painting. And, while I don't do much fiberglass, when I do do it, I wear my breathing gear during sanding, sweep out the room afterwards (with my filter still on), and then change clothes. And I don't re-enter the garage until ample time has allowed any remaining dust to settle.

Some folks I know sand outside. Probably a good idea. And you can hose the driveway off afterwards, which is a much better way of handling the dust than sweeping it.

Several hobby members have developed epoxy allergies because of careless use. I'd hate to see somebody get white lung from hobby rocketry.

My 2 cents. YMMV.

Doug

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Chris Lewis 22 years ago

According to Bob Kaplow :

It's something to consider, but before going quite that far, also consider:

1) some people do manage to get good seals even with a beard. I do. Depends on the mask and the beard texture. Yes, I've tested it. 2) Bandsaws aren't good at generating/throwing fine dust that much. Not like a table saw or sander. Tends be relatively coarse and stays relatively put. Not much flying around for you to inhale. HEPA is unnecessary for this. An ordinary shop vac with ordinary filter in good condition will be quite adequate (short of commercial volumes). 3) There are respirators that work with beards. See Airstream for example. Quite pricey (more than a cheap bandsaw), but they'll eliminate any concerns you may have.

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Chris Lewis 22 years ago

According to Bob Kaplow :

You don't need that many teeth on the blade. Choose the blade and the blade speed as if it was wood. Too many teeth or too slow a speed makes it more likely you'll melt things.

Move the plastic without hesitation, and you'll be fine.

For smoothest cutting, choose a blade that has at least one teeth in contact with the material at all times. That's as far as you have to go. For

1/8" lexan, 12 TPI will do. Don't use excessively wide blades either. A 1/8 or 3/16 blade with 12-16TPI will do just about anything down to 1/8".

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Bob Kaplow 22 years ago

The rule I've always seen and followed was THREE teeth. Since the common Lexan sheet is 3/32" that comes out to the 32 tpi blade I suggested. And I've got some Lexan I use for smaller models that is even thinner.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

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Chris Lewis 22 years ago

According to Bob Kaplow :

The "at least one tooth in contact" means that you have two teeth most of the time... It's when there's no teeth in contact (material thinner than TPI) that you get chatter. 3 is better in many cases. Depends on what you're cutting. Too many teeth and you get clog (melt on lexan, overheat in wood). Ie: 32TPI on 1/2" lexan would probably make things melt in short order. Even on 1/4" it may be dicey.

Lexan is relatively soft, so, my 1/2 tooth rule would be fine. You'd probably be sanding the edges anyway...

What's really nasty is cutting copper-clad G10 on a bandsaw with not enough teeth to maintain continuous contact. A very loud screeching noise, coarse edges... But we sand the edges anyway.

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Bob Kaplow 22 years ago

Again, the common lexan sheet I use is 3/32" thick, not 1/2" thick. And some of it is as thin as 1/32 or so. For something 1/2" thick, I would go to a coarse blade. But the 32 tpi blade is just right for the thinner lexan.

BTW, the 32tpi blade is also "wavy" to increase clearance, which prevents melting. I get an edge that needs minimal sanding; maybe just a scrape with a scraper or pocket knife to remove the edge.

That hurts just thinking about it...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

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Re: Band Saw Question, before I buy

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