Bandsaw, what do I need to know?

[John Hill]

We visited an old friend today and fortunately the ute was not filled to overflowing as he offered me his little Taiwanese metal cutting bandsaw.  We are not home yet (two days drive to go) so I have not got to check it out but I did notice it was made in 1988 and is one of those horizontal types that flip up to have a plate attached for vertical use,  he gave me a couple of blades to go with it.  Fortunately it was easily unbolted from its very flimsy stand with the wonky wheels and unfortunately he made me take the stand too! 

What are the special things I must know to use this new toy?

[Darren]

Before you get home loose the stand .....

The rest of it is actually not a bad little machine ...

[trevoratxtal]

The stand is down right dangerous, build one from 25mm box with four lockable wheels then you will have a friend for many years, blades are fairly standard, the vice can be improved but is serviceable, the switch assemble needs checking regular as swarf can get in with nasty results.
The three speed belt drive gives a top speed that is probable to high for ferrous cutting without cooling.
It you would like a photo of a replacement frame/stand I can supply___see below___
Trev
The day after this post I caught a cold or something, while sneezing I slipped a disk, So much of my time I have to lay flat in bed.
The moral of this story is do not promise photos until you have taken them.
I will post them as soon as I can, but at the moment standing is agony and moving the saw for photos is out of the question.6th Dec

[Darren]

It you would like a photo of a replacement frame/stand I can supply
Trev

Yes please, be interesting to see what you came up with ... 

[John Hill]

Roger roger on the stand guys!   (it is fairly obvious really).

I was thinking there might be some tricks to know about aligning the blade etc

This could be a nice companion to my cold saw which is actually quite useless for aluminium as the teeth clog up first revolution then I need the wire brush to clear them.

[one_rod]

This could be a nice companion to my cold saw which is actually quite useless for aluminium as the teeth clog up first revolution then I need the wire brush to clear them.

There is some stuff called Trendiwax that will stop this happening. Looks a bit like a big, soft candle in a cardboard tube. Rub it on the blade before you start to cut. Works well on dry saws, Evo-saws and bandsaws.



one_rod.

[bramley51]

I have one of those saws,John,and wouldn't like to be without it.
The stand can be stiffened up a lot by fitting a couple of diagonal braces on the sides.
I also made a mobile base from angle iron(old bed frame),just a rectangular tray,which the original stands legs fit in.
the original wheels off the stand at the back,and a couple of swiveling castors at the front.
I only use the bi-metal blades,carbon is a waste of time and money.
I'll see if I can find a pic of the whole shebang.
Hans.

[chuck foster]

i have one of those saws and it works great.
the service guys at the tool shop were i purchased mine told me to clean the grease out of the gear box and fill it with gear oil like the kind used in an automobile rear end.

i did that and i have had no problems with it at all.................as others have said make a new stand for it.

chuck 

[John Hill]

I got my new toy home!

It is still in pieces waiting for me to strengthen and reassemble the stand and clean it up a bit to see just what I have. 

I did notice I have a small plate for use when the saw is in the vertical position,  is it safe to cut stuff like 10mm aluminium plate hand held on that?  Otherwise how is the plate used, is it just for wood and plastic etc?

[Davo J]

That plate will be all right for steel hand held as well. You could just put an piece of flat bar or angle across the legs at the bottom and it will strenghen it up for now. I have done it to my machine untill I get around to making a stand for it (has only been on there for 5 years now) and it stiffened it up. You can just bolt it to the out side of if you want it on the inside like I did just cut the angle part of sheet metal at the bottom with a pair of tin snips to flatten it for the angle or flat bar to sit flat on the inside.
Dave

[John Hill]

Thanks Davo,  it should be an exciting experience at first.

I have some 12mm ply I will be cutting to panel in each side of the stand which I think will do the job nicely. Meanwhile it is in the back of my ute getting a free ride to work each day until I can eat enough spinach to unload it.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Forgive my laziness but I'm at work so I posted links to threads on HMEM.

Here's how I handled the stand and table issues...works a treat!  The supplied stand is way too low and will kill your back.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=1249.0

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=733.0

[jim]

once you get it set up i'd go for a bi-metal blade

[John Hill]

I hauled it out of the ute and placed it on a steel table that once held a DEC computer printer, honestly they should have put the printer on the flimsy legs that the saw was on and vice versa!

I plugged it in and cut the end off a piece of water pipe which sure was easier than the hand hacksaw!  However the cut was really crooked and the machine made a pitiful racket.  Removing the belt guard cleared half the noise and a bit of fiddling with the blade guides improved the cut significantly.   The plate the motor is mounted on was apparently made in the same factory as made the legs and quite probably on a Monday!

But for a free machine I am extremely happy!   All the essential bits are there and the flimsy bits will not be a problem to replace.

[John Hill]

Here it is skulking in the back of my ute,  it had two days drive, four hours ferry and two trips out to work but now its tripping around is coming to a halt for a while!



I got it out of the ute and plonked it down on this piece of steel furniture which used to support a Dec  printer,  circa 1979.  Nice bit of solid steel.


Obviously I had to modify that table a little and fit some wheels which came off a lawnmower (circa 1965, remember never throw anything away that might oneday be useful!)


You will see that I put a wooden _wooden top on the table as it was quite uneven and the saw is now raised on a couple blocks again made of that material we do not talk about here.  Raising the saw means I can slip a shallow cooking tray under which might catch most of the chips.

The saw runs quite nicely, I had to fiddle around with the motor mount, the belt guard and of course the saw guides to get it to cut straight. The only thing that bugs me right now is the switch which is a two button click on and click off type positioned to automatically stop at the end of a cut, it is rather difficult to latch 'on' and should probably be replaced but finding one the same might be a challenge.

Oh yes, I left the fan, power filter, power switch and RS232 connector on the printer table though I cant think why!

[bogstandard]

John,

I showed a post from another site about the positioning of wheels for this type of bandsaw. It recommended that the wheels went on the opposite end to the motor, otherwise under certain cutting operations it has a tendency to tip over backwards.

Don't want you getting hurt before putting it to use.



John

[John Hill]

Indeed you did John and I took good note of it.  I was careful to explore the stability of the entire ensemble at the early construction stage and concluded that the weight of this steel table provides much more stability than the flimsy legs supplied as original equipment.

I have not doubt that I could push it over, if I tried, but it would take considerable effort.  What would be very dangerous would be to carelessly lift the saw and bang it against the stops in the upright position as that would surely spoil the day.

Nonetheless your concern is not being discarded John and I have right this moment resolved to turn the saw around. Besides, I really do need to take it off again as I have discovered it is necessary to cut a hole in the table so I can get my hand underneath to reach the vice angle adjustment nuts.

[bogstandard]

I wasn't being pushy John, just a warning in case you hadn't read it.

I am sure you will now make sure you don't come to any harm.

John

[John Hill]

John, we are back home from our Sunday morning trip to the mall (I bought 3 felt markers for the 'shop) and we will be getting onto swapping this saw around this afternoon.

[John Hill]

It is done, it made no difference to the stability of the system and in fact it might have made it worse as far as tipping in the vertical operating position is concerned.  It made a great improvement to the stability of the saw while it is being moved.  Carelessly lifting the saw and 'tossing' it back against the stops would tip it for sure.

The safest thing to do would be to load the table with bricks or metal scrap etc.

[DICKEYBIRD]

John, you can modify your table like I did my saw cart.  Extend the legs a bit and move the axle up until the wheels clear the ground by about 1/4".  Then it's sitting on solid legs and will be much more tip resistant.  When it needs to be moved, you pick up the other end, the wheels contact the ground and you roll it around like a wheelbarrow.

Milton

[John Hill]

Thanks Milton, the wheels are off the ground, but I think, in some ways, it would be better if they were on the ground as otherwise the end must be lifted quite high to get the legs to clear the floor and they would not have to be lifted very high for the saw to 'open' and flip over.

There are two positions when stability is a concern, the first is lifting the saw to the vertical position as that moves the weight of the moving parts towards the end and if this is done suddenly I am sure it would tip,  the second is when moving the saw where if the wheels are at the motor end and if the saw is tilted up too far a bump could cause the saw to 'open' and disaster follows.

The real problem is the position of the motor but it would be a non-trivial task to redesign that.