Tag Archives: machining
Machining Alloys
Machining alloys is what most metal cutting industry shops do. Fabrication, drilling, cutting, milling, bending, and punching operations will all end up encountering problems in the process of machining alloys. Rough finish, bending of materials, poor product texture, and machine aspects like wear, tear, and blade dulling or breakage. These issues cause slow production output and incur unwanted cost — to both materials and equipment. Aluminum alloys are a commonly used lightweight metallic materials that are easy to shape. Aluminium alloys are material that offers high machine ability as opposed to titanium or magnesium. Factors to consider when machining alloys include tool life, chip removal, removal rate, …
Blade Guides
Bandsaw blade guides keep the bandsaw blade on track while cutting through materials. Blade guides should be set above and below the saw table to help reduce vibration by holding the bandsaw blade in place while cutting. This assures a precise and quality cut. Carbide blade guides are made of high quality materials but can still wear out due to the amount of friction made by the blade during the cutting process. It is important to determine if the guide’s wear is normal or caused by operator error. Check the worn-out guides for any indication of problems and make the proper adjustments to the bandsaw. Improperly adjusted …
Bundle Cutting
Using a bandsaw for speedy bundle cutting — advice about production speed. Selecting the correct bandsaw for the job and the correct saw blade for the material being cut are critical to production performance. Many machine shop owners are interested in how best to speed up production in order to cut more material using a bandsaw. Sometimes, in the quest for faster production it is thought to be time that is the problem. It actually turns out to be a combination of factors: things that end up being responsible for bottlenecks in the sawing process. A myopic vision leads to thinking that purchasing …
Blade Tension
Blade tension is a term used to describe how tight a bandsaw blade is on a bandsaw and is expressed in Pounds per Square Inch (PSI). In order to consistently produce straight and uniform cuts, bandsaw blades require tension. Before installing a bandsaw blade, the first thing to do is to put tension on the wheel to hold it firmly in place. This should be done each time a saw blade is replaced to insure accurate cuts. Most bandsaws come with a gauge tension meter, which will indicate the amount of tension required based on the width of the blade. This is …
Bandsaw Blade Terminology
More information about bandsaw blade terminology, the industry jargon, and with emphasis on the bandsaw blade. A bandsaw blade is an engineered and banded piece of metal joined together by welding. Saw blades are composed of different parts, and the terminology to describe these parts is an important factor in helping to better understand blade applications. Arbor/Mandrel — the shaft that is saw-motor driven and turns the saw blade Beam Strength — the resistance a saw blade has to back deflection when subjected to the edge thrust of feed pressure Blade Length — the total length of the bandsaw blade Blade Tension — the direct pull (in pounds) on the …
Bandsaw Feed Systems
Bandsaw Feed Systems are the pressures applied to the bandsaw blade by the materials that are being cut. Feed Rate is an important cutting variable that is defined as being the amount of material (in square inches) that the saw is set to cut in one minute, S.I.P.M. (Square Inches Per Minute). The feed system should not be erratic, and the bandsaw movement should be smooth and steady. Different Methods of Feed System Gravity — the bandsaw falls under the head’s weight and has movable weight which allows for adjustment of the feed pressure Gravity/Spring — similar to gravity feed, but with the use …
The Three-Tooth Rule
The Three-Tooth Rule, or How the Number of Teeth Work in a Cut. In order to obtain the best TPI (teeth per inch) for the smoothest cut, follow the three-tooth rule. A minimum of three and a maximum of 24 teeth engaged in a cut. If there are too few teeth in a cut, the blade’s teeth can straddle the work piece and cause the teeth to strip. Too many teeth in a cut may cause the gullets to overload due to there not being enough gullet capacity to hold all of the chips. Along with having teeth strip from the saw blade, blade bounce is …
Bandsaw Blade Gullets
Bandsaw blade gullets are the space or curvature between each individual tooth on a saw blade. With each pass of the blade, the material being cut will curl into the gullet, creating a spiral of material called the chip. Too many teeth in the cut will make the gullet full. The teeth become filled with this excess material, and the chip will eventually break away. Use a variable pitch blade since the alternating pitch created increases and then decreases the chip load inside the cut. One reason to pay attention to gullet size is that with coarser pitch blades, the …
