A fresh post in SEJW refers to a Grizzly bandsaw. The manual for that
saw has a chart of chips and the speed/feed adjustments to make. I've
posted the chart to the DropBox. (Yeah, I know it's copyrighted - so
sue me.)

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...lChipChart.pdf

The thing is - my 4 x 6 bandsaw only ever makes what they call "powdery"
chips. Never anything stringy. The chart says that I should decrease
my speed (already at slowest) & increase feed. It seems to me that the
pitch would make a big difference also. My blade is about 16 tpi.
Whatta' think?

Bob
--
Nota for President

On Oct 2, 5:58*pm, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
A fresh post in SEJW refers to a Grizzly bandsaw. *The manual for that
saw has a chart of chips and the speed/feed adjustments to make. *I've
posted the chart to the DropBox. *(Yeah, I know it's copyrighted - so
sue me.)

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...lChipChart.pdf

The thing is - my 4 x 6 bandsaw only ever makes what they call "powdery"
chips. *Never anything stringy. *The chart says that I should decrease
my speed (already at slowest) & increase feed. *It seems to me that the
pitch would make a big difference also. *My blade is about 16 tpi.
Whatta' think?

Bob
--
Nota for President

That makes sense to me. The pitch and the size of the gullet between
the teeth must limit the possible size of the chip(s) formed.
http://www.starrett.com/pages/1075_b...technology.cfm
http://www.commercialtoolsupply.com/...eShooting.html

Denis G. wrote:
On Oct 2, 5:58 pm, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

A fresh post in SEJW refers to a Grizzly bandsaw. The manual for that
saw has a chart of chips and the speed/feed adjustments to make. I've
posted the chart to the DropBox. (Yeah, I know it's copyrighted - so
sue me.)

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...lChipChart.pdf

The thing is - my 4 x 6 bandsaw only ever makes what they call "powdery"
chips. Never anything stringy. The chart says that I should decrease
my speed (already at slowest) & increase feed. It seems to me that the
pitch would make a big difference also. My blade is about 16 tpi.
Whatta' think?

I use Lenox DieMaster II blades with 10-14 vari-pitch on the little
saws. I definitely get real chips, although they're small, of course.
You have to use enough force to have the blade cut or you're wearing it
out. You also have to ease the blade into the cut, or you can break
off a bunch of teeth.

If I have to cut something thin with those blades, I just back way off
on the feed (usually by applying a lifting force to the end of the saw
as it descends) if I don't have a fine-tooth blade in the machine.

Grant
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Oct 2, 5:58*pm, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
A fresh post in SEJW refers to a Grizzly bandsaw. *The manual for that
saw has a chart of chips and the speed/feed adjustments to make. *I've
posted the chart to the DropBox. *(Yeah, I know it's copyrighted - so
sue me.)

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...lChipChart.pdf

The thing is - my 4 x 6 bandsaw only ever makes what they call "powdery"
chips. *Never anything stringy. *The chart says that I should decrease
my speed (already at slowest) & increase feed. *It seems to me that the
pitch would make a big difference also. *My blade is about 16 tpi.
Whatta' think?

Bob
--
Nota for President

Makes sense to me. Finer pitch blades have smaller gullets and could
be more prone to loading. The chips fill the gullets then roll around
becoming powder if they have no place to escape. Coarser blades have
deeper gullets and you get increased pressure per tooth and more space
for chips to form. It's still a balancing act to get good blade
performance and life.
http://www.starrett.com/pages/1075_b...technology.cfm
http://www.commercialtoolsupply.com/...eShooting.html

On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:58:32 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:



The thing is - my 4 x 6 bandsaw only ever makes what they call "powdery"
chips. Never anything stringy. The chart says that I should decrease
my speed (already at slowest) & increase feed. It seems to me that the
pitch would make a big difference also. My blade is about 16 tpi.
Whatta' think?

Bob


Mine has been doing that, even with a 6/10 variable tooth blade. Something to
do with cutting cast iron maybe?

More seriously. 16tpi is very fine. You would normally only use that fine a
blade for 1/4" stock. The feed pressure on the little 4 x 6 bandsaws can also
be quite low compared with an industrial saw, It has to be with a 1/2" deep
blade compared with a 2" deep one!


A copy of the PDF is going to get laminated and stuck to the wall behind the
little saw :-)

Mark Rand
RTFM

On Oct 2, 5:58*pm, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
A fresh post in SEJW refers to a Grizzly bandsaw. *The manual for that
saw has a chart of chips and the speed/feed adjustments to make. *I've
posted the chart to the DropBox. *(Yeah, I know it's copyrighted - so
sue me.)

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...lChipChart.pdf

The thing is - my 4 x 6 bandsaw only ever makes what they call "powdery"
chips. *Never anything stringy. *The chart says that I should decrease
my speed (already at slowest) & increase feed. *It seems to me that the
pitch would make a big difference also. *My blade is about 16 tpi.
Whatta' think?

Bob
--
Nota for President

Bob, you probably have more experience than me, but what you say makes
sense. A coarser pitch blade would have deeper (larger) gullets to
carry intact chips. Finer pitch blades with smaller gullets might
load and churn the chips to make finer particles as the blade travels
through the cut. Coarser blades would also give more pressure per
tooth causing the blade to dig more. Still it's probably a balancing
act to get good performance and good blade life.
http://www.starrett.com/pages/1075_b...technology.cfm
http://www.commercialtoolsupply.com/...eShooting.html

Thanks for your comments - Denis, Grant, & Mark.

I wondered what my chips really looked like. Maybe they look "powdery"
because they're so small & I can't see their real shape. So I took a
pinch of chips & looked at them with a magnifier. Well, they aren't all
powdery. Maybe not "stringy", but a few a
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhardt/BandsawChips.jpg

Wondering about the feed pressure, I leaned on it for a cut & it did
seem better. But I didn't look at the chips closely. The CTS site
Denis' referred to cautioned about excessive distance between the blade
guides, as it will allow excessive bending & possible cracking at the
back. That would be more so with small (1/2") blades & excessive pressure.

That site also recommends feed pressures in terms of "Medium light",
"Medium", etc. Anybody ever see specific pressure recommendations?
I.e., in lbs?

BTW - my blade is actually 15 tpi. 15??! Yeah - I counted it 3 times.
It's a blade that came with the saw. After all these years of
counting teeth with a scale held beside them, I finally found an easy
way: press a piece of paper into the teeth, mark off a inch, & count the
holes:
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhardt/BandsawTeeth.jpg

Bob
--
Nota for President

On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:25:46 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

BTW - my blade is actually 15 tpi. 15??! Yeah - I counted it 3 times.

You count both the first and last teeth in an inch when determining
the tooth pitch of a saw. It doesn't make sense, but I think it's an
archaic practice that predates band saws.

--
Ned Simmons

On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:25:46 -0400, the infamous Bob Engelhardt
scrawled the following:

Thanks for your comments - Denis, Grant, & Mark.

I wondered what my chips really looked like. Maybe they look "powdery"
because they're so small & I can't see their real shape. So I took a
pinch of chips & looked at them with a magnifier. Well, they aren't all
powdery. Maybe not "stringy", but a few a
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhardt/BandsawChips.jpg

What metal, thickness, angle of attack, etc?


BTW - my blade is actually 15 tpi. 15??! Yeah - I counted it 3 times.
It's a blade that came with the saw. After all these years of
counting teeth with a scale held beside them, I finally found an easy
way: press a piece of paper into the teeth, mark off a inch, & count the
holes:
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhardt/BandsawTeeth.jpg

As a caveat to those of you in Rio Linda "DON'T try this with the
machine running."

--
"Given the low level of competence among politicians,
every American should become a Libertarian."
-- Charley Reese, Alameda Times-Star (California), June 17, 2003