Bandsaw blade speed rate

[davediy]

Hello
I'm in the middle of modifying a rexon 240v bandsaw I own.
Making better guides for the blade and reinforcing the table mounts as it flexes too much for my liking and better speed control.
However this bandsaw was intended for the cutting of wood originally and only has two pulley settings both of which are fast which I'm planning on modifying.
Most of the jobs I do are for steel now so assuming using from 18 to 22 tpi for the blade how fast should the blade be going to cut mild steel up to 1/4 inch max
thanks
Dave

[SteveW]

Dave,

I can't think of a number other than reporting that the metal saws I've seen are a lot slower than the wood versions.

What you could try is to model the speed by timing yourself cutting metal with a hacksaw then do the math to get foot per second. Perhaps check this via web references.

Finally replicate the cutting speed using step-down pulleys.

I've just tried a search for band saws and many list blade speed in feet/sec.

[alanstepney]

try 100 ft /minute.

It is a fairly good starting point and "we" generally dont need the maximum speed, but prefer a longer blade life.

[davediy]

Thanks for the feedback
I'm using some old pulleys I have around the garage to try to get the speed right down.
Went on machine mart website and their equipment has a range of 65 to 125 fpm so I am aiming for around 60 and 90 with the duel pulleys.
now Just got to figure how to put it all together.
thanks again

[russell]

I have an old Burgess woodcutting bandsaw which has had the speed reduced by about 50% by changing the motor pulley. It will cut 2 in. steel bar quite happily with a reasonable blade life. I find 14 tpi blades best for all but thin material.

Russell.

[ron]

Hi Dave
If it's any help the three speeds on my Warco band saw are 20, 30 and 40 metres per minute, it works fine on most metals I've tried but a bit slow on aluminium. I also find the 14 tpi blade the best general purpose one but it also cuts wood OK with a coarse blade.
Ron

[engineernut]

On my lathe & mill I do alter the speed depending on the metal etc but on the bandsaw (which is completely wrong I know) I just leave the speed on the fastest. Have never measured it but it does not appear to be over fast, reasonable trot I would call it. I use 24 tpi blades and I have just had to put a new blade in this week.
This saw gets used quite a bit from steel, cast iron, alloy, bronze, box tube, brass, you name it .
This last blade had been in the saw for over 2yrs so can't grumble.
I think the main criteria is to have the blade pressure set correctly, plus I do lubricate the blade whilst cutting.