The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Bandsaw question

I have a Delta bandsaw for woodworking. Can I use it for cutting light steel without melting the nylon off the pulleys? I know it runs too fast for steel, but I was thinking of swapping the the motor and drive pulleys to gear it down.Has anyone done this? thanks, Jeff

If you have an old 14" Rockwell Delta, I am pretty sure I've seen speed reducers for exactly that purpose. Plus don't forget you'll need a different blade, something with about 24tpi to 36tpi.

BTW, one thing I would mention as an afterthought is that I have no idea how that Delta keeps filings out of its bearings etc and obviously that will have an impact. It's one thing to blow sawdust out. It's another issue trying to remove magnetized metal filings. If you use the bandsaw often for woodworking and it's reasonably new, I don't think I'd do this frequently.

Jeff,

You can do it if you can slow the bandwheels down a whole bunch. Wood is cut at 800/3500 FPM while metal is cut at 40-200 FPM. This is a huge jump in blade speed (FPM). They make wood/metal bandsaws that have a actual gear reducer incorporated into the drive to accomplish this drastic reduction. I don't know if you could do it with a change in pulleys...you would have a drive pulley the size of a quarter and a driven pulley the size of a jumbo pizza.

Do some math and see if it's possible to get a reasonable speed with the current motor RPM and sheaves available from the hardware store.

I have enclosed a link for some blade info if you find this might work. Good luck.

http://www.supercutbandsaw.com/how_to_choose.html

Stuart

Thanks for the help Robin and Stuart. I guess I'll have to expiremant with different size sheaves. If I can't slow it down enough, I'll have to rethink this project. thanks, Jeff

Which model Delta is it? Some of the models were dual-purpose. You could buy them as woodworking only or buy them them with step-pulleys similar to how a drillpress reduces speed. If it's one of those models you could simply buy the parts that are different between the two.

Should be easy enough to build a jackshaft and reduce the speed.

I have one of the Rockwell Delta dual purpose saws. It looks exactly like the wood saw, but has a gear reduction unit for either fast or slow speed. The rubber tires will be fine with the proper blade speed for metal.

Personally I would buy a dedicated metal saw, as the dual purpose Rockwell Delta saws are much better at wood then metal.

Not sure of the model, I'll have to go look. I know it's a 12". Got it at the big box store a couple years ago for about $150. Works good on wood, but it's a pretty basic saw. Glad to hear the rubber tires won't melt off it. Jeff

Harbor Freight has a horizontal metal cutting band saw in their monthly flier for around $150. I am considering this thing for myself. I'm sure if I had to make a living with it, it wouldn't be capable. But as a home shop tool, it should work out fine for me.
Check it out,
Scott