Bandsaw question: Aluminum wheels or Cast Iron

[Mike Heidrick]

Which ever has the most mass in the wheels if this is a wheel only question.

[Mike Heidrick]

Well Chris, I would disagree, I've used old large bandsaws with aluminum wheels and found they cut just as well as the cast iron ones...........Rod.

If that same saw had the same wheels in CI I wonder if you could see a difference?? You like nice tools so I bet that really helps too.

[Phil Thien]

>>>> Cast iron does however extend the startup and shutdown time.

That's because the cast iron wheels are heavier and have more mass therefore have more inertia. It also requires more power to bring them up to speed.

That is a double-edge sword. Inertia lost to cutting requires more energy to replace. There is no free lunch here.

My thinking is that, if you're relying on the inertia of the wheels, your motor is undersized. I wouldn't consider added wheel mass any more than I'd consider adding a flywheel to my table saw. If you want more cutting capacity, a larger motor is a better way to get you there.

Chris Fournier brings up a good point, though: A bigger motor wasn't an option.

Chris, you're right. Given your interpretation of the question, I'd go with cast iron wheels.

[Erik Loza]

He's asking about a 14" bandsaw Rod, not a "large old bandsaw". It's simple physics. He also didn't ask if he should get CI wheels or a larger motor. He asked if CI wheels would be better than aluminum wheels on a 14" BS and the answer is yes.

By all means anyone who wants a BS would do well to get as large a motor as they can afford and as big a saw as they can manage. On that saw they will be better served with CI wheels.

I agree with this as well ^^^

In a perfect world, every BS would have super-heavy cast iron flywheels but what if we're talking about a 110V machine for making bandsaw boxes or something like that? Aluminum could actually make more sense for him. In a perfect world, we all would all have plenty of 220V service, a small BS for little projects and then another big, iron-wheeled machine for resawing. But that's a perfect world.

Did the OP ever discuss what type of work he plans to do with this machine? That's the real question.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[John McClanahan]

There was a time when aluminum was less common and more costly than cast iron. Iron foundries and machine shops were common place. It made sense to use cast iron. Thats why old machines use so much cast iron.

I agree with Phil. If mass was important, why don't saws have flywheels?


John

[Don Roberson II]

Thanks for all of the input
I now have a 12" Craftsman BS that is a POS & I am sick of it. Its loud, horrible runout even on 1/4" plywood, bearings are shot & I would rather junk it & buy new
No intentions of doing major resawing. Just want something to rough in turnings for my lathe & smaller misc. work.

[Don Roberson II]

There are 5 different versions of the 555 series Grizzly. 2 have aluminum & 3 have Iron. Just wondered why the difference

[Craig Hoehn]

Cast iron is heavier and has better internal dampening which makes it ideal for machine components (less vibration means a smooth cut). Some people might say they cant feel a difference (which may be true on a high quality saw with aluminum wheels) but there would be a measurable difference if we are talking the same size wheels. I'm not aware of any high quality saws that use aluminum wheels since the very fact that using aluminum wheels is a sign of poor engineering.

Edit: To those of you saying that inertia doesn't matter and you need a larger motor if you want a steady cut: The very fact that you have a 120 or 220 V electric motor causes vibrations. Torque output changes as a function of the motor angle. Having a flywheel with a large inertia helps smooth out the power and reduces the torque osculations.

[Jamie Lynch]

In my somewhat limited experience with bandsaws I have found CI wheel'd saws to run smoother. Of course the aluminum wheeled saw I have experience with is a Central machinery with the motor mount heavily modified just to make it usable (though after 13+ years it's still making sawdust). My CI wheel'd saw is a Laguna Lt18. So it's kind of apples and oranges.
From all the feedback from friends and what I read on the creek, the G0555 series of saws are great. And for strictly rough/misc work I am sure any of that range will handle the task without any problems. Just make sure to keep it properly tuned and a sharp blade installed.

[Edward Oleen]

I've got two things to say on the subject:

Firstly: CI is stiffer and denser than Al, and will withstand the varying demands of sawing wood: remember that wood is a "natural" product, and even within the same piece of wood there will be spots of varying density. This places a varying load on the blade, which is transferred to the wheels, which respond, in part by flexing. Flexing is a no-no, because it just makes the problem worse. CI, being denser and stronger than Al will resist the varying load much better. And being heavier it has more of a flywheel effect, which cuts down on the varying load on the motor, which doesn't like varying loads either.

Secondly: the man with the most knowledge of band saws that I know about, Louis A.Iturra, of Iturra Design, says to go with CI. His Mightiness has spoken. I don't quarrel with the anointed expert and authority.

Skip the Al - it is a cheap substitute for the real thing. Like having a blow-up doll instead of a wife.

[David Kumm]

Keep in mind here that the overall quality of the saw frame, bearings, motor and guides will be a bigger factor in your results than what the wheels are made out of. The wheels may be an indication of the quality of the saw but not necessarily. Cast iron solid wheels are a method to dampen vibration with steel frame saws as the frame transmits rather than dampens vibration. Spoked cast iron are the next step down. Cast iron frame saws don't need that and the best saws often used AL, Steel, or cast iron or a combination of both. Find a 14" in good shape with balanced wheels and a decent motor with no vibration and the wheels will be less important. It will likely have spoked cast iron as that is most common. Dave

[Mark Andrew]

The "all else being equal" part is misleading to me, because unless you take the same saw and swap the wheels, all else is NOT equal. I would expect a saw with balanced aluminum wheels to perform better than a similarly sized saw with cast iron wheels that have never been balanced. Or even cast aluminum, never been balanced. But a saw with machined & balanced cast iron, I would expect that to beat aluminum, machined and balanced or not.

I had a Ridgid 14", and it was an absolute pain, because of vibration. A well known issue. Yet others with the same saw found it to be perfectly smooth. Thus the variations in components and quality control between one saw and the next, or one batch and the next make the "all else being equal" a non-starter for me. I now have a Grizzly 513, and it is much, much better. Aluminum wheels or not

[Bill White]

I'm very pleased with my 0555LX w/cast iron wheels. Not gettin' into the physics, just a happy camper.
Bill

[Brian W Smith]

Probably shouldn't respond...oh well.

In our shop,make the 14" wheels aluminum.The duty cycle of our 14 is almost always less than 2 minutes.....with multiple startups per minute/hour.It needs to start quick....rundown time isn't at issue here.Cast iron has many advantages,but for our 14,the disadvantages outweigh them.The big BS has the opposite.Different shop may have a completely different criteria?

More of....really shouldn't mention this stuff.Ya'll are making some pretty big assumptions on CI "quality".Maybe in the good ole days....but when discussing price point equipment nowadays,it's easier to machine and predict aluminum "behavior" than CI.

[Don Roberson II]

Well I took the plunge & bought the G0555lx. It will be here tomorrow. It has Iron wheels. It was 6 of 1 & half a dozen of the other reasons on which way to go. I think I would've been happy either way I went. I want to thank everybody for their knowledgeable input on this matter.