Making the most of metal sawing

Saws are extremely efficient at cutting almost any material. Many metalworking shops underutilize their sawing dollars by machining or grinding material that could be sawed more efficiently. Sawing is more efficient because the operation’s thin kerf minimizes material waste and typically requires less horsepower to remove material than other processes. And the chunk scrap produced by sawing has a higher per pound value than chips from turning or milling.

If you’re just setting up a shop and thinking about what kind of saw to get, I strongly suggest a vertical bandsaw. It’s highly versatile and can cut almost anything—from meat to hardened steel to even glass. The key factors when selecting a vertical bandsaw are speed range and throat depth. Buy the maximum you can afford for both.

You can TIG weld bandsaw blades with silicon-bronze rod (top). Then grind the weld on a curved surface to remove weld buildup and level the seam (middle). After grinding, peen the weld area on a flat dolly to level the seam so blade thickness is correct (bottom).

One of the great abuses of bandsaws is not changing the blade for cutting thicker material or different alloys. If I had unlimited floor space and a budget to match, I would have three vertical bandsaws, each set up differently to accommodate different materials and alloys.

The rule of thumb for blade pitch is to use lots of smaller teeth for thin stuff and fewer but bigger teeth for thick stuff. For most purposes, a shop can get along with two blade pitches. This helps reduce confusion for people who don’t reference the blade chart.

Band saw blades are often purchased in bulk on a roll, and in some operations the saw blade is intentionally cut prior to use. As a result, the blade ends often must be welded together.