Adjustable motor mount for bandsaw?

[Jason White]

I need to buy or rig up some type of motor mount for my 14" bandsaw that will allow me to easily adjust the belt tension.

I can't rely on the weight of the motor for tension, as both are sitting on top of a wooden cart (see picture).

Any suggestions?

Jason

[Myk Rian]

You shouldn't need to adjust it very often.
Mine has been adjusted once since 1998.

[Jeff Willard]

A piece of angle iron screwed to the wooden base, with a hole, or holes in the upright leg, threaded for a large bolt. It may be helpful to put one on each end of the motor base to assist in alignment of the pulleys. Screw the bolts in to apply pressure to the motor base, and torque it down when you arrive at the desired tension. My saw has a similar arrangement, oriented vertically.

[Greg Portland]

Maybe try stripping an old idler pulley out of a junkyard car and rig something up?

[Jason White]

Would you mind posting a picture of your setup?

Jason


A piece of angle iron screwed to the wooden base, with a hole, or holes in the upright leg, threaded for a large bolt. It may be helpful to put one on each end of the motor base to assist in alignment of the pulleys. Screw the bolts in to apply pressure to the motor base, and torque it down when you arrive at the desired tension. My saw has a similar arrangement, oriented vertically.

[Jeff Willard]

Sure, may not be until the A.M. Probably have to charge a camera battery.

[Pete Bradley]

The usual approach is to sit the motor on a hinged board so that the belt holds the board off the base. You can use a long bolt and wingnut on the open side of the hinge to tighten. If you want to get fancy, put springs on both sides of the board to soak up movement.

[Jason White]

Great idea. Will give it a shot!

Jason


The usual approach is to sit the motor on a hinged board so that the belt holds the board off the base. You can use a long bolt and wingnut on the open side of the hinge to tighten. If you want to get fancy, put springs on both sides of the board to soak up movement.

[glenn bradley]

My dad's saw is setup sort of like that. He used two wedges to apply the tension and them bolts the motor in place (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=122660&d=1247199833). He just leaves the wedges in position although they are no longer doing anything once the bolts are tight.

[Kent Parker]

Jason,

A simple and economical way would be to provide slots in the 2 x that is under your motor for the mounting bolts. This would allow you to slide the 2 x base in and out, tensioning the belt in the process.

Cheers,

Kent

[Bruce Wrenn]

Take a piece of 3/4 baltic birch, or dense hardwood about 10" X 10". Set table saw to about 10 degrees and rip a piece 2" wide off each end. Take remaining center section, and drill holes for carriage bolts, used to fasten motor down. Mount two cut offs, with center section between them, and add a turnbuckle. or "pusher bolt" to tension belt. This creates a set of "ways" just like in a jointer.

[Jeff Willard]

Seems you may have already found a solution, but here's a photo of my saw anyway. Probably fairly easy to adapt to your arrangement.

[Paul Saffold]

Jason, this is a write up I sent to one of the wood working magazines as a tip but I never heard back from them.


I own one of the 14" bandsaws with an open base (Rigid). Vibration is an issue with many of these types of saws. Many steps are mentioned in books, magazines and in online discussions to reduce the vibration such as balancing the wheels, adding plywood to stiffen the stand, and replacing the drive belt with one of the link-type belts.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/cid:E094A5138601462D83B9144477ADA43D@DC653Z11
I had put off replacing the belt because it is so difficult to adjust the motor position and to set the tension while trying to keep the pulleys on the motor and saw in the same plane. There are 4 bolts that have to tightened, there is not much room to work, and it is difficult to get enough leverage to tension the belt. Knuckles get scraped and new adjectives are found for the designers of the saw.

There is a simple and inexpensive fix. I bought an adjustable motor mount. It has studs that are tack welded to a base that slides inside a frame. This frame is bolted securely to the bandsaw frame so that the studs are centered over the openings for the motor bolts.

The motor is placed on the studs and the nuts are on only finger tight. Loosen the set screw on one of the pulleys and slide it in or out so that both pulleys are in the same plane. I used a level to check mine, but anything straight will do. Tighten the set screw.

Put the belt on the pulleys. To adjust the belt tension turn the hex bolt on the end of the frame. Once you have the tension adjusted, tighten the 4 nuts on the sliding base.

Recheck that the pulleys are coplanar. Put the belt guard on and you are done.

If you need to adjust the tension, loosen the 4 nuts just enough so the sliding base can move, turn the adjusting screw as needed, then tighten every thing down.

The adjustable bases are available for motors from fractional horsepower to 200 + HP.
My saw took a 56 frame. I bought it online and paid $8.00. The shipping was more.
Google "Adjustable motor base" to find retailers or check with your local electrical supply. They have detailed schematics showing the spacing for the studs and frame dimensions. The one I bought was a bit too long so I had to drill a couple of holes. The time spent installing the new base was well worth it.

[Jason White]

Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

Do you remember where you purchased yours?

Jason


Jason, this is a write up I sent to one of the wood working magazines as a tip but I never heard back from them.


I own one of the 14" bandsaws with an open base (Rigid). Vibration is an issue with many of these types of saws. Many steps are mentioned in books, magazines and in online discussions to reduce the vibration such as balancing the wheels, adding plywood to stiffen the stand, and replacing the drive belt with one of the link-type belts.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/cid:E094A5138601462D83B9144477ADA43D@DC653Z11
I had put off replacing the belt because it is so difficult to adjust the motor position and to set the tension while trying to keep the pulleys on the motor and saw in the same plane. There are 4 bolts that have to tightened, there is not much room to work, and it is difficult to get enough leverage to tension the belt. Knuckles get scraped and new adjectives are found for the designers of the saw.

There is a simple and inexpensive fix. I bought an adjustable motor mount. It has studs that are tack welded to a base that slides inside a frame. This frame is bolted securely to the bandsaw frame so that the studs are centered over the openings for the motor bolts.

The motor is placed on the studs and the nuts are on only finger tight. Loosen the set screw on one of the pulleys and slide it in or out so that both pulleys are in the same plane. I used a level to check mine, but anything straight will do. Tighten the set screw.

Put the belt on the pulleys. To adjust the belt tension turn the hex bolt on the end of the frame. Once you have the tension adjusted, tighten the 4 nuts on the sliding base.

Recheck that the pulleys are coplanar. Put the belt guard on and you are done.

If you need to adjust the tension, loosen the 4 nuts just enough so the sliding base can move, turn the adjusting screw as needed, then tighten every thing down.

The adjustable bases are available for motors from fractional horsepower to 200 + HP.
My saw took a 56 frame. I bought it online and paid $8.00. The shipping was more.
Google "Adjustable motor base" to find retailers or check with your local electrical supply. They have detailed schematics showing the spacing for the studs and frame dimensions. The one I bought was a bit too long so I had to drill a couple of holes. The time spent installing the new base was well worth it.

[Paul Saffold]

Automation Direct

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Overview/Catalog/Motors;jsessionid=5e301837ef753f719baa64264185571a 604b?source=google&keyword=adjustable%20motor%20base&type=search&gclid=CKKi5t2X258CFaAO5QodFV7rHw

[Joe Broadway]

Having recently built basically the exact same cart as you, I found that the multi-link belt had enough play in it that I could adjust the tension by adding/removing links. Is that not a good option, or are you looking for more precision than that?

[Mike Cruz]

Jason, I built something similar to your box. I just mounted the motor with bolts and tightened the motor in place. No need for adjustability. You can find pics of what I did at http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116726 . On page 2, there are more pics...better ones of the motor. The reason I did the base as a box was because I was doing a motor upgrade to a 1.5 hp, and I heard the stock stand was crap.

[Jason White]

I ended up going with a NEMA 56 adjustable motor mount from MSC Industrial. Fairly inexpensive and works great!

Jason



Having recently built basically the exact same cart as you, I found that the multi-link belt had enough play in it that I could adjust the tension by adding/removing links. Is that not a good option, or are you looking for more precision than that?