vtec_lude

thanks for the comments!

the bandsaw uses a bi-metal blade. It cuts stainless really quickly. The 6x4 I have doesn't cut that straight so I have to tilt the tubes when I cut them!!

Welding it up to the head flange at the moment. Haven't had much experience welding 1.5mm stainless to 10mm mild much but it seems ok. It just doesn't have the nice colours you get with welding stainless to stainless.

Toysrme

Absoul-------lutely not, and for two very good reasons
1) There are very few teeth, making it an UNGODLY aggressive cut.
2) Wood miter saws do NOT have any proper fencing to safely hold down a piece. Period...
3) There will be boatloads of kerf = wasted materials
4) Wood saws do not cut metal well for long
5) The motor is open, not closed off to the metal chips
6) There is no proper metal chip scavaging on a wood saw
7) Most wood saws have (zero clearance) plastic inserts. You'll melt them within the first few cuts


It is a huge saftey risk using a wood saw. They are too fast, and far too agressive. It's very dangerous. It's common enough for a saw to sling a piece of wood like an arrow (haivng one impale you is common). Now imagine that with a piece of metal. Along with the huge ------- slivers. Yack.

Toysrme

Adjust your tracking and make sure the blade tension is as high as you can set it without cheating using a lever, or something to help your grip. (for most people, that's just getting into the low range of the blade tension specs on a 4*6 bandsaw with a small tension wheel)

Heat the thick mild first, then run up the 309L and stainless pipe. Keep most of your heat in your (vastly) larger piece and you won't have any problems.
EGgyLShatch don't worry, unless your dad has a good sacrificial slead for his bandsaw you wouldn't be able to cut a good miter on it by hand without hurting yourself, ruining the workpiece or snapping the blade. If you put a piece of metal through his wood bandsaw it would rip the first good tooth off, then every tooth behind that until the blade snapped. Its not a good idea. Spend the $150-350 and buy your own bandsaw instead of ruining dads.





Not to mention all the grease, grim & metal chips youll never be able to keep from contaminating his wood projects. You'd never get that ---- completely clean trust me!

ghettoturbo

although i agree about not using a bandsaw that was meant for wood to cut metal, im not too sure about what you just said. Ive been using upright bandsaws to cut wood since i was a little kid and i cant remember ever once seeing one throw a piece of wood with any force. The blade moves down into the table, if anything gets caught it will just jam the saw up and possibly toss the blade off the wheels.
Table saws on the other hand could probably toss wood across the shop if it gets pinched (my father caught a board in the hip once because someone who was helping feed the saw didnt know what they were doing). Maybe im missing something but I've never seen anything like that with a bandsaw.

This only applies in the US, Canadian bandsaws are known to kill hundreds of woodworkers each year.

Back on topic...post up pics of that head when its done, did you oval the pipes to meet the head flange?

Toysrme

I missed someone elses post sry.
I meant that to say about a circular saw will chunk material with a fury if it grabs and you do not have a shield. My dad is the msot careful woodworker Ive ever seen, and he's chunked more than one piece. Last time it left the backside of his hand with a massive bruise / blood blister about the full size of his hand! That's gay like jago.


A bandsaw will not chunk a piece of material.
The danger of an upright bandsaw is not using a sled. (there's a reason QUALITY machine worktops are not only machined flat, but have channels cut in them. That's so you can run a sled down them) The danger of an upright is not using a sled and slipping yourself into the blade. That takes mounds of moron carelessness if you're cutting say a flat piece of material, but try doing a proper 12* miter cut on a pieceof pipe and you'll wind up breaking some combination of the blade, the workpiece and yourself.




But its still a very bad idea to use a woodworker's bandsaw on any kind of metal. Clean it with acetone, a vaccuum, and a high pressure blower all you want, he'll still wind up with some amount of grime and shavings in his work. Which makes finishing very difficult for the woodworker!

EG-prince

Haha I didn't mean to imply that I was going to run out and do it, I was just curious if a regular bandsaw was being used with just a special blade or something. I know about using different blades for different materials as I've been doing it for quite a long time, I was just curious as to what one would use to cut a shape out of plate steel minus a plasma cutter, so I guess this answers my question.

Sorry to threadjack... header looks sweet! If that wasn't too big a deal for you, you should get into building headers for cars that don't have a ton of aftermarket support like hondas already do, and sell them for mad profit yo

Scott-EP

i have concidered re-gearing a wood band saw for metal. the price difference is crazy, but i will probably wuss out and just buy the right thing. my HF bandsaw is awesome, but i really want an upright

gon3r

nice work alan!

vtec_lude

Thanks Aaron! and thanks again for the quality flanges!

Well the manifold is all welded up. Just need to work on the downpipe.

Here are the pics

toyollAZ86

wow good job.