[dstrittmatter]

Hello everyone! My problem is cutting large, say 6 inch alum or steel bar stock. The cut needs to be somewhat nice so i don't have an excessive amount of waste while facing. Im open to all ideas.

I have a band saw but its a slow cutting process. I thought of speeding it up and building a coolant/lube system for it. Would this help?

Other idea is to build a heavy duty 14in chop saw, with lube system and a good clamping mechanism and power feed.

This is always a problem and i appreciate all the help and ideas.

[Geof]

How big is your band saw? We cut large rounds and get the ends square to within better than 1/16" over 6 inches, but the blade is something like 1-1/8" and the saw has a capacity of 8" by 18".

For fast cutting on aluminum you need a very coarse tooth such as 4 or 6 tpi and to get things square you may have to play with the blade guide rollers; on one saw I installed an extra set for better accuracy

[fpworks]

You ABSOLUTELY need coolant for sawing!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you're going to change your blade speed, make sure you can adjust the speed...if you have a steel saw blade, your blade speeds may need to be as low as 100 feet/minute for some tool steels...other steels you can be in the 250 feet/minute range. For aluminum, 300 feet/minute works well.

You sawing speed will also depend on your blade and the rigidity of your saw.

[Delw]

depends on the horizontal band saw you have. if its a decent(machine shop grade/industrial use) one you should be able to cut through it like butter, you must use coolant or oil. I have one thats 25 years old use's a 12foot x 1.125" blade. I always use a 3-4 combo pitch quality bi-metal blade for all steel and alum sawing.

one key is if your head(fallening end) has too much weight on it, it will wipe out blades on the older saws we use a 5gal bucket of water thats hung off a bar off the pivot end.

if you have a cheap sears,homedepot harbor freight one your SOL, if you have lots of stock to cut pay someone to get it done or buy a good saw. they are cheap and in the paper all the time.

[dstrittmatter]

I have a smaller johnson band saw. Nice saw but from what im hearing i need a bigger one now. I will try lubrication and tinkering with feed and speeds.

[HuFlungDung]

On my homemade shop saw, I use a 2-4 varitooth tooth x 1" band for aluminum sawing, With coolant, I get no jamming, and it cuts fast with the saw running at its highest speed. But coolant is a must, and a pick-off wire wheel is a good idea, too, to flick the chips out of the saw gullets.

[Mcgyver]

it might make more sense to outsource this function; let the service centre cut it - buy it cut.

if one or two, who cares about a cut charge....if hundreds, negotiat something. they should be able to do it cheaper with the larger band saws they typically have

[DareBee]

On my homemade shop saw, I use a 2-4 varitooth tooth x 1" band for aluminum sawing, With coolant, I get no jamming, and it cuts fast with the saw running at its highest speed. But coolant is a must, and a pick-off wire wheel is a good idea, too, to flick the chips out of the saw gullets.

DITTO