Help. Which pulley configuration should i use for my band saw........there are three sizes on eash of the two pulley's. It now goes a bit slow and i thought if i set it up correctly it would cut better............
Dom
It sounds as though you have a dual use saw. Most bandsaws intended for the woodworking market are single speed models. Those sold for both metalworking and woodworking have the ability to change speeds; slow and medium for metals and fast for wood. (Just FYI, in the Delta 14" saw's case, the difference between the two varieties of saw is merely the presence or absence of the pulleys you are looking at.)
My recommendation is to try the fastest speed for your woodcutting and see how that performs (largest pulley on motor and smallest on wheel).
Hi Dom
My first question (before I would be able to answer your question) to you would be what do you want to saw, next what horse power do you have and then what saw blade do you use or should you use.
But as for most of the small band saws that we use, they are low powered and thickness is mostly in the 6" area, the type of wood is all kinds of course.
With your 3 speed wood band saw you have the choice to use a band with more tpi (teeth per inch) without burning you wood, by going to a lower speed.
The idea is that the fine teeth at high speed cannot get the saw dust out and that generates burning heat.
With a 3 tpi blade you can use the high speed, but the problem with that is it needs more power especially when using wider blades, so depending on how thick your wood, tpi, blade width and thickness and hp you will have to decide what speed to use.
The suggestion that you have a band saw that can saw wood and metal is wrong, the speeds for metal are approx. in the 80 to 300 fpm (feet per minute) from 80 fpm for tool steel and 300 fpm for brass, heavy duty industrial machines use higher speeds but not that much, as for the wood band saws they run some where in the 2000 to 4000 ftp and industrial mills run as high as 7000 I think it is, problems than become friction and blade wandering.
I have made my 4 speed band saw able to saw wood and metal by adding a motor and jack shaft, if interested look at my web site.
Dom> Help. Which pulley configuration should i use for my band saw........there
Well, I might be wrong... or at least off track. The Delta 14" dual-use bandsaw uses the step pulleys but additionally a gearbox to make the transition from the very slow speeds for metal to the 3000fpm for woodcutting. Perhaps the OP has such a gearbox but doesn't recognize it for what it is.
Dom needs to determine the rpm speed of his motor as well as the pulley diameters of each step - also any other things in there that could play a role (such as a gearbox). For all we know the speeds available are totally inappropriate to woodcutting.
Hi Owen
Yes If Dom doesn't know what kind of saw he has, then it would be possible that he has a saw with 2 3 speed pulleys, and a gear box, and than it could be used for metal sawing as well. However I do take it that Dom does know what saw he has, but was not sure what speed he should use, and that's what my answer was geared to. And if you look at Grizzly, harbor freight, Delta, toolex etc., they all carry 2,3 or 4 speed wood cutting band saws, as well as single speed saws.
Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo
Owen Lowe wrote:
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