I have a cheap Chinese bandsaw that looks like this:
My first issue with it is that at the time I bought it there was no model with built in cooling so my unit has no cooling whatsoever :-(
When cutting I've been giving it a squirt of coolant from time to time, for long cuts I've rigged a piece of tube filled with oil plugged with a cotton bud that allows oil to drop slowly onto the cut. However, I found oil is not very good for it, it contaminates the drive wheels and the blade doesn't grip as hard. It is very easy to stall after oil was used.
So my first question is about cutting steel with no coolant. How much less of saw life I can expect when cutting with no, or occasional coolant? Is coolant really necessary when cutting thick solid rods with such saw? I use m42 bimetal saws.
Second question is sort of related to the first. Because the saw would stall I had to set very slow down feed when cutting a particularly large piece. Unfortunately twice during the cut the down feed just stopped! I had to crack the valve open and close it again to get it going again. I bought the saw 4 years ago. Do I need to change the oil on the down feed cylinder? Or perhaps does it need a clean?
In general I would be quite happy with this saw if I managed to resolve that downfeed issue. I have some huge blocks of metal to cut, basically at the limit of the machine, but if the feed just stops on its own its going to be very annoying coming half an hour later seeing it hasn't moved.
Finally, does anyone have a good method for setting the saw guide rollers? They are kept and swivel on a single m8 bolt. There is no reference surface to set them to. It seems the only way is to adjust, then cut and see if it cuts crooked. If it does adjust a tiny bit by loosening the bolt and tapping, then cut again. Does anyone know a betteer method?
My first issue with it is that at the time I bought it there was no model with built in cooling so my unit has no cooling whatsoever :-(
When cutting I've been giving it a squirt of coolant from time to time, for long cuts I've rigged a piece of tube filled with oil plugged with a cotton bud that allows oil to drop slowly onto the cut. However, I found oil is not very good for it, it contaminates the drive wheels and the blade doesn't grip as hard. It is very easy to stall after oil was used.
So my first question is about cutting steel with no coolant. How much less of saw life I can expect when cutting with no, or occasional coolant? Is coolant really necessary when cutting thick solid rods with such saw? I use m42 bimetal saws.
Second question is sort of related to the first. Because the saw would stall I had to set very slow down feed when cutting a particularly large piece. Unfortunately twice during the cut the down feed just stopped! I had to crack the valve open and close it again to get it going again. I bought the saw 4 years ago. Do I need to change the oil on the down feed cylinder? Or perhaps does it need a clean?
In general I would be quite happy with this saw if I managed to resolve that downfeed issue. I have some huge blocks of metal to cut, basically at the limit of the machine, but if the feed just stops on its own its going to be very annoying coming half an hour later seeing it hasn't moved.
Finally, does anyone have a good method for setting the saw guide rollers? They are kept and swivel on a single m8 bolt. There is no reference surface to set them to. It seems the only way is to adjust, then cut and see if it cuts crooked. If it does adjust a tiny bit by loosening the bolt and tapping, then cut again. Does anyone know a betteer method?