# meat band saw to wood?



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

I hope I'm not about to get laughed out of the forum for this post, but here goes. The story begins, I recently picked up a new $20 saw zaw for a neighbor (a coupon for harbor freight). in the conversation I told him I was looking for a band saw, he said he had a really nice meat band saw I could have in exchange for the saw zaw. So for $20. I said heck yea. I'll get the details for the saw when I can. it's in very nice shape, has a grinder and sliding table, with 1 new blade, (after the band saw conversion, Maybe I can make the grinder into a wood chipper...:laughing::laughing. My question is can I convert it to cut wood? thanks, dt

ps sorry if this has already been covered. I searched and didn't find any thing. some of the google searches, said I could by changing the blade, others no.....


----------



## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

shouldn't be a problem. Someone else may be able to say something about speed. It may be that you want to alter the speed and you will want a blade to suit what you are cutting

Love some pics


----------



## kjhart0133 (Feb 4, 2009)

A butcher's saw often isn't fitted for woodworking. It might not have rails to mount a resaw fence; it might not tilt; it might not have adjustable speeds. Butchers mostly cut the meat freehand without fences and I can't imagine they'd ever need to tilt the table.

Check it out carefully to make sure it will be suitable for all your WW needs.

Kevin H.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

A meat cutting saw blade runs less than 1000 feet per minute where a wood cutting saw might run 3000 feet per minute. You would need to change the pulley ratio to get the right speed for wood. Use this site to work it out. http://www.vintagemachinery.org/math/sfpm.aspx Then all you would need is a blade made for wood, normally 6 teeth per inch.


----------



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

thanks for the advice, I pick it Friday, so I'll try and post some pics then.


----------



## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

It will work! Problem is it doesn't tilt or have a fence, slower speed. But you can work on that.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

If you aren't too far away I'll trade ya a 14" Ridgid BS and about a dozen blades for your saw!

Seriously, I could use a meat saw for them deer carcasses and there will be little love lost on the ridgid as it is too small for my needs. I'm in South Louisiana.

EDIT - just saw where you live, lol.


----------



## vinnypatternmaker (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi! Glad to be back!,

Thirty eight years ago, my hubby Vinny tried to convert an 18" meat band saw, making it more adaptable for woodworking. No can do:thumbdown:. Just wasn't meant to be :huh:!
In addition to all the above mentioned problems, he found even the stainless table(s) dented, out of plane with itself, and too inaccurate to be useful, in a patternmaker's woodshop.
If you do any kind of detail work, you probably will be unhappy with the results.
Good luck!

Best,
Marena and Vinny


----------



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

vinnypatternmaker said:


> Hi! Glad to be back!,
> 
> Thirty eight years ago, my hubby Vinny tried to convert an 18" meat band saw, making it more adaptable for woodworking. No can do:thumbdown:. Just wasn't meant to be :huh:!
> In addition to all the above mentioned problems, he found even the stainless table(s) dented, out of plane with itself, and too inaccurate to be useful, in a patternmaker's woodshop.
> ...


it's probly just going to be for ripping boards down before planing. currently I'm only making picture frames, hope chest, etc. so I have had to make any real detail work using a band saw. I have a scroll saw I picked up a yard sale for $5 and it has been used once, to cut a small 1/4"x1/4 slot in a couple frame for the boards to join.

once I get some pic's it'll be easier to see why I didn't pass it up, The guy I got it from cuts up a lot of venison, but I don't think he use this saw much, wow it's nice. If nothing else I would sell it and use the money toward a wood band saw. plus it was $20.

firemedic, it's a bit a travel to PA for a meat saw...we generally bone out our venison and use a saw zaw for quartering.


----------



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

as promised here is some photos of the band saw


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*that looks like a nice saw*

I would not change anything on it except the pulleys to make the blade speed higher. Wood bandsaws need about 3000 ft per minute. The calculations are a bit "messy" but if the saw's speed is presently 1000 FPM, just increase it by 3. So, if there's a 6" pulley on the machine, replace it with a 2". OR If theres a 2" pulley on the motor replace it with a 6" and so forth. 

In the event you find the need for the meat cutting process you can always switch back. If you decide you want to get a real wood cutter, sell this one for $150 .... ? and put that toward the new saw.

Power may be a limiting factor also. I don't know what HP the motor is, but a 3/4 HP is a good minimum.


----------



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

book say's 3/4 motor says 1hp. it's an HDC made by homer?


----------



## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

that looks like a keeper to me


----------



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

gonna have to change the pulleys for sure, it's only rated at 300-400fpm.


----------



## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

dt1050 said:


> gonna have to change the pulleys for sure, it's only rated at 300-400fpm.


 on my delta 14" i use a 1 1/2 hp 3450 motor, i had it it was new so i used it , i put a 2" pully on motor and a 6" on the saw, that is what i have use and it work's for me , if you only have a 1725 than a different pully will have to be used , keep the pully small on the motor and the other one will be bigger, that way more power when small pully on motor, so you will have to make the pully small on the saw small also good luck saw look's good


----------



## dt1050 (Jun 21, 2013)

I have a 2" on the motor now and the other is an 8", so what size pulley should I put on the machine? I'm thinking another 2" maybe, sorry math is not my strong point at all. I have been running things through my head but nothing computes to me. I've cut some smaller pieces of beech and pine with no issue's, it's also been great for cutting the pvc I used on my dust collection rig. (it's definitely a rig, looks like crap, but the saw dust goes in the 2 5 gal buckets and not the shop vac) The blade is a 1/2 (still the meat blade) and won't really work for trying to cut shapes.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

dt1050 said:


> I have a 2" on the motor now and the other is an 8", so what size pulley should I put on the machine? I'm thinking another 2" maybe, sorry math is not my strong point at all. I have been running things through my head but nothing computes to me. I've cut some smaller pieces of beech and pine with no issue's, it's also been great for cutting the pvc I used on my dust collection rig. (it's definitely a rig, looks like crap, but the saw dust goes in the 2 5 gal buckets and not the shop vac) The blade is a 1/2 (still the meat blade) and won't really work for trying to cut shapes.


http://www.vintagemachinery.org/math/sfpm.aspx Have it run as close to 3000 feet per minute as you can.


----------



## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

We used to cut up frozen Deer 'hams" into steaks on one of our lessor wood bandsaws.....well,at least till we found out how bad rancid meat smells when mixed in with sawdust in the weeks to come....duh.But it does work very well.

So,how much wood can a woodchuck cut...if a woodch....


----------

