On 2016-09-11, Ignoramus8004 wrote:
On 2016-09-11, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Ignoramus21943" wrote in
message ...
...
Metalworking wise, I am busy cutting railroad rails (112 lbs per
yard)
into 11 inch pieces that fit into flat rate boxes. Doing so with a
bandsaw.

i

How good is blade life?

Blade life is what I am trying to figure out now.

With new rails, cutting seems to go better, as new rails are not yet
work hardened. We ruined 2 blades on used rails, but possibly, it
happened because the teeth were too coarse.

Orientation could make a difference, too. Trying to cut on the
top of the rail you are hitting the work hardened area at its worst. I
think that if you clamp the rail so you start on the side, and the
hardened top is at the side where the teeth exit, you might do a bit
better there.

Or, you could use an angle grinder to remove the hardened
surface before cutting.

I just cut about 15 of new rail pieces and the blade does not seem to
be doing any worse, as judged by the time required to cut one rail.

That sounds good. What percentage of your rails are "new" vs
"work hardened"?

On regular mild steel, I could get two buckets of sawing chips per one
blade a few years ago.

That, of course, in part goes with the pitch of the blade. I
gather that you've switched to a finer pitch for this job, so that
metric is now questionable. :-)

The saw is three phase, 1" width and 11' length of the blade. Runs
with coolant.

A good machine for the job. Have you figured out what it costs
you per cut in electric power?

Enjoy,
DoN.

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