Craftsman 12" Band Saw

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by billscamaros

My dad gave his Craftsman 12" band saw to me a couple of weeks ago. He used it for woodworking, but I'm wondering if I can use it to cut metal (aluminum and 1/4" steel). Is this something that I can just buy a metal blade for? I have to worry about the blade speed also, right?

Yep -- wood saws speeds are too high for metal work. Is it variable speed? If so what's the slowest it will run?

The high speeds create too much heat and take the set right out of your blades... and blades for bandsaws aren't cheap. When I say they'll take the set out - I mean they won't even complete one cut!

A wood saw will have 2600 fpm where my Wilton metal band saw in 116 to 300+ fpm (mine is variable) so you can see how much too high the wood speeds are.