Wood to steel cutting bandsaw

[ericher69]

I I have an old wood cutting bandsaw that I would like to convert to cutting steel. Pictures to follow

One problem; it turns way too fast!

Here are the measurements

Drive motor 1745rpm
Drive pulley 1.5"
Driven 7"
Band wheel diameter 19"
Band length 124"

I found an app for my phone and a few online calculators to figure fpm rate and come up with 900fpm

What would be the easiest way to slow this down to less than 200fpm (cheapest way)

Thanks

 

[sal64]

you need a triple pully witch are hard to find or mady a bigger one. also you would need to buy some bimetal blades to cut steel.

 

[ericher69]

you need a triple pully witch are hard to find or mady a bigger one. also you would need to buy some bimetal blades to cut steel.

Triple pulley on motor to be able to change speeds easily?

I need a fpm rate of 80-200 fpm


Got a brand new Lenox die master 6/10 tooth pitch blade.

 

[Rustyiron]

I have a band saw that is made for wood or steel. It has a small gear box that tremendously slows the blade down (for steel) as well as having a 3 position belt. Is a small garden tractor transmission possible?

 

[rustythread]

You might want to search the archives at OWWM.org somebody is bound to have asked that same question over there, and they have a lot of experts on older wood and metal-working machinery.

 

[Mcdust]

Delta made a multi speed 14" wood and metal saw. I recently bought a very nice one for $300. I also have a $100 job I bought at a machine shop auction that has the motor replaced with a 2 sheave pulley and the motor now mounted hanging off the base driving the fist pulley making a reduction if you follow me. Very Mickey Mouse but works fine. Owwm is a good idea too.

 

[billybobjimmyjoejack]

I have read about guys using a variable speed motor from a tread mill (heavy duty and cheap). The blades you will need could be custom made but might be expensive.

 

[dstig1]

You'll could do like drill presses do and use an idler in the middle to get the step down you need. In trying out a calculator you would need a 1" drive pulley and a 36" driven pulley to get even close, so you will probably need to step it twice. You could maybe steal the pulley set from an old drill press and find a speed setting that works. Looks like you want to get the driven wheeldown under 50 rpm, so maybe a 35:1 gear box would do that for you. Try Surplus Center, perhaps

 

[eastexan]

If you have a brush type motor on it, this should work and is a simple fix.
I have read in other forums where guys not only use this on routers, but on other things as well.
Router Speed Control

 

[dstig1]

BS motors are generally induction motors as they are anywhere from 1/2 hp and up. Depending on how small this BS is, perhaps it is a brush-type motor, but that is not the type I see on anything I think of as a bandsaw.