Real old Delta wood/metal bandsaws had a gearbox. And they aren't that
scarce, either. If you want a vertical metalcutting bandsaw or a combo
wood/metal bandsaw, then that's what you should go find. I have a 14"
Walker Turner bandsaw which has a backgear for metal on it, or you can
run it in direct drive for wood. I'm really happy with it. The old WT
bandsaws seem to have been built the heaviest.

I think the guy with the pre 85 Delta is slightly misinformed or else
he's a little bit crooked -- at any rate, I don't think his saw would be
easy to convert to a wood/metal saw. There are so many saws that were
advertised as wood/metal saws that really only slowed down to maybe
600 or 800 fpm, it's a dirty shame. The slow speeds are really needed
for some hardwooods, these are really wood saws, and the marketing guys
that said for metal were basically crooks IMO.

GWE

David Pidwerbecki wrote:
Grant,

Thanks for the replies.

This is good to know. There is this guy who has a pre 85 Delta (supposedly
heavier castings, etc.) and he said that it was the same one sold for metal
working, except for different sheaves. Do you know anything of this?

Dave

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...

David Pidwerbecki wrote:

Thanks for the comments.

Is the general consensus that the wood working saws being sold by Jet,
HF,
etc. really are not good enough for metal, even when changing out the
sheave
for the proper speed?

Many people have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how exactly to
slow
down a wood-cutting bandsaw to metalcutting speeds (30-300 fpm). It isn't
usually possible to just pulley it down. The belt will slip, or the
pulleys
won't be available, or they won't fit, or whatever.

GWE