A Starrett Gladiator blade easily dissects ductile-iron engine blocks at JPS.
At JPS, thick-walled tubing with a 40-Rc hardness is no problem for Starrett's Gladiator blades.
Production Job Services (PJS) refers to itself as 100% Starrett. That's because the Brookfield, Wis., shop runs nothing but Starrett bandsaw blades for its cut-to-order operations, and has done so since its start in 1978.
About 75% of PJS's work is cutting material for foundries, and 25% is precision cutting. The shop cuts a range of applications from ductile-iron engine blocks to thick-walled tubing with a hardness of 55 Rc. It also handles a spectrum of material configurations such as solids, rounds, angles, and structurals up to 36 in. in diameter.
For such a variety of parts and materials, it uses Starrett's Gladiator blades. These production-cutting bi-metal blades feature fatigue-resistant steel backing for both wear and heat resistance. With triple tempered M42 Cobalt high-speed-steel teeth (67-69 Rc) at 12° rake angles, Gladiators penetrate easily, clear chips, improve surface finishes, and cut fast and straight. They are also well-suited for steels — mild to stainless — as well as for nickel-based and nonferrous alloys.
PJS equips its four bandsaws with Gladiator blades measuring 11/2 to 2-in. wide, in pitches from 1-2 up to 6-10, and lengths of 141/2, 16, 17, and 27 ft.
With a Gladiator 2-in. wide, 27-ft blade, the shop dissects ductile-iron engine blocks for a local foundry. This customer regularly needs several engine-casting configurations either cut in half or at specific sections for quality assurance purposes.
In another Gladiator application, PJS cuts large, thick-walled tubing heat treated and hardened to 40 Rc. The customer needs these tubes cut in half prior to milling operations.
"The blades cut smooth, fast, and quiet and help control our costs," says Peter Smith, president of PJS.
L. S. Starrett Co.
Athol, Mass.
starrett.com
