"RoyJ" wrote in message
news
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.

I think I may opt for the cold saw, but add to it a key actuated switch so
that you can have a modicum of control over it's use. That way you could
eyeball the setup prior to the cut to be sure of things.

The cold saw works fine for stainless with the right setup and technique.
It also is much faster than the band saw so monitoring it's use would not
kill too much of your time.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.