Woodworking bandsaws run too fast for metal cutting, particularly ferrous. The blades will be quickly ruined. My small bandsaw is geared down to a speed of about 200ft/min and that seems fairly good.

Also you would find that attempting to cut large diameter round bar held by hand on the saw table is NOT advisable. The bar will rotate and you will not be able to grip it.

Can't help with a suggestion of a bandsaw for taking work of the size that you mention, but it will be big. I use an old Rapidor hacksaw which will take bar up to 6".

Edited By Clive Brown 1 on 11/04/2021 11:53:20

Gerry,

At the last school where I worked we had a floor-standing bandsaw which could take either wood- or metal-cutting blades. In the pedestal was a series of v-belts and pulleys to select the appropriate cutting speed, which was much slower for metal and required a different blade. Unfortunately I can't remember the make or model.

I did once witness a colleague cutting metal with the woodworking blade. The sparks were quite impressive, and the technician had to replace the blade afterwards…

George B.

As all said the speed is one factor, but 1 inch steel and 5 inch diameter aluminium you would need some serious holding fixture that slides easily supporting the work both sides of the blade. If you don’t there could be some snatch as the part gets close to cut off. Also the time taken to stand there feeding the material through. Better to get the steel plate flame cut.

With those requirements a vertical saw designed for metal will have a decent throat width for the plate and if you make up a sled then round and section can be cut safely.

I use my old woodworking bandsaw for nonferrous sheet/plate and before getting the Femi it wa salso used for bar, with a bimetal HHS blade at woodworking speeds it cut OK, this is 3" square 6082 but it would be too fast for steel.

Many of the older startrite machines say s14,18,24 have 10 speeds with 5 belt positions and a 2 speed gearbox they will happily cut anything.

but I wouldn’t want to stand there cutting 5” of steel with it

i have a s14 5 and cut alloy plate regularly on it up to 3 inch thick

but mainly i use it for woodwork and a 4×6 bandsaw for metal stock

I have a Startright upright bandsaw for wood cutting [was never happy with it, even for that ], tried cutting light sheet steel with it, learned very quickly that it did not like it and it was rather scary. Speed is much too fast and material too difficult to control, and this was even with a suitable blade.

Horses for courses, I think. As regards cutting 5" round anything, you are a brave man !

I have a horizontal, metal-cutting bandsaw. The frame can be positioned in the vertical position, so I have made up a frame, with horizontal table, which is held in place by the vise. It needs extra vertical support, for the table, in this mode.

I doubt it would cope with timber cuts as well as a vertical startrite, but that is not required as I have access to a wood sawing bandsaw. The vertical startrite (for timber) that I used a long time ago was often used for cutting curves (with narrow blades). This may be an issue.

As JH says, Stakesys is a good website to check out. They actually show a lightweight table kit for the 782XL saw @ £85. The 782XL will cut 100 x 85mm ‘rectangular section’ (they quote 95mm square).

The ideal world is one of each – possibly cheaper than buying a VFD and less hassle blade changing

Otherwise, as suggested above a metal cutting one you can put in 'upright' mode. Plus if you get stuck, it's easier to handsaw through a sleeper than through a 2" metal bar! (Voice of experience).

Neil

as I said above

I bought one of these from Axminster Tool a few years ago and it has saved me a lot of effort. It is arranged for a slow speed step on the drive pully with the addition of a variable speed drive. Slow speeds are a must if you are cutting metal and of course you need fast speeds for wood.

Axminster Tools Metal Bandsaw

I find it excellent for cutting blanks for clockwheels and frames in Brass. Steel plate up to 1" thick and large billets of aluminium. I'm not saying thats all it will do just what I have done to date. Most usefull for removing the waste from odd shaped lumps before machining. And obviously it's in it's element for wood.

regards Martin

I have a toolmakers Do All bandsaw made in uk under licence by G H Alexander it was possibly made during 1950/60s 2 speed motor varable speed down to below 100 ft per min,capacity ,it will cut steel up to 6 ins thick,it has a sort of "power feed" comprising a cast vee frame and a length of cycle roller chain,the the v lays flat on the table and the chain wraps around the outside of the vee ,the chain ends are attached to a cord which via a pulley system has a large weight on the end of the cord, the weight is enaged via a foot pedal and a screw system adjusts the load applied to the cord. ,cutting heavy pieces of steel would require extreme physical effort so there would be no chance of cutting 5 inch material in a vertical bandsaw. Also cutting any round material in a vertical bandsaw is a no no,DO NOT TRY IT. a horizontal band saw which really is only a modern development of the power hack saw with a big vice is the best way of cutting round material ,the advantage of the horizontal is that it saves time as there is no idle return stroke. An old Rapidor 6 inch is the best machine for cutting blanks,if there is no room in the workshop why not keep it in the garden with a "dog Kennel type shelter on wheels to keep it dry, a friend did this so that he could cut up long lengths of bar. Another way of achieving larger blanks is to get the metal supplier to sell you cut blanks at extra cost,Rounds or other shape cut via flame cutting,water jet, etc are usually cut from flat sheet which usually has poor machining qualities.

I'd be very wary of connecting a "£50 RS controller" to any machine-tool unless it is genuinely compatible with the motor – by type as well as voltage and power values.

The sort of 1-3ph inverters you seen often mentioned on this forum slow the speed of a synchronous motor by reducing the frequency, while keeping most of the Watts up. Does that from RS work in the same way for a 1ph motor, or is it simply an amplitude-chopper that slows the motor by reducing the power? If the latter, it would be useless for controlling a machine-tool like a steel-cutting band-saw.

Also, it's not good to run a motor very slowly for long, if only for cooling; and on any machine-tool it is cutting speed, not the motor speed, that has to be lowered with minimum power-loss between motor and work. I can run my Harrison lathe at about 70rpm – but using the gears to keep its 3ph motor happy at around 1000rpm.

'

Don't be misled by work-speed alone. You need consider the feed as well – dictated by the amount of material each tooth can shave off. That a material can be cut at high speeds does not mean it has to be, but many materials can only be cut at very low speeds, on the sort of machines we generally encounter anyway.

A saw made primarily for cutting wood may cut fairly thin aluminium plate with an appropriate blade – not the wood-sawing blade – moderately well, but is far too fast for steel.

A saw made primarily for cutting metals including thick steel will cut wood, with a suitable blade, without problems. It just take longer because the blade speed is low.

In both cases each tooth should be removing its fair share of metal or wood, but at a lower speed just takes a bit longer to do so. Not on piece-rates are you?

.

Conventional vertical band-saws do not have vices so are not suitable for cutting steel bar-stock, although some have geared or belt transmissions allowing low enough speeds for steel. Also, the throat depth obviously limits the maximum length handled.

I used at work, a Startrite band-saw that could cut 2ft X 2 ft squares of 1/4" gauge-plate – hand-fed, very slowly and tediously, at its lowest speed – but it was a machine made for metals-cutting; and I had the range of blades necessary for the work I did on it.

Conventional horizontal band-saws for cutting metals have a vice, and though limited on height and width do not impose length limits. They will also cut wood, though preferably with a wood- cutting blade, coarser and with wider set. A fine blade suitable for solid steel will clog on most woods.

The common dual horizontal / vertical band-saws sold under a number of badge-brands are versatile but tend to suffer from two drawbacks. The tables supplied are small and not well-supported, and the upper blade-guide cannot be lowered closely to the work. These do not help accurate work. Nevertheless they are useful provided you realise their limitations.

(The " pressed-tin" stand supplied with some of those leaves much to be desired, as well. Like many users, I treated mine to a strong trolley on heavy-duty castors.)

SO….

If you need cut metals even if mainly cutting wood, but have room only for one "universal" machine, you are better off with one of those vertical/horizontal machines that can cut the relatively hefty steel sections. Their lowest speeds are optimised for mild-steel, with an appropriate blade (typically 14tpi), but will run fast enough for wood, although a coarser blade is better for that.