Metalworking, woodworking, cutting plastic and other materials can be done through band saw cutting. This is because a band saw, which is a versatile power tool, can be adopted or designed to carry out these activities. To carry out metal cutting, the blade of the band saw used is either a carbon steel or a bimetal. Carbon steel tool blade, the cheaper option can equally be used on mild steel to cut it, when set to the appropriate speed. As for the more expensive bimetal blades, this can be used to cut hard materials, for example stainless steel. However, making use of a bimetal band saw may be the cheaper option in the long run, if used appropriately as it often outlasts a carbon steel blade of a band saw.
To cut wood, you can make use of carbon steel tool blades on your horizontal band saw or other band saws, which it can be used for (please confirm from sales guide or manual before using it this way). Some manuals that come with band saws designed for cutting wood inform users that they can equally cut metals too. This is often true, but such are soft metals like aluminum, copper, et al.
If you attempt this wood cutting band saw on a stainless steel, which is a denser metal, you will likely destroy the saw blade as a result of the heat generated. This is because a lot of wood cutting band saws possess blade speed that is inappropriate for cutting such metals; as they run faster than required for cutting harder metals.
A tooth pattern on band saws is another way these powerful tools are put to different uses for wood cutting or metal cutting. Without these differences in pattern the versatility of band saw cutting will be somewhat limited in its usage compared to what it can currently achieve.
There are general rules for tooth patterns. For band saws designed to cut wood, it is that fewer teeth per inch makes a faster, but rougher cut; while the direct opposite (possessing more teeth in every inch) will make a smoother, but then slower cut. And with metal cutting band saws, the general pattern rule is that working with thinner materials requires possessing more teeth per inch, while harder materials need fewer teeth.
Metal band saw cutting is done basically through the use of two machines, namely; horizontal band saw mentioned earlier in preceding paragraphs and vertical band saw. Wood cutting also employs the horizontal and vertical model of band saw machines. Horizontal band saw machines are often designed to accommodate one width blades, while vertical band saws can take blades that have various width sizes. Band saw cutting has developed over the years with more innovations expected in years to come.
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