Dremel or bandsaw for cutting blanks

[ramitupurs84]

What's the preferred method around here?

[NorCal Nate]

Metal cutting bandsaw. I would think a dremel would take forever, I've never used one for cutting out a blank though.
~Nate

[SharpEdge0913]

Metal cutting bandsaw for me as well. I use a Milwaukee Deep Cut Portable Variable Speed Band Saw with a table made by Swag Offroad. That setup works great for me.

[fuzzy]

I use a band saw now but have used a cut off wheel in a die grinder use what you have a dremel may be slow but it will get you there

[Crex]

I'd go ahead and get a side grinder and cut off disc. By the time you have cut a blank out with a dremel you will have spent the equivalent on their tiny cutting disc. You'll fin all kinds of uses for the side grinder besides cutting out blanks. You can use it to tune up your blade profile and bulk grind your bevels before going to files.....once you learn to use it. Takes some practice.
What's wrong with a regular hacksaw? It will be many times faster than the Dremel. Just buy quality blades and clamp your project securely.

Note: Not against Dremels (they are very handy and have their place in the shop) or using what you have, but it will be a very slow process.

[rockhound]

Originally Posted by Crex

I'd go ahead and get a side grinder and cut off disc.

Agree.... 4" mini-grinder with metal cutoff disc works excellent for stock removal if you're on a budget, I use one. Fairly fast and accurate. Clean up the outline with bench grinder and hand files.

[claymoore]

Hello,
I use a 4.5" grinder with a cutoff disc. Also those flap disc's work great to remove excess. I don't think i spent more than $15.00 at Harbor Freight. I keep waiting for it to quit on me , and it just keeps going.
Clay

[wcmesa]

Just a safety note but if you go the 4.5 inch grinder route , make sure the cut off wheels are rated for the rpms on your grinder. Fiber discs make some hella shrapnel when they give up the ghost.

[M&J]

Bandsaw budget allowing. A quality bi-metal blade makes it very quick to cut out what is needed. When I started I used a hacksaw, the arm exercise was good but one could only do so much for intricate cuts/curves. I use the wood cutting bandsaw at ~3000 sfpm to cut blanks out. The speed is terrific.

[Crex]

Mike
3000 sfpm is pretty fast for metal. Lot of frictional heat build up there. Most metal cutting band saws run around 650 to 800 sfpm. All of the wood saws I've ever worked with just didn't have the right kind of guides, bearings and bushings suitable for the stresses of much repeated metal cutting. Your's may be the exception, that's good for you. Just don't see taking a chance at ruining a good quality wood rated saw cutting steel when a decent portaband or floor model metal saw can be had for the same price. The engineers that developed these things for use don't recommend it for a reason.

WCMesa makes a good point on disc ratings. However I went through several 10 packs of HF disc cutting up an old trailer (no torch handy) and the only one that fragged on me was a DeWalt brand disc that cost almost as much as one of the 10 packs....go figure. Do wear gloves and face shield (over safety glasses).

[Ray Rogers]

My metal saw has 3 speed settings: 80,120, 240 sfpm. My wood saw runs at 3000 sfpm. My saws are typical of the saws most of us have in our shops. Even at its fastest speed my metal saw is is still only 1/12th as fast as the metal saw...and I find that 240 sfpm is too fast for the metal saw so I run it at 120. I know some guys use metal blades on wood saws (usually modified saws) to do friction cutting but I don't see any advantage to cutting metal that way. A good metal saw costs less than $300. Maybe you can't afford that right now but it won't kill you to use a hacksaw until you can afford it. On the other hand, it might kill you, or injure you, if you aren't very, very careful with some of these other 'make-do' methods ....

[BarryC]

Harbor Freight has a decent metal cutting band saw you can usually get on sale and with a 20% off coupon. Then order a couple good bi-metal blades and build a table with mild steel and you'll have a great way of cutting out those blanks. You don't actually have to build a table you can use the flimsy thin one that comes with it but I think you will hate it like I did. A 6x6x3/8 mild steel drilled and counter sunk for the screw heads and I was up and running in less than 30 minutes.

[C Craft]

I use my bandsaw on relatively straight cuts. However on tight bends you have to cut and relieve so much with a bandsaw to be able to make the turns. If you start forcing a bandsaw on a tight turn you will untrack the blade, strip teeth, and if nothing else it will warp the blade to where it will not cut straight at all.

I often use my 4 1/2" right angle grinder to make those cuts. The same thing is true with the cut and having to relive on tight radius's but it goes much faster, plus I can use the grinder in a scraping fashion to bring the cut down even closer to the line!

A word of caution about the grinder, make sure the metal is tightly clamped down, let the wheel do the cutting don't force it or (it will explode and that is no fun). However if you have protection on such as sleeves and a apron and especially safety glasses you will survive relatively unscathed! Learning to cut with a right angle grinder is just that a learned experience. I have done it for years working in the construction field and I still occasionally make a mistake that will explode a wheel! However a bound up bandsaw blade can snap an be dangerous also, when it snaps!


I started out using the right angle grinder and then built up my bandsaw but there are still operations I prefer to do with the right angle grinder!



Oh, I forgot to mention I do use a dremmel for certain operations, such as sanding tight radius's and occasionally for cutting certain areas. However I find it takes too long on most cutting operations and you can't force it either or the small wheels explode too! IMHO

[wcmesa]

Now that you mention it CREX it was a dewalt that I've seen come apart. Any way that the op decides should involve the proper ppe. At the refinery I work at that would be safety glasses and face shield. I've had great luck with a harbour freight band saw that I built a stand and work table for.

[M&J]

When I was setting up shop I was going to get a metal cutting bandsaw and use the wood saw for handle materials. The mentors who got me started said to skip the metal bandsaw. I followed their recommendation.

The nylon guides were replaced with a sealed bearing system.
http://www.carterproducts.com/produc....asp?cat_id=13

Blades are Lenox Bi-metal Diemaster II 10/14 variable pitch.
http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/Prod...Id=Diemaster2r

I've not used the friction band which is spec'd to 20K SFPM for ferrous metals. Lenox has new blade compositions since I bought my supply. The SFPM was within spec but this is one of those instances, I haven't dug out the product literature in a long time and have remained with what has worked here.

To preserve the table, a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood is used. Can't use it to fully cover the table because the burr from the kerf will catch the plywood. Anything after the cut is floating above the table.

The saw literally screams through anything put in front of it and the resulting squeal is ear piercing. Blades last about 300-400ft of cutting various steels D2, 1084, ATS-34/154CM, Ti, 416, 18-8 and softer materials like woods and such. Aluminum is not fun because the generated heat will friction weld the kerf, slowing it down is not a problem if one has a variable pulley or variable drive motor installed.

The user has to be comfortable in the set-up. Consult the bandsaw maker and blade supplier to cover any concerns. I knew going in the wood bandsaw would not be suggested for this level of use. Rationalizing that others were adding 6" risers and 2HP motors to resaw wood, this 14" Jet was robust in my mind to handle the limited metal cutting duties of my shop.