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Hi Folks,
I am well into my build for the machine and have completed most of the wood and aluminum parts. Just wondering about cutting the steel parts. I purchased a metal cutting band saw blade for my machine and it works well on the aluminum. The steel parts are a different story. Do you really cut the lengths with a handsaw, zip drill holes and cut out and file the odd shapes, or is there a simpler way to obtain the geometry in the plans? Thanks in advance.
Yes you can do it with only a file and hacksaw and lots of elbow grease.
If you are using a wood cutting bandsaw the blade speed is way to fast for steel, even with a good bi metal blade. For mild steel you want a blade speed of around 200 fpm. The ideal speed for aluminum is something like 400-1000 fpm, but you can get by at wood cutting speeds (2000-4000 fpm) without ruining the blade. I have an old craftsman three wheel bandsaw that I slowed down to metal cutting speeds and it cuts steel quite well with a bi metal blade.