Don't throw out that crappy old Reliant 14" bandsaw

[jim gossage]

Ever since I got a nice 16" minimax bandsaw about 17 years ago, my 14" Reliant has sat in the corner of my shop, waiting like the Phoenix for a rebirth.:cool: Last week decided to turn it into a metal cutting bandsaw. The piece of crap cast aluminum upper blade guide broke long ago but shockingly I was able to find a perfect replacement on Amazon for $50. Unfortunately, the piece of crap cast aluminum post mount that the blade guide fits into broke when I tried to attach the new guide:( - C clamp to the rescue. Guess I need to be a little less aggressive with tightening screws in cast aluminum. Anyway, as I was cleaning and tuning it I discovered (?rediscovered) that there is a very nice 4 speed pulley system on the motor allowing a blade speed of about 650 FPM. Interestingly, the manual clearly shows only 1 pulley and makes no mention of how to change speeds. I tossed on a 24 TPI Machinist metal blade and it cuts 1/8" steel just fine.:) One more tool saved from the junk heap...for now. Does anyone have any additional recommendations/warnings for using this system to occasionally cut mild steel and aluminum? Thanks.

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[Maurice Mcmurry]

Neat-O! It will work well for brass, bone, leather, rubber, stacks of paper, plastic, cork, lexan.....
I have a little old saw set up with a 24 tip blade. It keeps surprising me. It's not very good for curves.

[Bill Dufour]

Use the wax rub sticks for lube. You really do not want oil mist in a wood shop.
Bill D

[Chris Parks]

I use a similar saw to cut aluminium and thin steel with no issues and I have yet to give any thought to slowing it down.

[jim gossage]

Use the wax rub sticks for lube. You really do not want oil mist in a wood shop.
Bill D

Tell me more about this. Where do you get these sticks and how would you use them - once a day, once a minute?

[Curt Harms]

I use a similar saw to cut aluminium and thin steel with no issues and I have yet to give any thought to slowing it down.

I presume your blade speed is around 600 ft./min (3 meters/sec.)? Most charts I see recommend about 1/3 of that speed
https://www.bandsawbladesdirect.com/media/tech-docs/Speed-Chart.pdf

[Chris Parks]

I am sure it is too fast but blades are cheap and I don't see the need for my purposes. A mate of mine has recently done the conversion because he uses it for daily production purposes and he slowed the saw down for understandable reasons.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I will do the math on my little antique with the 24 TPI. I have not tried it on steel yet. It is running pretty slow. I have an interactive pulley calculator bookmarked that makes it easy to check...

Mine runs at 22.56 FPS. It is a very mellow cut.

[Chris Parks]

Ignore my comments because motors outside North America run about 33% slower, ideally I should slow it down further but for the occasional use I give it I replace the blade about every 6 months and blades are cheap.

[Bill Dufour]

Lube like this. I think it is applied every few cuts.
Bill D.

https://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/lube-tube-band-saw-lubricant.aspx.
Grizzly and rockler have their own house brands.

[jim gossage]

Lube like this. I think it is applied every few cuts.
Bill D.

https://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/lube-tube-band-saw-lubricant.aspx.
Grizzly and rockler have their own house brands.

Thanks. I have something like that but a different brand. Will try it out on the metal cuts.