- Joined
- Sep 24, 2016
- Messages
- 125
Just ordered a 7x12 horizontal bandsaw for my home shop. Will be cutting aluminum and steel and would prefer not to have to change coolants out. Any recommendations? TIA...
A little kerosene or WD-40 will help to stop the aluminum swarf from sticking to the blade. master53yoda is correct that you need a coarse pitch blade on aluminum that big so the gullets do not fill up with chips and bind in the cut. I find 6061 in the t6 or t651 temper to be quite easy to cut on a band saw. If your saw has controlled down feed, keep pressure on the blade enough to get it cutting freely but not enough to clog the gullets. By the way, another good lubricant for use on the band saw is wax, which can be purchased in sticks for metal cutting. You rub it on the blade while the saw is running. It is not messy. I am currently using various leftover cross country ski wax tubes, left over from the 1970's, with my band saw. It works!Interesting perspective Bob. Tell me more? For example, I have a 6" diameter 6160 round stock that I need to part off at .375" depth.
I also have an abanaki chillybits air vortex cooler that I was thinking about using as well. Thoughts?(snip)