Here’s a little history about the ever-beloved band saw. If you take the time to research the history of modern metal-cutting band saws, you will eventually identify two significant periods in time that must be considered. Sometime in the early 1800s, three different gentlemen were accredited with the first band saw design we would be able to distinguish as such. In actuality, the modern band saw, as we know it today, was invented by a gentleman by the name of Leighton A. Wilke.
Old Leighton is accredited with inventing the modern metal cutting band saw in 1927. Mr. Wilke is also somewhat well-known for having done something else of note, namely founding the DoAll Company the following year. In fact, Mr. Wilke’s invention, the 1927 DoAll Band Saw, is on display at the “Machine Tool Hall of Fame,” hosted by the American Precision Museum of Windsor, Vermont.
Band saw machines (and band sawing in general) have undergone a literal transformation in the last thirty years. Somewhere along the way, engineering staffs from around the world began to realize the importance of this, the first “production machine” that touches the raw material after receipt. Once that happened, band saw machines began to show up with large cast iron castings making up its main components. It was about this time that process engineers extended their scope to include the band saw in their production facility as a real machine tool that takes a significant role in the process of producing a good part.
What’s the best way to describe how the modern band saw has changed over the last, let’s say, 30 years? Well, there is an easy distinction that can be observed right from the start. About only one-half of the band saw has actually been re-designed while the other half still resides in pre-turn-of-the-century design thinking. What do we mean by that? Simple, the band saw blade wheels, band saw guide arms, bow heads (for the most part), blade guides, coolant systems and a few other items remain pretty much as they were 40-50 years ago. The rest of the band saw has seen some industry-wide improvements get implemented. One of these improvements is that main blade drives are now more likely to be a beltless direct gear driven system than the Reeves Split Sleeve drives of the previous crop of saws. The machine’s controller has seen the progression from first mechanical controls to NC controls to the PLC controller to finally a full-blown CNC-controlled band saw. The base structures have undergone specific computer analysis for rigidity improvement, and have progressed to the point of being more vibration dampening than the solid cast bases of yesteryear. Almost every manufacturer has increased the blade width on their band saws to effectively take each machine up one full blade width over the saws of the previous generation.
So now we have brought the band saw out of the dark ages, what else could be done to make the band saw machine more like a machine tool? How many additional capabilities can a band saw have? How many should it have? One need just glance at the top four or five band saw machine builders in the world to see what the immediate future holds for the venerable old band saw. Are you ready for this? How about completely servo-driven band saw machines with no hydraulic system of any kind? How about a CNC band saw that not only holds an infinite number of cutting programs, you only input a material type and tell the saw how many you want and walk away. Did you catch that? You tell the saw the product being cut, let’s say 17-4 PH stainless steel, and tell it that you need ten, and then walk away. No blade speed to be incorrectly interpreted, from a chart or from personal memory, no incorrect feed rate or head pressure will get selected because the CNC control sets all those parameters automatically.
The short answer is Bud's Machine Tools based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Among a whole host of other types of new and used machine tools Bud's represents, we hold band saws a little closer than some of the others. The reason being is that band saws were one of the very first types of equipment we handled back in our earliest days. Our sales staff is uniquely prepared to recommend the best band saw for the majority of your cutting, as we train in band sawing theory and application and consequently we know our stuff. Bud's Machine Tools has a long-storied history of selling, installing and servicing the fabrication and chip making equipment we carry, and doing so all up and down the Intermountain West region and beyond. With service engineers on call and a completely stocked parts and accessories department, we are poised to provide the best service and support available today.
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