Tell me about this band saw I purchased!

[MF243RedTop]

Picked up a vertical band saw off FB marketplace dirt cheap... It was listed as a meat saw. I've spent most of my adult life in the processing of meat. Used larger commercial hobart saws, this is nothing like that.
The wheels are 20" in diameter flat on top. Look to be about an inch wide or so..They also have a "for lack of better terms" a square key groove way cut around the perimeter of the wheel down the middle of the flat top, maybe a 1/16 wide not very deep.. I have not idea about that .



the guy said it originally had a 3 phase motor in it, converted now to 110..not too concerned about the electric motor, it does work but I'm probably converting to a gas engine sooner or later..



The frame is 3" tubing 3/16 thick.
The vertical tubing that supports the top wheel looks to be about 3x5" tubing 3/16 thick. I'm 6'4" and it's a little taller than myself.



Only identification plate was
"Bunting Equipment Company" Greensboro NC, with a serial number that I could get basically nothing from on Google..



I'm mainly interested in what the rpm/load rating is on the saw and wheels... I'm in the beginning stages, I thinking of converting it to a horizontal mill.. little concerned about the weight of the band and vertical tubing now..once I seperate it from the frame.. wasn't counting on that 3x5 tubing..

I'm think it's probably some type of industrial manufacturing band saw...from what little I could source on its size

Thanks Brian

 

[user.69169]

Quick search shows Bunting Equipment in Sophia.
Other info pickdup says dey small operation, maybe 2 brothers make special purpose machines and do industrial insulation.
Not too hard to see dat saw cutting insulation panels.

Speed is function of FEET PER MINUTE on band saw, NOT RPM. What you cuttin dctates band you use and how fast. Can't see wheel face in picture but wonder if grooves for holding tire on. Tooth side gotta have clearance or set gets pulled out of band.

Mill game you generally add bearings to act in close to what being cut. Supporting band wid just wheeels recipe fer disaster & short band life.

 

[MF243RedTop]

I've found comparable industrial saws that can run up to 5000 fpm on 18 and 20 wheels. I was just trying to make sure I didn't blow these wheels apart.
So with that said, the current electric motor is 1725 rpm on a 3inch pulley turning a 8 pulley to wheel.
I've figured a 2500 rpm engine on same pulleys will produce 4850 fpm which should fall into these wheels limits.. if that's what they are.
The rpms on the driven pulley would be around 937 rpms.. which should be ok.
Or is this all wrong.
Flat wheel with a single groove (square shaped)
Down the middle..
Add rubber to wheels?
Plan maybe a 1 1/4 inch blade.. on those wheels
Which would put the set out past the wheels, barring holding the blade in place. Plan on upgraded guide wheels.. blade scrapers .. etc.

 

[user.69169]

First question is do wheel have back curb to hold blade? If not probably best to put one there.

Groove center of face from memory is indicator wheel was made to carry tire. Tire gives blade soft ride and better traction, also increases life f blade & wheel. All kinds of tire made fer different jobs. Sawyers tough bunch, put 3 in room and dey got 5 ways to do job, only way dey agree is you use sledge on head of sawyer. Add filer you need fire hose. My dad worked mill 3o years started as boy and quick became 1 handed mill hand. Guys made him hook he became grader.

Calculating blade speed, you gotta work from engine speed at peak of power curve. No other way wid gas engine.

I watch Amishmen run speed up and down depending on what dey cuttin but I got no understanding of speeds or why. Pretty sure not burning blade most important part. I understand findin iron or rocks wid blade very unpopular but not Dutchie dey use when dey find dem.

 

[MF243RedTop]

No back curb, plan on using rubber tire with a crown..and roller blade guides.
Yeah.. gotcha wifey worked 20 plus for briggs and stratton.. their horizontal 10-15 hp engines typically produce the most hp around 3000-3500 rpms,
But produce the peak torque curve around 2500 rpms.
So I can run faster rpms if necessary but will just have to swap out pulleys sizes to match .
Sound right?

Btw I cut meat most of working days, until recently... I can still wave by with all ten digits... That's how we hired experienced cutters hold up hands .. missing fingers nope don't need you..

 

[WranglerX]

Its speed will be dependent of what type of cutting you will do..... Metal usually cuts in around 300 to 500 FPM (feet per minute) and wood generally cut around 2000- 4000 FPM (again feet per minute) blade speed.... Blades may have recommended speed included with them if quality items.... Also a consideration is teeth per inch for type of cuts you intend to do....

You need to know motor rpm and pulley sizes that drives main tire (wheel) and how many feet wheel moves per 1 rpm (outer circumference)....

IF your wheels are 20 inch, that means outside circumference of wheel is 62.83 inches or 5.23 feet, so blade is going to move 5.23 feet per 1 rpm.... For wood cutting and you want to have 3000FPM that means you are going to want a shaft speed of roughly 573.6 RPM for drive wheel.... IF you are going to run a gas engine at 3000 RPM you will probable will need to gear it down 5.2 to 1 to run drive wheel...

If my number are to far off, someone will be sure to tell us....

Lots of calculators on line to work out the math (this morning my brain refuses to address the math well).....

Dale

 

[MF243RedTop]

Using this formula I think after some research



a 18 hp engine at 3000 rpm with a 3" drive pulley. And changing the driven pulley to 10" diameter would be correct for these band blades using this calculator..
Band Speed Calculator

Did You Know | Suffolk Machinery - Timber Wolf Bandsaw Blades

That would give me 4712 sfpm on the band blade.
These are recommend to run a minimum of 4000 and a maximum of 5300~5800 sfpm depending on my choices in blade use.
Sound right?

Those numbers you put up dale would be fine for regular band saw usage on wood working blades.. I'm just trying to get the correct numbers for turning it into a horizontal sawmill using the suggested blades and speeds.
Thanks

 

[MossRoad]

Found that name and phone number associated with being an authorized service center for DELTA power tools in several references.

 

[the old grind]

Buy a cheap HFT digital tach. Put the reflector tape on the wheel to find it's actual rpm.

The math to find SFM from that is simpler, and IMO you'll be more accurate in determining it from/at the blade itself.

Using a band-saw is like using any other. Regardless of SFM we want to have a certain number of teeth in the cut. (3-4 is preferred) This provides reasonable pressure/tooth for efficient cutting and a 'lower' TPI blade has more room in the gullet to clear chips. (14-TPI is common for metal saws, as are 6-10 and 10-14 variable pitch, depending metal thickness to be sawed.

One simple thing we can do for ~1 hp machines is to re-power with DC treadmill motors. I'm using a $5 diode bridge and a <$50 HFT 'router speed control' to feed pulse-width modulated DC to the motors. This is nothing like using variable voltage and produces more torque at reduced speeds. I use one control for several motors/tools, .. because I can't run two machines at once.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Anybody wanna trade for a sawmill???:laughing:
That would solve a lot of problems

Old grind gotcha.. but by not having any reference numbers what the wheels were designed for and the rpm/fpm they can handle... Im just taking my best guess by comparing to other similar saw models.

Moss might have to give them a call.

Thanks