Cutting 316 Stainless Steel

[deverett]

Andy

I just bolted the machine to the stand, plonked the metal in the vice, pressed the button and off it went. The blade is about 5/8" clear of the vice jaws so cutting short lengths might be a problem, but that is likely to be the same with any saw.
There are 2 blade speeds and 4 downfeed speeds. I took it conservatively and used the slower speed and medium downfeed. The manual is quite comprehensive but it took a couple of reads with me looking at the machine to understand what the switches did. There are 3 on/off switches! The handle switch seems to be a manual override in case you don't want to use the auto downfeed.

As this is the first bandsaw I've used I don't know how to compare it to any other type, but it looks like it can do what I want it to do.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[petertha]

5/8" offset to side of jaws is actually good. Many of the bigger brother saws are much wider gap like 2-3". Not sure why because it severely limits what you can hold on the stock side in the vise. Might be related to swinging the jaws at angle for mitre cuts. My saw is late 90's they are a bit different now.

But there are solutions. Welcome to the 'pimp your saw' show LOL. Depending on swing clearance you can make a simple base plate with a small vise attached & now the band saw vise essentially grips the mini vise, which is holding the stock. Or I have seem people tap holes in the stock vise jaws so they bolt in flat bar 'extenders' & that gets it closer to the blade. I use my band saw a lot. If there is no other reason to lop off material in the lathe, I don't bother with a parting tool. get it in the saw & its done with less fuss. Sometimes you just cant, but whenever I can I do.

I take it that model does not have provisions for a table in upright position?

 

[deverett]

I take it that model does not have provisions for a table in upright position?

Not as standard, but there is an accessory table available for the saw to be used in a vertical position.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[bazmak]

Well worth the extra,but easy to make.Dont know which would be more used
Horizontal to save hardwork with a hacksaw or vertical to cut small sized shapes
in plates

 

[andyh747]

Thanks for the info. I'm still considering - never was good at deciding what to buy! However the info here has been very helpful.

One other general question Dave, what's the build quality like of the machine? Does it appear well made and sturdy?

 

[deverett]

Thanks for the info. I'm still considering - never was good at deciding what to buy! However the info here has been very helpful.

One other general question Dave, what's the build quality like of the machine? Does it appear well made and sturdy?

I can't compare it to the usual Asian machines, not having seen any but the Femi seems to be quite well made. If you intend to move it from a dark corner to your workbench for use, you will find it is compact and lightweight (due to most parts apart from the base - pressed steel - being ally.) so easy to move around.

Over on the Model Engineer site there was a discussion a few months ago about bandsaws and the respondents who had previously bought Femi machines all spoke highly of them, which is why I decided on getting one. Living in Ireland I can't just go down to the local tool merchant for a looky touchy, so have to go by other users' recommendations, rather than relying on advertising hype. Just wish I'd had previous feedback about my milling machine before wasting my money.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[andyh747]

Thanks Dave,

Yes it's not easy making decisions these days with so much information on the internet and many conflicting reviews of products.

Glad you're pleased with yours though and your comments about the ease of moving around are noted as this would be an advantage for me given that I may want to cut outside or orientate the machine in different positions.

Andy

 

[petertha]

Well worth the extra,but easy to make.

Well that particular saw looks to be in a slightly different category than the typical (usually bit larger) metal cutting bandsaws. But they seem to have a similar, somewhat irritating feature in common. There is virtually no base of substance to mount the table to. The bracket you see is usually integrated with the bearings, so if you wanted to increase the area, you probably need to re-make that. Mine is about 1"x2" which is piddly to support a 12x12 table. It has 2 threaded holes for the table mounting flathead screws. Underneath that is the blade wiper brush on a different bracket. I suspect they might have to make this mounting block small-ish so that it can clear the vise & other obstacles in drop-down mode, so maybe a compromise.

Banging out a square for a table top is the simple part. How to mount it, not sure 'easy' would be my word LOL. I would also like to put a fence mechanism on mine but there is variation between the 2 close spaced holes so the table might be off a few degrees each installation so I'd end up tweaking it parallel to the blade anyway.

 

[bazmak]

where there is a will there is a way

 

[Wizard69]

I had to respond to the comments about reviews and the difficulty one has buying decent tools these days. I have a decent number of metal and wood working tools that i have bought over the years. Three of the metal working tools came from Grizzly in the USA and the quality varied significantly for each. For example the 4x6 metal cutting bandsaw has been great - very pleased with it. I have their 1" belt sander with disc and it isn't bad for the most part but the motor is a joke. You can easily kick in the start winding with a light load on the 1" belt. The sander has no real horse power. Sadly the worse of the bunch was the drill press and frankly i don't think Grizzly has a decent model to sell.

The point im trying to make here is that if you try to rely upon internet opinions you have to deal with the fact that quality varies widely as do expectations. If i was to have asked most likely i would have heard that the 4x6 bandsaw is a piece of junk. On the other hand the comments about optimistic horse power ratings for Chinese machines have been proven true for the belt sander.

Sadly brand names mean nothing anymore. A good portion of the hand power tool selection is now made in China by one company and as a result quality has gone down hill.

 

[petertha]

These pictures kind of illustrate what I was mentioning. This particular bearing block has screw hole provisions for a table to be mounted to.
http://www.toolsandmods.com/bandsaw/bandsaw-blade-guides

It 'works' but the block area is quite small relative to the larger table. That means its not the best design for ensuring the table is perpendicular to the blade or square in plan view. If your saw has provisions like this, at least you are part way there. I'm probably going to make a larger sub-plate to give it more stability, but that potentially interferes with clearance in drop down mode.

There are lots of 'fixit' links in InternetLand about modifying/improving these saws & things to be aware of. My saw is a ~7x10, gearbox drive of Taiwan origin. A bit better quality but still has its quirks. They come in a multitude of colors & gradations of quality.

 

[andyh747]

Absolutely spot on with regards to product buying.

From researching a lot of information regarding various machines you can tell many machines with different branding are the same machine. This reinforces the point that most are now made by one company, more often than not in China.

How British companies manage to survive is a mystery.

 

[deverett]

I had to respond to the comments about reviews and the difficulty one has buying decent tools these days. I have a decent number of metal and wood working tools that i have bought over the years. Three of the metal working tools came from Grizzly in the USA and the quality varied significantly for each. For example the 4x6 metal cutting bandsaw has been great - very pleased with it. I have their 1" belt sander with disc and it isn't bad for the most part but the motor is a joke. You can easily kick in the start winding with a light load on the 1" belt. The sander has no real horse power. Sadly the worse of the bunch was the drill press and frankly i don't think Grizzly has a decent model to sell.

The point im trying to make here is that if you try to rely upon internet opinions you have to deal with the fact that quality varies widely as do expectations. If i was to have asked most likely i would have heard that the 4x6 bandsaw is a piece of junk. On the other hand the comments about optimistic horse power ratings for Chinese machines have been proven true for the belt sander.

Sadly brand names mean nothing anymore. A good portion of the hand power tool selection is now made in China by one company and as a result quality has gone down hill.

When I bought my bandsaw, I relied on fellow hobby users' experiences rather than an anonymous internet review. If the machine was good enough for other hobby users, (at least one of whom is a seriously good model engineer) it is good enough for me.

Dave
The Emerald Isle