Nope. Too noisy, too dirty, too much fire hazard for the area. That and
they don't seem to understand the difference between ferrous materials
that cut nicely on an abrasive saw and aluminum that just clogs it up.
Sigh.

I need to have a discussion with the materials guy to clue him in on
subjects near and dear to my heart. What's funny is that he will be
happy to cover the subjects I ask him about without any conversation.

Brian Lawson wrote:
Hey Roy,

There is a discussion "further up the page" here on RCM right now
about abrasive cut-off wheels. Don't you have one or two of those
dirty things for "students"?

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:09:48 -0600, RoyJ
wrote:

I'm probably going to open a question that sounds like the 'red states
vs blue states' but I gotta ask:

I deal with a University Engineering proto shop that has a 8x12
horizontal band saw was inexpensive to start with, is getting pretty
ratty, needs to be replaced. The question: cold saw or bandsaw? I'm
pushing for a bandsaw because blade costs are so much lower.

The kicker: this shop is used by inexperienced users doing all sorts of
known and unknown materials. Much of the work is not easy cutting of
long sticks of hot rolled angle. More like short chunks of anything
including stainless. I can't depend on them clamping the part correctly.
I can't depend on smooth entry feed or even the right feed pressure.

To give you a feel for things: the Delta vertical bandsaw has a blade
life of around 2 weeks, usually winds up missing most of the teeth after
someone tries to cut some .120 stainless, snags the teeth. I'm afraid
I'd be looking at sending in a $500 cold saw blade every other week. Not
going to happen on my watch.