My "new" toy lol

[ForcedFirebird]

Got me an old Jet woodworking band saw. After replacing the 5" pulley with a 10-incher, replacing the 1.75" pulley with a step pulley with 4 steps from 1.75" to 4", and a trip to cubecart for a custom blade, cutting header pipes has suddenly got a lot easier, w00t!...

http://www.facebook.com/v/105405776185643

[ForcedFirebird]

Some pics of the contraption, video doesn't show how well it really works cutting that rusty old stuff that had hardened areas from welding lol...

Oh yeah, put some wheels from an old air compressor on it for easy transport

[SappySE107]

video looks like it takes a while to cut the start and finish. Maybe less teeth or slower speed? I have no idea when it comes to blades.

[ForcedFirebird]

video looks like it takes a while to cut the start and finish. Maybe less teeth or slower speed? I have no idea when it comes to blades.

Na, it's much faster than that, when the vid was taken I was keeping the same speed all the way through the cut, I realized with the large surface area at the begining of the pipe needs to go slow, then fast through the "sheet metal". I should take another. I need to learn the best feet per minute speed and how fast to push the material when. It takes a second for it to get through the first and last part of the cut, but you don't realize how long it took when I was using an angle grinder and flattening it out on the large belt sander, either :/

[geldartb]

nice addition.

a bandsaw and a decent drill press are on my list of things to get for the garage.

[CNCguy]

It is impossible to have the proper blade for thin wall tubing. They recommend having at least two teeth in the material at all times. With .065 wall tubing you would need a 32 pitch blade in the middle which is too fine for the beginning and end cuts. Quality blades cut better and last longer than the cheaper blades. We usually use a Lenox 14/18 vari pitch Die Master blade on our vertical band saw for the majority of the work. Once you get through the first wall, you can spin the tube so you are only cutting thin material and can move along quickly.

It sounds like your speed is still a little on the high side which is going to shorten the blade life. I think we are running around 125 FPM with the Lenox blades.

BTW... where are your upper guides? They will help a lot if you cut anything thick.