You can cut non-ferrous metals with a wood cutting bandsaw. Most
woodcutting bandsaws have a cutting speed of about 2000-3000 fpm. This is
not too fast for aluminum, however, you do need a bimetal blade with a tooth
pitch fine enough to keep 3 teeth in the thickness of the workpiece. Stick
wax can be used as a cutting lube, but I never use it.

Ferrous metals require speeds below 150 fpm. This extra speed reduction
is the main factor making the dual purpose wood/metal bandsaws more
expensive.

Randy


"Zack" wrote in message
...
Hey guys:

What's the difference in wood cutting and metal cutting bandsaws? Is it
just the blades, or is there something about the machines themselves?
Sorry to ask what may seem like a dumb question, but I am just a garage
tinkerer trying to make some small aluminum parts for a toy truck. I need
a bandsaw to ruff cut some 1/8" to 3/8" aluminum plate and then mill to
final dimension. However, I do not have $1,000.00 to spend on a saw. I
have found several saws below $500.00 but they say not for cutting metal.
Why not? If I put a metal cutting blade in it, shouldn't that work, or
will it tear up the saw? I am not running a production line (yet) so I
don't need to spend big bucks on a high end saw. I just want something I
can "play" with in the garage. I'm not scared of HF or Grizzley if I can
find a happy medium between quality and price.

ANY help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot

Zack