3 years ago

Be sure to check out the end of the video and links below for some examples of what this bronze gets used for!

Timeline:
01:22 Saw setup
02:48 Change saw blade speed
05:13 First cut
07:06 Second cut
09:04 All the ingots cut
11:50 Some amazing artwork photos

Searching the inter-webs revealed some scattered information on how to cut this material, to summarize:
1. A new, coarse, bi-metal blade, I used a Starrett 4-6 TPI bi-metal blade
2. Slow speed, 80-90 FPM
3. High down-feed pressure, I opened up the down-feed cylinder all the way
4. Lots of coolant, I used Kool-Mist Formula 77 mixed with water

Initial cuts took 4-5 minutes. After 12 ingots, the cuts slowed to 15-20 minutes, so the saw blade was definitely showing signs of wear. This highlights point #1 above and was mentioned in one of the threads I read, a new blade is very important. This "worn" blade still cuts mild steel, aluminum and plastic just fine, even months later.

My take is that bronze work hardens as it's cut and you need the saw teeth to cut deep enough to get below the work hardened material. As the teeth dull, they can't cut fast enough and end up cutting more of the work hardened material and the cuts take more and more time, in my case almost 5 times longer after just 12 cuts! Interestingly, that blade still works well on other materials.

Links to cutting information:
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/band-saw-blades-bronze-363209/
https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forum/general/21896-sawing-bronze

Link to artist's website: https://terrykreiter.com/
Artist blog: http://terrykreiter.blogspot.com/
Youtube vacuum casting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCfwEu9zNo
Youtube spin casting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkmBYpPmhqw

Prelude No. 20 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes/
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

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