Band saws for wood and metal
 

I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

Thanks for the help.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Band saws for wood and metal
 

wrote in message
m...
I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

Thanks for the help.

I have the Wilton and have been happy with it.
Lane

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Boy I'm getting tired of writing this! Where are you located? - GWE

wrote:

I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

Thanks for the help.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
Boy I'm getting tired of writing this! Where are you located? - GWE


Grant, I don't understand why it matters where he is located. He is just
asking for advice on saws.
Lane

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Because very often when a guy writes that he's looking for a machine, someone
else pipes up that he lives right in his neighborhood and has just such a
machine available. Or else someone says go check down at Joe's Salvage
because they have 4 machines like that for scrap prices.

That's why. - GWE

lane wrote:

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...

Boy I'm getting tired of writing this! Where are you located? - GWE



Grant, I don't understand why it matters where he is located. He is just
asking for advice on saws.
Lane

Band saws for wood and metal
 

You might also want to consider one of the older Delta 14-in horizontal
bandsaws, which were sold in woodworking only and WW/metalworking
configurations. The latter seem to fetch $200-600 depending on condition
and source. The Yahoo OWWM (old woodworking machines) group has some
resident experts there that are quite helpful.

wrote in message
m...
I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

Thanks for the help.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

I just posted a Boice Crane 14" wood/metal bandsaw on eBay. Just
search under Boice Crane. This item has a hi-lo gearbox and works
very well for all sawable materials, given the correct blade and
speed. The only reason I am selling, besides getting money, it that I
have a 16" DoAll also. I have had the Boice Crane for several years,
sometimes it was the only saw I had. Another very fine wood/metal saw
is the powermatic model 143. It also has the hi-lo gearbox. I have
sold maybe 15 of these in the last four years. They are very popular
with knife makers because they can cut steel, bone, phenolic, plastic,
horn, wood, etc, used in making custom knives. And they don't take up
much room. In the case of the powermatic model 143, it is just a
model 141 (wood) with the addition of the gearbox. The model 141
Powermatic is arguably the best wood cutting bandsaw of its size ever
made. And, the 143 also cuts metal like a dream. I only use the
Lennox diemaster II blades for metal. Anyway, the Powermatic 143
sells for about double what the Boice Crane will go for, but in use,
they are about the same. If you have the room, and access to material
handling equipment to get it in, The big heavy DoAll 16-18" bandsaws
will spoil you.
Paul

Band saws for wood and metal
 

On 22 Jan 2004 09:02:05 -0800, wrote:

I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

I have the Wilton and have been happy with it. It's made in Taiwan
but I found nothing to criticize other than the plastic tension knob.
I replaced that knob with a metal one. Other than that, fit, finish
and function have been completely satisfactory.

It has both belts and gears; the gearbox is engaged for lowrange
speeds and disengaged for highrange speeds. It's very easy to engage
and disengage.

Wilton is a US company based in Elgin IL that has been in business
since 1941.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

I don't know if it's "$1000", but I have a delta 28-306. I have cut
from heavy bolt steel to light wood with it, all worked fine. I've
also cut disk drives in half (great way to make sure they cannot be
read, DO wear your goggles), and other such odd projects.

The difference between a "wood" and a "metal" bandsaw seems to be the
blade speed range, until you get into high end metal saws, which will
have a blade welder.

I'm not sure where it's made, but aside from the dust port being sort
of silly, and the v-belt cover housing being attached with
mickey-mouse clips that I replaced with screws, it all seems OK to me.

Mine is on Delta's wheeled base, which makes it easy to move. I
recommend that.

Iturra designs sells bigger dust ports, brushes to keep sawdust off
the wheels, and so on. I've not ordered their stuff yet, but looks
good in the catalog.

The blade that it comes with is, uh, not wonderful. But bandsaw
blades are consumables anyway. And first rate blades are easy to get.

The $200 saws always seem to be cut-off/miter saws. Which is great if
you want to cut some straight edge at some known angle onto a steel
pipe or bar. They have the merit they can divide parts of limited
width x height but arbitrary length. So they're clearly great for
parting turned stock, sizing stock for the metal lathe, cutting tubes
to be fabricated, and lots of other useful tasks. But they're not set
up to work on wood at all.

The Delta (and I think the Wilton you speak of, I bought the Delta
instead), are verticle saws. They cannot divide (cut off) a thing of
arbitrary length at a right angle. But they can cut curves. They can
"rip" pieces of any length, by large heights, up to just less than 14"
(for a 14" saw) from the edge.

The delta has a miter slot (but no miter gauge that I can recall,
you'd have buy one or build one), but with a little work a bandsaw
will cut quite straight. There is a rip fence option for the Delta, I
bought it, haven't used it yet.

As for metal and wood together - most of us don't have a choice.
However, do disconnect the wood dust vacuum before cutting metal,
since sucking hot metal cuttings into a pile of sawdust with 1100cfm
of air blowing over it will make quite a fire. (Then again, if all
the dust is in the dust collector or the waste basket, hot metal
cuttings falling on the concrete floor are no big deal, are they?)

I find that small vices improve the value of the saw. A small part (a
bolt, say) can be held in a small machinists vice, then slid past the
blade to cut it off very close to the head (say), or at a funny angle.
[By analogy, miter fences, rip fences, setup gauges, and push blocks
make any wood saw faster, easier and more accurate.]

I personally love this saw, because I trust it much more than a table
saw, and it lets me do so many of the odd projects I want to do,
quickly.

good luck
bmw



wrote in message om...
I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

Thanks for the help.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Well I just have to be satisdfied with my homebrew 20" bandsaw. I
have less than $100 into it and it does what I need to do. So far it
has performed just fine. Last night I cut up some 3/4 and 1" steel
plate for a home made press brake, and it cut it fine. I cut a bunch
of thinner sheet stock for the saws cover with it using a rip fence
(angle clamped to table) and its a straight as it gets.

While it may not have the optimum speed for wood working, I do very
little except to make patterns for my castings, and with a wood
cutting blade it works just fine at my highest SFPM range. Besides I
hate wood working with a passion. Guess its because as a kid I was
forced to work in wood with my dad. I prefer metal slivers in my
fingers than wood splinters ;-)

I had looked at JET and Wilton but all were way out of my range.


Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Grant Erwin wrote in message ...
Boy I'm getting tired of writing this! Where are you located? - GWE

I apologize for leaving out my location. I live in the Tucson,
Arizona area, about 15 miles north of the city.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Ah..yes...the search for the BANDSAW to end bandsaws. :)

I too was on that search and this is what I found.

First, the comments about having different saws for wood and metal are
right on the mark.

From a shop perspective, you should not be doing woodworking in a
metalworking area (way too much dust even with dust collectors) and no
metalworking in a woodworking area (too much oil, grease, sparks and
wood dust is a fine abrasive). If you do, please practice your speech
to the insurance agent when the fire happens and remember that some
policies are voided if the policy holder has not adhered to common
sense safety precautions.

Next in respect to metalworking, the different in saws depends on
whether you are cutting flat sheets of metal or long narrow pieces. If
it is long narrow stock, one of the $200 Asian imports is a great
investment. Used they go for $20-50 so there is NO reason for a
metalworker not to have one of these. I wanted a larger detachable
table for mine so I brought the aluminum table that Delta has for
their 9" wood bandsaw and retrofitted it on my Asian import. Works
great for small piece and plate cutting!

For flat sheets of metal, one needs to look at how large and thich of
sheets you will be using. I have seen and done myself modifications of
Asian 14" wood vertical saws with a surplus motor/gearbox to get the
speeds down to the meatlworking range. This works great because you
are dedicating the saw to metalworking so you avoid the complexity of
trying to have one saw serve both wood and metal. The gearbox in the
combination meatl/wood saws are the cost driver in these saws and also
their major weak spot since to repair them costs $$$. The same
approach of modification with a surplus motor/gearbox combination
works for larger saws. I had a Powermatic 20" wood saw modified for
metal and it went through it like butter.

Cost for this approach in my case was less than for any wood-metal
combination saw I have ever found. For all the saws I have modified,
the combination motor/gearbox has been a freebie and wood saws because
of the greater numbers manufactured are cheaper. The downside is you
need more floor space for two different saws but as I said earlier,
you are asking for trouble if you are doing woodworking and
metalworking in the same area.

Good luck with your search. The results are well worth the effort
involved with installing a bandsaw in your shop.

TMT



(bryanwi) wrote in message . com...
I don't know if it's "$1000", but I have a delta 28-306. I have cut
from heavy bolt steel to light wood with it, all worked fine. I've
also cut disk drives in half (great way to make sure they cannot be
read, DO wear your goggles), and other such odd projects.

The difference between a "wood" and a "metal" bandsaw seems to be the
blade speed range, until you get into high end metal saws, which will
have a blade welder.

I'm not sure where it's made, but aside from the dust port being sort
of silly, and the v-belt cover housing being attached with
mickey-mouse clips that I replaced with screws, it all seems OK to me.

Mine is on Delta's wheeled base, which makes it easy to move. I
recommend that.

Iturra designs sells bigger dust ports, brushes to keep sawdust off
the wheels, and so on. I've not ordered their stuff yet, but looks
good in the catalog.

The blade that it comes with is, uh, not wonderful. But bandsaw
blades are consumables anyway. And first rate blades are easy to get.

The $200 saws always seem to be cut-off/miter saws. Which is great if
you want to cut some straight edge at some known angle onto a steel
pipe or bar. They have the merit they can divide parts of limited
width x height but arbitrary length. So they're clearly great for
parting turned stock, sizing stock for the metal lathe, cutting tubes
to be fabricated, and lots of other useful tasks. But they're not set
up to work on wood at all.

The Delta (and I think the Wilton you speak of, I bought the Delta
instead), are verticle saws. They cannot divide (cut off) a thing of
arbitrary length at a right angle. But they can cut curves. They can
"rip" pieces of any length, by large heights, up to just less than 14"
(for a 14" saw) from the edge.

The delta has a miter slot (but no miter gauge that I can recall,
you'd have buy one or build one), but with a little work a bandsaw
will cut quite straight. There is a rip fence option for the Delta, I
bought it, haven't used it yet.

As for metal and wood together - most of us don't have a choice.
However, do disconnect the wood dust vacuum before cutting metal,
since sucking hot metal cuttings into a pile of sawdust with 1100cfm
of air blowing over it will make quite a fire. (Then again, if all
the dust is in the dust collector or the waste basket, hot metal
cuttings falling on the concrete floor are no big deal, are they?)

I find that small vices improve the value of the saw. A small part (a
bolt, say) can be held in a small machinists vice, then slid past the
blade to cut it off very close to the head (say), or at a funny angle.
[By analogy, miter fences, rip fences, setup gauges, and push blocks
make any wood saw faster, easier and more accurate.]

I personally love this saw, because I trust it much more than a table
saw, and it lets me do so many of the odd projects I want to do,
quickly.

good luck
bmw



wrote in message om...
I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

Thanks for the help.

Band saws for wood and metal
 

This isn't EXACTLY to the point, but the February (I think), 1934
issue of Popular Mechanics has an article on making your own bandsaw.
It was a 10 or 12" benchtop model, using mostly plywood. I made one,
one cold Minnesota winter in the 1970s. It was a very gratifying
project and the saw worked great. I took a shortcut on mine and
didn't put in a tilting table, so it was extra easy. At the time all
I had for machines was a drill press and a small power hacksaw. I
think I used a hand jigsaw for the cutting, and turned the wheels on a
friend's woodlathe. I recommend this project to anyone, and it could
be built of any material at any scale.
Paul

Band saws for wood and metal
 

6e70 wrote:
This isn't EXACTLY to the point, but the February (I think), 1934
issue of Popular Mechanics has an article on making your own bandsaw.
It was a 10 or 12" benchtop model, using mostly plywood. I made one,
one cold Minnesota winter in the 1970s. It was a very gratifying
project and the saw worked great. I took a shortcut on mine and
didn't put in a tilting table, so it was extra easy. At the time all
I had for machines was a drill press and a small power hacksaw. I
think I used a hand jigsaw for the cutting, and turned the wheels on a
friend's woodlathe. I recommend this project to anyone, and it could
be built of any material at any scale.
Paul
The current (iron model) Delta wood - 12/14" bandsaw I got some years ago -
not many - has an optional pulley for slowing down a wood into a metal.

The metal version I don't think can go upwards, but you might check.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Band saws for wood and metal
 

Agreed.

I have a Wilton 14" at home and a Delta 14" at work. Both have the two
speed gearbox. They are VERY similar ... the Wilton (ca. 2001) is
essentially a 'clone' of the much earlier Delta (ca. 1960). They are
nearly identical. There's little to choose between them. The Delta's
been going strong for over 40 years ... I hope the Wilton will do as
well. With care. I can't see why it won't.

Both are currently available, but the Wilton, an import, is perhaps half
the cost of the Delta. And even some of the Delta stuff is imported now
(I don't know about the saw).

Dan Mitchell
==========

Don Foreman wrote:

On 22 Jan 2004 09:02:05 -0800, wrote:

I would like to purchase a band saw in the $1000 price range capable
of cutting both wood and metal. I've found some information on two
possibilities: Wilton's 14-inch 8201 Tradesman band saw and
Craftsman's 15-inch wood and metal band saw, but I haven't seen either
saw and I don't know anything about Wilton's reputation. I'd
appreciate recommendations for other saws that might work and any
information others have about the Wilton and Craftsman saws. Among
the things that would be helpful are knowing where the saws are made
(Taiwan, PRC, etc.), whether speed change uses gears or belts, and how
the saws compare to JET band saws in general quality and features.

I have the Wilton and have been happy with it. It's made in Taiwan
but I found nothing to criticize other than the plastic tension knob.
I replaced that knob with a metal one. Other than that, fit, finish
and function have been completely satisfactory.

It has both belts and gears; the gearbox is engaged for lowrange
speeds and disengaged for highrange speeds. It's very easy to engage
and disengage.

Wilton is a US company based in Elgin IL that has been in business
since 1941.