Jon Elson wrote:
Andy H. andys_junk_address at yahoo dot com wrote:
Hi Fellas,

I've got to cut up a bunch of 1/2" 316-stainless round bar this
weekend, and am looking for a good bandsaw blade that won't leave me
cursing halfway through the job. I've hear Starret and Lennox
bi-metal are the way to go. Any recommendations?

My saw uses 1/2" X 64-1/2" blades.

Thanks for any help.
Hmm, that sounds like the ubiquitous 4x6" Chinese bandsaw - right?
If you have hydraulic feed, the welded bimetal blades are supposed to
be great. Starrett sent me an unsolicited bimetal blade, of the $50
sort. I had doubts, but put it on the saw to see what would happen.
Well, with the spring feed, it stripped teeth off within the first
minute, and quickly lost inches of teeth. Glad I didn't pay for that
mistake! So, unless you have a hydraulic feed (which some people have
retrofitted to these saws) or are cutting some very large diameter
work where you will hand-feed at the beginning and end of each cut, I
don't think you want to mess with them.

But, that leaves you with a problem. A carbon-steel blade, run at the
low speed, WITH coolant, won't last real long on 316 stainless.
Without coolant, on the high speed, you'll only get a couple minutes
per blade.

I weld my own blades from 100' roll stock, so a burned-up blade is not
a great hassle to me, and I use cheap carbon steel blades. I also cut
mostly aluminum and mild steel, where they work fine. I have cut some
1/8" SS rod and such with them, and it is not an immediate problem,
but I suspect that it does wear the blade a LOT faster than softer stuff.

Jon
I've had good luck with IIRC Lenox blades bought off J&L in the UK
cutting 2" to 3" stainless with a normal 4" x6" bandsaw, no coolant. The
only issue I have occasionally is cutting larger Al such as 4" or
greater where it may bind without occasional lubrication. My saw lives
on the highest speed always as it works well that way for all I cut. I
have buggered a blade or 2 by cutting thin material with an
inappropriate blade, ie too few teeth, but that is my fault.

A minor glitch recently was cutting 6" round steel and the material
pinched the blade part way through due to residual stresses I suspect.

A point of interest about the 4x6 bandsaw assembly in China is that I
guy I know in the UK bought an ex demo (apparently) 4x6 and it had the V
bely pulleys assembled the same way round, ie max diameter to max
diameter, must have been a Monday or Friday machine. He was happy though
as with a bit of sorting he got a working HV bandsaw for about £100
instead of maybe £170. I suspect the company didn't want to correct the
problem and sold cheap but having had a 4" x 6" for many years I can't
fault the small input in time for the usefulness of the tool.