Production Job Services easily dissected ductile-iron engine blocks for testing with a Gladiator bandsaw blade.
Three companies switched the type of bandsaw blades they were using and increased the number of cuts they got per blade. The blades feature bi-metal constructions and teeth made of tripletempered M-42 high-speed steel with 8 percent cobalt for a hardness of Rc 67-69. Special teeth geometry and a heat treating process further enhance blade performance.
Patton's Supply in Ontario, Calif., Production Job Services Inc. of Brookfield, Wis., and a northwest food-processing facility now use Gladiator bandsaw blades from The L.S. Starrett Co. (www.starrett.com). Patton's sells industrial tools, machinery, structural steel, ornamental iron and barstock cut to length.
According to Patton's, the Gladiators cut more per blade and deliver consistent performance necessary for keeping the saws in each of its facilities running continuously during the day.
Production Job Services uses Gladiator blades in a wide range of cutting applications from dissecting ductile-iron engine blocks for material testing purposes, to slicing tubing, to precision cutting stainless steel, nickel-based and nonferrous alloys.
In one such application, a large foundry needed Production Job Services to complete a mammoth cut-off job in 10 days. The shop had to saw 6-ft-long sections of 16-in-diameter, solid 3.401 grey ductile iron in 4.5-ft pieces for a forging operation. The challenge was to maintain cutto-length tolerances of 0.020 in., and to cope with the hard material that produces exceptionally fine and dusty chips.
Using a Gladiator 27-ft-long, 2-in.wide blade with 1-2 teeth per inch, the shop applied minimal coolant to the backside after the cut to prevent gumming or packing of chips in teeth gullets. The blades yielded 73 pieces – 14,670 square in. in three days – with an average per piece cut time of 15 min. This cut time was less than one third of the shop's estimate for cutting had it used carbide-tipped bandsaw blades. Also, the company said the cuts were made with one blade, and had a good surface finish.
In another challenging application, Gladiator blades tackled stainless steel tubing for a northwest foodprocessing facility. The company installed a 1.250-in.-wide Gladiator blade with a pitch of 4-6 and made minor machine speed adjustments. The blade made more than 700 cuts, double the production of the company's previously used blades.
