Thread: Bandsaw vs scrollsaw

Advantages of bandsaw:
Blades last longer
Will cut thicker material
May cut straighter

Disadvantages:
Wider kerf
Needs an entry cut
Won't cut as tight a curve as the scrollsaw

As said above, the big disadvantage is the need for a entry point i.e. you can not cut a closed circle, you have to cut through the rim

To expand on the above:

- with a scrollsaw you can cut "inside shapes", by first drilling a hole, feeding the blade through it and then cutting. Scrollsaws are designed to do this. They can also change direction with very sharp angles, without a radius. Well... with a radius only the size of the kerf, if you want to be pernickety.

- a bandsaw cannot cut sharp angles without making two seperate cuts and you're limited to only cutting "outside shapes." Unless you break the blade and reweld it after feeding through the hole. (Some ultra-expensive BS's are designed with an incorporated blade welder. But they're not in the normal home-hobbyist price range.)

All of the above but a 10" bandsaw will not run a 1/8 blade for very long. The small radius stresses the bladeand kills it. Minimum machine for 1/8" is 14" IMHO.

Originally Posted by Len McCarthy

All of the above but a 10" bandsaw will not run a 1/8 blade for very long. The small radius stresses the bladeand kills it. Minimum machine for 1/8" is 14" IMHO.

Partially nonsense. How long is "very long?" No blade lasts forever. Accept the reality that all blades break eventually, and have spares on hand.

The principal advantage of a band saw over a scroll saw is thickness of the material. Material for a scroll saw should not exceed the stroke, so that the gullets evacuate.

A separate welding or brazing jig can be added to any band saw. But it isn't usually worth the effort.

Cheers,
Joe

My first bandsaw was a 10" and the 1/8 blades would only last about ten minutes. Then the bandsaw maker explained the small radius problem to me and suggested I get a 14" machine. He was right. I am now on my seventh bandsaw which is a 19" carbatec. I buy 30 1/8" blades at a time and I can still only get about two hours work out of each one. So what are your qualifications Joe ?

If you only get 2hrs use you are doing something wrong, something is not set up correctly

China I wish it was true but my machines are running 50% faster and at about four times the tension that would be 'normal'. We are doing very accurate high speed production work incorporating exceptionally tight curves. For many years my bandsaw maker would come to the workshop every friday to drop off new blades and see how I was going. With his help and countless hours of practice and experiment we have optimised the performance of the machines. But back to that 10" machine I will assure the troll that it won't run a 1/8" blade for long. A 14" machine properly set up will happily run a 1/8" bandsaw for many productive hours and good luck with it.

Originally Posted by Len McCarthy

My first bandsaw was a 10" and the 1/8 blades would only last about ten minutes. Then the bandsaw maker explained the small radius problem to me and suggested I get a 14" machine. He was right. I am now on my seventh bandsaw which is a 19" carbatec. I buy 30 1/8" blades at a time and I can still only get about two hours work out of each one. So what are your qualifications Joe ?

I said "partially" for heaven's sake. A 10" bandsaw is a toy - utterly unsuitable for production work.

My qualifications: About 10 years industrial engineering, master's degree in civil and structural engineering, and then about 30 years in heavy construction. With more successful projects than you could dream about; owing to some peculiarities of geography, the sun never sets on my monuments - really.

Cheers,
Joe

Well shucks I aint got no mahonyaments I just bin sittin aty this heya dang bahandsaw fr twenty yairs.