Cutting Brass

[cputnam]

My neighbor wants to cut a 1/8th brass plague. I have a dull 3 tpi blade on the bandsaw. Any issues other than a really dull blade after the cut?

TIA

[hcbph]

Get a metal cutting blade and slow the saw down or IMO risk damage.  Personally I'd use a hack saw or a disk grinder.

[jteneyck]

My neighbor wants to cut a 1/8th brass plague.  I have a dull 3 tpi blade on the bandsaw.  Any issues other than a really dull blade after the cut?

TIA

That's not a good idea.  You want at least 1 tooth in the workpiece at all times, so you need a blade with at least 8 tpi.  If you don't want to get a new blade then make a glued up or double stick tape sandwich of the brass between two pieces of 1/4" plywood and cut it all together.  

John

[Bill Holt]

Recently I received a similar request.  To my surprise, Home Depot, and probably many others, carry circular saw blades for cutting metal, at very reasonable prices.

If you are not wanting a straight cut, I like John's sandwich suggestion.

[cputnam]

Thank you folks. I like the sandwich idea. What about a a 7.5" netal blade iin the Sawstop? Turned off electronics, of course.

[cputnam]

Thank you folks. I like the sandwich idea. What about a a 7.5" netal blade iin the Sawstop? Turned o

[fredhargis]

Thank you folks.  I like the sandwich idea.  What about a a 7.5" netal blade iin the Sawstop?  Turned o

I'm doubtful you can get a 7.5" blade to work, the dado brake requires an 8" blade (of course the regular brake requires a 10" one) and you can't turn off the electronics without a proper start up.... or at least it didn't work on mine.

[KyleD]

Brass will not dull your band saw blade. I cut brass and aluminum with a standard 14 tip blade on the bandsaw with no appreciable dulling. 3 TPI cutting 1/8 brass will be a problem and quite possible dangerous to you or your blade. So if you are cutting a one off and can't justify a new blade laminating the brass will get you around that. Jteneck's suggestion is good but a 5/8" laminate is still a little thin for the hooked teeth on a ripping blade. Better to make one or both of the laminates a 3/4" thick piece of scrap.

[rlnguy]

If it's a one time project and depending on the size, I would be inclined to use a hacksaw or metal cutting blade in a jigsaw, with suitable clamping, of course.
Blades are cheap and much slower/safer than a TS, or BS.

[kurt18947]

Not brass but I needed to cut some 1/4" aluminium plate. A local store had Irwin carbide tipped 7 1/4" blades for $2 each. I bought two, figuring if they got trashed no big loss and mounted them on a cabinet saw. I cut about 4' of plate and except for the mess - aluminium flakes instead of sawdust - the blade was like new afterwards. If I were cutting 1/8" I might make a new zero clearance insert. It seems like cutting non-ferrous metals, brass and aluminium most commonly are a non event.