Variable Speed Bandsaw: Any advantage for this feature for certain cuts in wood?

[Joel Gelman]

There are a number of variable speed bandsaws out there in different price ranges. One example: https://www.rockler.com/laguna-18-cx-variable-speed-bandsaw-for-metal-and-wood

These are bandsaws marketed as having the advantage of being able to be used for cutting wood and other materials (eg aluminum). On the forum, there has been some discussion where some say it is nice to have the versatility and not all that messy if you stay away from ferrous metals, and other say that even with non ferrous metals, it makes a mess of the inside of the bandsaw and little metal pieces get in the wood and cause all kinds of problems.

A couple of woodworkers that are friends who have had the good fortune of being able to spend some time working with Sam Maloof told me that for certain cuts in wood, having a variable speed option would be a valuable feature. Does anyone have any experience using a variable speed bandsaw and find that having this feature is good for certain applications when cutting wood? For example, certain exotic hardwoods or where a slower speed in certain curved cuts may offer more control and less chance of the wood banging down onto the table?

Thanks

[Richard Coers]

What cuts did Sam tell you that would benefit? I can't think of one.

[Andrew Hughes]

Just sounds like one more thing to go wrong on a bandsaw.

[Bill Dufour]

To cut iron you need a transmission with roughly 10 to one reduction. I did see one conversion where someone installed two motors connected at all times. I assume two different rpms.
Bil lD

[Joel Gelman]

I did not say Sam told me anything directly about bandsaw cutting details. I knew Sam, and admired him greatly, and went to his funeral. However, I did not ever get to learn these details from him. I said that a couple of friends who did work with him suggested to me that if they had a variable speed bandsaw, they thought they would find variable speeds an advantage in woodworking (not talking about cutting iron-metal). Neither actually owns a variable speed bandsaw.

When using drill presses for example, it seems well established that one should change the speed based on if the bit is a larger forstner bit vs smaller brad point for example. Many perhaps leave the speed the same no matter what, especially if changing the speed is a hassle with belt changes. However, it is thought to make a difference and most drill presses are not of a fixed speed. I was just curious if, with a bandsaw, if anyone had some experience with variable speed when cutting wood, and found that there was a benefit, and if so, what the benefits were.

[Steve Eure]

I have the Rikon that has a two speed pulley. I have never intentionally changed the speed. I keep it on the highest speed at all times. I did run it on the lower speed once when I replaced a broken belt, only because I installed the belt on the wrong pulley. Didn't like the lower speed. So to answer your question, I non't know. Maybe someone with more experience can give us all a definite answer to your question.

[Lisa Starr]

I can't attest to the convenience/versatility of a variable speed band saw. I can however say that you don't want Aluminum anywhere near your wood cutting bandsaw. It makes a huge mess, especially if you run coolant (you should) while you're cutting. I try to keep ALL metal cutting out of my woodshop. It is a pain, but even if I drill something metal, I head for my husband's workshop were all he does is metal.

I imagine some horribly hard exotic wood might benefit from the lower speed but I also image you could use a regular band saw and just take more time feeding it.

[Doug Garson]

My scroll saw has variable speed and sometimes a slower speed makes it easier to follow a line, wonder if the same might be true for a bandsaw?

[Zachary Hoyt]

I use my bandsaw mainly for cutting wood. When a blade gets dull enough that it doesn't cut straight I retire it from wood duty, and put it on the saw when I want to cut brass or aluminum. I have only cut 6061 aluminum, but it works okay with a dull woodworking blade. It's not fast but it's faster than anything else I have available and I don't have to cut aluminum all of the time. I do cut brass somewhat regularly, mostly 360 brass, and it does fine too. I clean the saw out thoroughly with the vac after cutting brass, but some does get stuck to the urethane tires. I brush off what I can and while some seems to always remain it doesn't seem to have hurt anything over the past few years. I try to cut a bunch of brass parts when I have that blade in, as it saves cleanup and blade changing time. My saw is single speed.

[Wes Grass]

I was looking at specs recently, rikon maybe, and the control has a bunch of preset speeds. I think it was lower for contouring. Kinda makes sense.

What surprised me was a high speed for resawing. I would have thought it better to slow down to reduce heat with a deeper cut.

[John Ziebron]

I second what Lisa said. One of my bandsaws is a 10 inch Delta that I refurbished which included a set of urethane tires. I use it for smaller wood projects but have also cut 6061 aluminum with it and I can tell you that the aluminum chips get embedded in the softer tires and end up requiring blade removal to thoroughly clean.

Delta used to make a 14 inch wood/metal bandsaw based on their wood only model. But for this one they added a gearbox to get the reduced speeds necessary for metal cutting. I would assume that the tires had a rubber that was harder than urethane to mitigate the issue mentioned above. Grizzly offers a 13 1/2 and 17 inch variable speed wood/metal bandsaws that use a 3 phase motor with a VFD. I don't know what they have for tires but suspect there would be problems with them, especially if cutting aluminum.

I currently own a metal only bandsaw, the horizontal type, which can be used vertically. It has steel only wheels with a ridge on the backside to prevent the blade from coming off. And all other metal bandsaws I have seen over the years have these type of wheels to prevent chips from getting embedded and causing problems. But even this saw gets aluminum chips temporarily embedded in the teeth. So if this were a saw used also for wood you could still get contamination as Lisa alluded to.

[Bill Dufour]

Might be good for sawing plastic without melting. I do make a few cuts in pvc pipe with my bs. Plexiglas I have cut on a tablesaw. Both do well cutting cardboard.