A band saw (also written bandsaw) is a machine with long tooth blade rotating on wheel that cut material held by a table. It is one of the most common machine tool found in cutting workshop and industry. Basically the job of a band saw is to give shape to material that has irregular appearance. The band saw shapes material by sawing straight, round or cutting curve. Metal, wood, plastic and other materials are cut by band saw. Depending upon the material there are different type of blades used by band saw. The power to a band saw machine comes from electric motor. Many kinds of band saw machines are used today. Each of them perform similar task but has different characteristics for sawing different material.
History of Band Saw Machine
The idea of Band Saw occurred to a British individual named William Newberry in the year 1809 who patented his invention. At that time the band saw was impractical to use. This was due to the lack of blades. No one had made them because the blade required good amount of flexibility to cut materials.
A number of inventors came up with patented blade ideas but were not good enough to cut material. Like in the year 1817, an American named Adam Stewart gave the idea of a two wheel vertical band saw. But he could not show how the blade could be set on wheels. Another American, Benjamin Barker had concept that the blade would be 34 feet long, 9 inches wide with thickness of one twelfth. His diameter of wheel was 5 feet that was very large to give any flexibility to the blade. Next idea was from William Cary whose design of the blade was very unclear, so no reason was found to use. Many individuals followed the path and invented their design, but solution on blade was impractical.
Finally in the year 1846, the blade problem was solved by Frenchwoman Anne Paulin Crepin who had the idea of using a welded band saw blade that could handle the rugged sawing and bending around wheels. After getting her idea patented she later sold it to Frenchman A. Perin. Perin was the first individual to make a practical band saw blade. His blade then soon became popular in England along with the rest of Europe. The popularity of band saw blade reached North America where the first band saw machine was manufactured.
Purpose of Band Saw Machine
The purpose of band saw machine is to cut variety of material. The different nature of band saw ensures that right equipment is used at right time.
Metal Cutting
Metal band saw is used in knife, farm items or pins to hold grain beside multiple uses that smoothly cut metal. Depending upon the need for straight or precise cut like creative filling, metal band saw is the ideal equipment to give correct angle cutting. Brass, copper, aluminum and bronze items are part of metal cutting application.
Meat Cutting
Meat require strong cutting of its flesh and bone. To work on such material, stainless steel band saw blades are used that has fine teeth and are sterilized before use.
Wood Cutting
Wood band saw perform curved cutting or cut size of wood material. Large band saw is used in the process where wood or timber waste is less. The wood band saw has ability to cut lumber fast. Many commercial makers use them because of fine cutting.
Carpentry Work
There are band saws that do home carpentry and small construction work. They depend on mechanisms of feed and fall where they move fast with respect to pressure and controlled cuts.
Parts of Band Saw Machine
A band saw machine is made up of parts that feature power, precision and safety.
Blade
A band saw blade has teeth that work in loop to cut material. They are interchangeable. Every blade has different set of guidelines to follow. Depending on the material blades provide different cut based on composition, teeth and angle cutting degree.
Type of Band Saw Blades
- Narrow Blade cut material with small curves.
- Wide Blade cut material of large radius on thick material. They make straight cuts.
- Steel Blade cut softwood fine but loses shine on hardwood.
- Bimetal Blade cut thin wood and metal. It is made of high-speed steel.
- Carbide Blade cut wood only and remains sharp longer than steel and bi- metal blades.
- Regular Tooth cut metal and does a smooth job because of fine teeth.
- Variable Tooth cut material with good depths. It vibrates less and absorbs impact during operation.
- Skip Tooth cut material like soft metal or wood. It is operator friendly and works at 90 degree angle.
- Hook Tooth cut hard material aggressively. The blade has wide teeth and operates on heavy wood and plastic at an angle of 10 degree.
- Diamond Tooth grinds material like glass, cement, stone and brick. The blade has rectangular teeth made of diamond crystal to operate tough.
Use the following size of blade for performing cuts.
- inches = inch minimum radius cut
- inches = inch minimum radius cut
- inches = inch minimum radius cut
- inches = 1 inch minimum radius cut
- inches = 2 inch minimum radius cut
- inches = 5 inch minimum radius cut
- 1 inch = 7 inch minimum radius cut
Besides opting for blades it is important to have right tooth sets. Coarse tooth works on soft material because of fewer teeth per inch (TPI) while a finer tooth set has more TPI to cut hard material.
Table
Table is used for material placement on which a band saw operates. The table is held by a vise to give grip to material. Custom tables are made according to operator choice. There are tables that can be switched to work with different band saw to increase cutting capability.
Motor
Motor give power to band saw machine. Types of material require different motor power. Large motor work for powerful job and medium or low powered motor does light task.
Wheel
The wheels provide tension to blade and allow making adjustment in angle for blades to work fine. Number of wheel depends on the nature of material to cut.
Wheel Cover
The wheel cover protects operator from blade and can be adjusted so a blade is easily changed.
Dust Collector
Dust collector is a very useful band saw accessory. It collects saw dust arising out from material that is dangerous for eyes and respiratory system. Also it keeps the surroundings clean.
Guides
Guides stabilize the blade so a cut can be accurate. They need constant attention and alignment and are made of a thrust bearing and 2 blocks that stop the blade from being pushed to the back during operation.
Procedure to Use Band Saw Machine
A band saw machine has a common procedure to follow and require no special skill to operate. Not just for beginner even operator with experience follow basic rule.
Here are some tips on how to use a band saw.
Start Safe and Clean
Before operating on band saw, one must wear gear like gloves, goggles and fit clothes for protection. Make sure the surrounding of band saw machine and the blade is clean. Beware of all the machine buttons especially START and STOP. This helps in emergency where the machine can be stopped any moment and restarted.
Use Correct Band Saw
Select a band saw based on specification of cutting speed, blade length and throat capacity.
- Cutting speed: Speed is set according to the nature of material. High speed motor will give good pattern cutting. Rule is fast speed for soft material and slow speed for hard materials.
- Blade Length: For detail wise cutting and tight curves, the length of blade must be 1/8 inches narrow. A wider blade with 1 inch can make accurate straight cuts in thick material, but will not have enough flexibility as compared to the narrow one.
- Throat Capacity: Refers to the distance between band saw blade and frame that determines the width of a saw’s cutting capacity. Throat capacity ranges from 8 inch to 36 inch. The size of throat helps a band saw to make wide straight cuts and scroll large pieces. For re-sawing a 14 inch is suitable enough as they are light to handle.
Choose the Right Blade
Band saw has multiple blades to cut different material. It is appropriate to choose the right one. Most operators use the same blade all the time. Though it may work well on some materials, but it may not give a fine cut. Depending upon the softness and hardness of materials correct blades must be used. It would save great amount of time and waste from material.
Set Blade Tension
The tension of blade must be left down when not in use to prevent injury. To see tension of blade, raise it to high level and press on the side against the blade. Blade tension can be seen. Some band saws have default setting to raise or lower blades. But band saws without this setting must get right blade tension for fine cut.
Level Blade Guides
The blade guides keep the blade level in place. There are two blade guides in a band saw, one higher and one lower. See that they are relatively close to the blade. If a bench top saw is used then it will have movable blade guide. Move the guide close enough to the material that needs cutting, but do not jam it.
Tune Miter Guides
If miter guides are used then see that they are set correct. Miter guides help to make straight cuts and hold the material in line during cutting.
Adjust Table
Test the alignment of table with a square piece of material to see how well it makes a cut. Some saws have automatic presets. But do this to for alignment.
Assemble Band Saw
For house purpose use a band saw that can be adjusted to custom specification. To customize a band saw, adjust the height, light and setting of band saw machine tight on bench top for precise work.
Measure Cutting Size
Make measurement on material that will be cut. See that the size of the cutting material fits the band saw. For straight line cutting, see that the width of material does not increase the distance between the band saw blade and column. For precise cut, make sure the material passes gap between column and blade.
Make Cuts
After marking measurement on material and speed set, the material can now go through band saw. Before a material is cut, see which side the blade tooth is facing because that will be the side material will be fed from. If material is manually fed then make sure your hands are out of the blades way. For power feeding, see you do not get caught with any moving part of the band saw. Firmly grab the material and align it in line with cutting blade.
Coolant
Band saw has in built coolant system. Coolant is a lubricant or fluid used to improve flow of cut on material. It reduces heat caused by friction in band saw blade and material. Types include water coolant, oil coolant and synthetic coolant depending on material to be cut.
End Safe
Once the cutting work is over, remove band saw’s power supply and release the tension of blade. Releasing blade tension can extend its life. Many operators tend to forget to release blade tension. Make sure to clean off the band saw machine including the blade that has loose material hanging. If coolant or oil fell on floor, mop it. To prevent machine metal parts from rust use anti rust solution. Try to make a habit of doing things in a safe manner.
Working Principle of Band Saw Machine
Band saw is a precision cutting tool. The working principle of a band saw machine cuts material to desired shape. Cuts are made by a blade that has long sharp teeth continuously rolling in loop through material. The blade rotates on wheel (drive and idler wheel). A table attached with band saw is used to place material that gets grip by vise. Power to band saw comes from electric motor that is controlled by control box. For accurate cutting, a lubricant is used on the blade called coolant. Coolant keeps the blade cool and prevents overheat. Band saw removes chip fast and have work speed range from 40ft pm to 5000ft pm. Types of band saw have different working principle. Read operators manual before use to know band saw feed and speed detail.
Types of Band Saw Machine
There are two kinds of Band Saw Machine.
- Horizontal Band Saw
- Vertical Band Saw
Horizontal Band Saw is a floor mounted machine that cut material in horizontal position.
Horizontal band saw consists of large motor and strong frame. Its wheel is set on frame that turn from corner of the horizontal band saw table. The material for cutting is placed on the table held by vise. Horizontal band saw vise has capacity to hold large material.
Working principle of horizontal band saw has the material fed to the blade manually by hand or power. The material is cut from right angle or preferred miter angle. Steel, solid tubes and irregular shaped material come under horizontal band saw cutting. Stationary jaw of horizontal band saw is set at different angle while the movable one adjusts according to the position of stationary jaw.
Horizontal band saw machine setting.
- Correct blade (teeth) is used for proper type of material cutting.
- Vise adjustment according to desired angle. Angle rechecks through measurement from blade line.
- Material is raised up with vise.
- Tighten material.
- Align blade guides and set adjustment for vertical position.
- Position saw frame so that blade appears 1/4 inch above material.
- Set speed, start to make cut.
- Reset the feed and start cut again.
- After the material is completely cut the machine stops automatically.
Horizontal band saw controls feed through pressure adjustment used by blade. Blade pressure is adjusted with spring counterbalance and sliding weight that can be reduced and increased when sliding weight moves toward and away from pivot point of saw frame respectively.
Feed use in horizontal band saw machine.
- Feed is light from start and increased later on.
- Wide material need heavier feed and work well with wide blades.
- Light feed suit hard material and heavy feed suit soft material.
- Feed is reduced when hard spots appear like welds in joined sections.
Vertical Band Saw is a bench top or stand support model that cut material in vertical manner. It is a metal cutting machine whose size is determined by throat capacity.
A vertical band saw has idler wheel, motor switch, blade tension setting, air line, adjustable post system and job selector dial located on its head. The column has butt welder and speed dial to indicate speed. The base of vertical band saw has table, drive wheel, motor, power feed mechanism, feed adjustment and foot pedal. A shift lever can be seen on the back of base that can be set on high, low or neutral position.
Working principle of vertical band saw has the saw raised up and blade going down to cut material. Vertical band saw has electric motor that runs through belt transmission. The belt assist the blade to work fast that rotates between wheel mounted above and beneath the work table. The blade cuts side of material where material moves against the cutting blade. Vertical band saw can do mitered cuts due to tilting ability of its table from front to back or sideways.
Vertical Band Saw Machine Setting.
- Wide blade is used for straight line cutting.
- Material is positioned at angle in machine attachments manually or power fed.
- Set speed, start band saw cutting.
- Material is fed slowly into the blade. After slow phase, feed is increased.
- For manual feed, operator pressures on material according to cut conditions.
- Straight cuts achieved with miter guides manually or power fed with or without vise.
- Material is fastened against miter guides to move parallel to the blade.
- For large material, angular blade guides are used for straight line cut.
Vertical band saw control feed through pressure applied to the blade by material. The material is fed in blade by hand for curved and special cuts. Power feed is performed with machine base and weight. The weight is lifted by pushing down pedal where cables pull the material up against blade. When the pedal is free, weights pull material through blade.
Feed use in vertical band saw machine.
- Feed is light at first that is increased later.
- Hard materials need light feed.
- Wide blades handle strong pressure and are better with heavy feed.
- For hard spots feed is reduced until they are cut.
- Light feed work for curve cut and heavy feed for straight cuts.
There are band saws that operate in different manner.
- Portable Band Saw
- Semi – Fully Automatic Band Saw
- Heavy Duty Band Saw
Portable Band Saw Machine
Portable band saw is a user friendly machine that operators carry to any place. Carpenters usually have portable band saw to use on material like aluminum, copper, wood, rail track, street poles, etc. They even work on large material like boat trailer.
Portable band saws work similar to other band saw. They make straight, round and curve cuts on irregular shapes. They operate by battery and have variable speed. Their body is made of composition like steel and designed to fit the hands of operator.
Due to advent in technology portable band saws have blade tracking system that monitor wear and tear of blade. They have in built safety lock and light system to give visibility to its operator.
Semi and Fully Automatic Band Saw Machine
Semi automatic band saw is part controlled by operator where fully automatic band saw works with automation. Semi and fully automatic band saw machine are used for fast material cutting. The operator sets desired feed rate, blade speed, vise control and other option through computer controlled software for cutting material. Once cutting process is over the machine gets back to upright position and locks itself.
Heavy Duty Band Saw Machine
Heavy duty band saw is used on heavy materials like die forging, steel service centers and variety of solid manufacturing material. These machines have strong body frame, concrete saw head, column and interactive system. Build to operate on semi or full automation heavy duty band saws intake large feed with hydraulic grip vise. Their speed and blade parameters cut material in fast length.
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