Hi,
I need help with powering a bandsaw; I bought an old heavy cast iron 16 inch bandsaw in great condition. It had been set up with a jack shaft to cut metal. I’m going to cut Doug Fir and 3/4 inch plywood with a 3/4 hp 1725 rpm motor, so I’m removing the pulleys and the jack shaft. My question is: What two pulleys should I choose for this bandsaw ? I guessed a 3 inch and a 10 inch, but I don’t know the correct blade speed for Doug Fir and plywood, so this is just a guess.
Can anyone help me out ?
Thanks !
Bill
Replies
I was taught that the "ideal" speed to aim for on a bandsaw sawing timber was about 2000 m/min (circa 6500 ft/min) lineal blade speed and that any variation in cutting speed could be dealt with by varying the tooth count of the blade to control gullet choking. To find the revs/min required, do the following calculation:
L (linear speed, inches/minute) / Pi x D (Diameter of wheel in inches)
= 12 x linear speed (ft/min) / Pi (3.14) x diameter of wheel (16in)
= 12 x 6,500 / 3.14 x 16
= 78,000 / 50
= 1,560 rpm (approx)
This means that if you retained a 1:1 pulley ratio your blade would be running at:
L (linear speed of blade, inches/min) = Pi x Diameter of wheel x Revs/min
= 3.14 x 16 x 1725
= 86,664 in/min
or 7,222 ft/min
A tad too fast but probably within reasonable bounds when you allow for 5% motor slippage (so your 1725 rpm motor will really only deliver about 1640 rpm which translates to 6,860 linear ft/min)
Scrit
those speeds seem a bit high, I run my bandmills at around 5300 fpm, and my saw blades a bit slower, (it is on an OLD 36" C.E. Wright), may I recommend sufflok machinerys' website, it's an excellent resource for saw and mill blade info, speeds and tuning
Well I never would run 1 to 1 pulleys on a bandsaw with a 1725 rpm motor, that is way too high for me! I might try 8 to 10 or 9 to 10 ? A 16 inch wheel model seems a bit rare these days ?
did some figuring on speeds after ref. timberwolf blades, they recommend a max speed for a 16" wheel at 3800 sfpm, with your motor a 5 - 10 setup should deliver 3650, 5.25 - 10 gets you up to about 3900. I have to admit, I really like running their low tension blades, their service is excellent, and I like their turnaround time for shipping. If you're referencing 16" wheels, most of the euro-style saws, laguna, jet, minimax, seem to offer them, but as far as the old cast iron beasts, it looks like walker-turner made them in that size, maybe shopped out for the craftsman label too. take care -js
O.K. ! That sounds workable ! Thanks for the info, I'll look into the references given, too.
Bill
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