Thread: Bandsaw speeds

I do believe that the slower speeds are for metal cutting.

A faster machine can operate more efficiently with a coarser blade. This means that as the tooth pitch increases, its ability to generate heat is reduced, therefore it is a better choice for resawing (since green wood tends to generate more heat).

Sourced from Mark Duginske's Band Saw Handbook (a.k.a. the BS bible) ISBN 0-8069-6398-0

HH. go for the 18''JET Bandsaw Ihave been using one for the last 7 years and it is used allmost every day even to resawing 10 thick 6' long logs. and it has not missed a beet all the addjustment are easy to do and accurate. having said that now i suppose (MURPHY LAW) will come in to it, Remember you only get what you pay for. Happy hunting.
Edward.

Originally Posted by Groggy

A faster machine can operate more efficiently with a coarser blade. This means that as the tooth pitch increases, its ability to generate heat is reduced, therefore it is a better choice for resawing (since green wood tends to generate more heat).

Sourced from Mark Duginske's Band Saw Handbook (a.k.a. the BS bible) ISBN 0-8069-6398-0

Hi Groggy,
From my experience with my single speed 18" Jet bandsaw which I use to mill down dried Ironbark, the quote you've offered re heat generation is way off the beam.

Firstly, I the Jet is good value for money but I regret not spending the extra $300-$400 to get a 20" model - just to get a wider throat size.

Secondly, I see no reason to want6 a two speed unit - unless you want to cut metal with the lower speed but the hassle of changing blades take the joy out of it, its not the blade change, its the realignment of all the guide bearings, its a pain in the ass. Buy a 5" angle grinder and use the very thin cutting discs, best investment you'll ever make ! My oxy/LPG set has become almost redundant due to these thin cutting discs.

Thirdly, Heat generation. I harvest well dead Ironbark, I mill it down to lumps that 2 men can load on my ute, then break it down on my old DeWalt radial arm saw and then, transfer to the bandsaw to cut down into chair making components, nominally 25mm x 35mm x 450mm. On the last bush harvesting trip we found a well dead Ironbark tree of about 900mm in diameter. I cut it into 1m lengths and the quartered it (cut the circle into 4)
I later found that although well dead, the inner part of this tree (all the sections I'd cut) were still relatively green after you got thru the outside to about 150mm in depth.
I fit my bandsaw with Bi-metal blades, 3 or 4 TPI, these are specially made for me by Prosharp at Taree.
These blades cut thru the dead Ironbark with relative ease, but slowly, as you would appreciate.
When I got into the greener wood, I could smell it rather than see it, the saw sailed thru it with much greater speed, the difference was amazing.
So, to my mind, cutting green wood is much, much easier than cutting dry wood, it follows then that the harder the going, the more heat you generate.

Cheers,
Wazza

If you're either planning to cut wood or plastics, your RPM should be above 300 .
Try reading these blogs about RPM /speed rate HERE and here