Wilton band saw

[Mike Switzer]

Does anyone have any experience with Wilton band saws? Do they cut square?

There is a 1HP 7x10 for sale locally for $400, just wondering if it is worth looking at.

I have been keeping my eyes open for something to cut tube with when I get farther along with my project, I was hoping to find a Kalamazoo or similar, but even used & 40 years old they are pricey.

[WLIU]

My understanding is that Wilton band saws are generally large, heavy, chunks of cast iron that were made for production furniture making factories. These days the more serious woodworkers buy and restore them. You may need to replace the bearings, clean up any rust, and repaint. If you do, it will last longer than your life time in hobby use.

Tuning up a band saw is fully described in back issues of the magazine Fine Woodworking. I think that you can search back issues on their web site.

I will offer the opinion that cutting tubing will grossly underutilize a Wilton band saw's capabilities, but you can order up an appropriate blade from a number of sources and have at it.

For airplane building, a regular Delta or Jet 14" band saw will do everything that you need. Not sure what you want to spend, but one of those will do most of the cutting jobs you need for building several airplanes and all of the furniture you care to build.

For what its worth, the band saw in my shop is a 16" Jet that has a set of blades from 1/4" to 1". I recall that I spent about $900 for the saw new and then bought the blades. But then, I build furniture, jigs for making metal and composite airplane parts, and storage stuff for my airplane shop. Good tools make the work quicker and more fun.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Mike Switzer]

It is listed with a grainy 1x2 pic in the local auto trader rag, it looks like one of the horizontal metal cutting saws from the pic but I can't tell if it has coolant or hydraulic feed. It does say it has 4 speeds (60-110-160-210) and has a 3/4 x .032 x 101 blade, which I believe is fairly large.

I have a small vertical band saw I use for wood, but I have been wanting a separate saw for metal.

[martymayes]

Does anyone have any experience with Wilton band saws? Do they cut square?

There is a 1HP 7x10 for sale locally for $400, just wondering if it is worth looking at.

I have been keeping my eyes open for something to cut tube with when I get farther along with my project, I was hoping to find a Kalamazoo or similar, but even used & 40 years old they are pricey.
Mike, that's a good saw and might be a good deal if it's one of the wet cut band saws. If it's one of these, call him and tell him sold.
2691

[martymayes]

If it's one like this, I wouldn't get too excited unless it's close to brand new:

2692

[WLIU]

Blade length - My 16" Jet European style wood band saw uses 123" blades, so the quoted 101" blade length probably means its a 14" band saw.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Mike Switzer]

Mike, that's a good saw and might be a good deal if it's one of the wet cut band saws. If it's one of these, call him and tell him sold.
2691

The pic looks sort of like that, the guard is squared off. If it isn't a wet saw I don't want it - I am going to call after I get done with church.

[pacerpilot]

Wilton is (was) one of the best machines out there. I'd snap that thing up quick. My Wilton drill press came out of Ryan Aeronautical in the 50's. I think it was built in the 40's during WWII-the big one. My only regret is giving it to my brother to use-he pawned it. I haven't spoken to him since. I still have my Wilton 12" disc sander though!!! That will go to my son.

[martymayes]

I have a 6 x 9 metal band saw and it uses 64 1/2" blade.

[CraigCantwell]

Mike: For tubing and general cutoff work, you would be much better off with either a power hacksaw or a cold saw. We use a power hacksaw to cut a lot of things in ouir instrument shop at work. It would really shine when we were squaring off some 6" thick 6061T6 or 7075T6 offcuts to have machined into equipment chassis. Both the power hacksaw and the cold saw can be run dry or wet and they will provide cuts that are near weld ready all the time.

I've got a Wells 1400 series horizontal bandsaw in my shop. It is not a lot bigger than that Wilton and probably outweighs it by 1500 lbs, but will cut a 14" x 16" piece of stock. Here is a link to a 1200 series. Mine doesn't have the autofeed like this one. Mine is torn down for a complete overhaul and repaint so I don't have any pictures available right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wells-Automatic-Horiz-Band-Saw-No-1200-12-x-16-/400255958739

[Mike Switzer]

Well, it sold already. Sounds like it was more or less what I was looking for. The problem with any of the rest of the things I want for my shop is you either need to pay to have them shipped or have to go get them, that adds a lot of expense.

[nrpetersen]

I have a craftsman 15 inch wood bandsaw that I modified with a cobbled up 10:1 speed reducer using a jackshaft and wood bearings. It uses 80 inch blades which I try to get with 32 teeth per inch, but I have recently found that even 24 or 16 tpi will work. I lay down a small amount (i.e. a line) of sulfur oil to maximize blade life which is more important if cutting 4130 steel. The table is nice for freehand cutting, It is now 35 years old. You could consider just slowing up wood bandsaws.

The speed reducer and cutting oil really makes a difference on blade life.

[Mike Switzer]

The problem I can see with modifying a wood bandsaw is that with most of them the blade runs parallel to itself on both sides which limits the size of material you can put thru it. Most steel stock comes in 20 foot lengths.

On the metal saws the cutting side of the blade is twisted about 45 degrees over so that the return side of the blade doesn't interfere with putting a long piece of stock in the saw.

[martymayes]

The problem I can see with modifying a wood bandsaw is that with most of them the blade runs parallel to itself on both sides which limits the size of material you can put thru it. Most steel stock comes in 20 foot lengths.

On the metal saws the cutting side of the blade is twisted about 45 degrees over so that the return side of the blade doesn't interfere with putting a long piece of stock in the saw.

Correct, even the horizontal type metal saws have their limits. With a little effort, I have found it's possible to cut stock much larger than the advertised capacity of my "6 x 9" horizontal bandsaw. For example, stopping the cut, repositioning the work in the vise and resuming the cut.

I'd certainly enjoy having a horizontal band saw with more capacity but have to be patient until the right deal comes along and it's just not that high a priority. In the meantime, I added coolant and buy the better quality bimetal saw blades and it keeps going.....+17 yrs now with the same saw. If the guys on the 6 x 9 yahoo group keep giving me ideas, I might never need a bigger saw.

[58boner]

If you're just cutting off tube consider a chop saw. Band saw blades don't work so well on tube anywho. Chop saw with abrasive blade is quite cheap compared to a band saw (which you will need eventually anyway).

[Mike Switzer]

I thought about it but chop saws make a mess in the shop. Band saws are easy to clean up after.

I have shop cats so I take care to clean up all the metal shavings if i can.

[Mike Switzer]

I am slightly confused by the couple people that have said band saws dont work well on tube. I worked industrial maintenance for years & we cut all the structural & handrail tube with a band saw. Worked great, made nice square cuts (or whatever angle you set it at)

[martymayes]

I cut tubing with my band saw ALL the time.