Custom stand for bandsaw?

[Ned Otter]

Greetings folks,

My Powermatic PWBS-14CS bandsaw has a lot of vibration. In trying to remedy this, I am considering making a custom stand for it. Will also consider replacing the belt with a link belt.

I'm trying to find examples of shop-built stands for the bandsaw - anyone have any pix of something like this?

Thanks in advance --

Ned Otter

[Myk Rian]

There was one posted here or OWWM that was made of MDF. Looked exactly like a Delta cast iron stand.

[johnny means]

I've tossed around the idea of mounting on old shaper I've got onto a big block of concrete. Should do wonders for vibrations.

[Van Huskey]

I assume you have ruled out tires, wheel balance etc as the amjor cause of vibration.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I welded up a stand out of 1" square tubing for my Walker Turner 16", mainly because I have a gigantic Brown-Brockmeyer repulsion start motor underneath it that is too big to fit in most stands. Its shaped like a truncated pyramid with casters on all 4 corners and bolt jacks next to the pivoting casters. It doesn't vibrate at all, but that's mainly because the saw weighs about 500 pounds with the motor. Even the dust doors are cast iron. You can balance a nickel on edge on the table with the saw off, start the motor, make a cut, and shut it off with the nickel still standing.

If I was going to do it again, I'd just do an enclosed stand. Its too hard to clean the dust out of all the nooks and crannies with an open stand. I may encase it in a plywood box one of these days.

Edit: here's a picture of my fairly dirty saw.

[Hugh Jardon]

I built one for my RIDGID 14 inch bandsaw. It did help a little, but a) not as much as the link belt, and b) not as much as I had hope the stand would.

It's basically a very small workbench.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=146991&d=1270158133

[Rick Huelsbeck]

I built one for my RIDGID 14 inch bandsaw. It did help a little, but a) not as much as the link belt, and b) not as much as I had hope the stand would.

It's basically a very small workbench.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=146991&d=1270158133


hmmm, this workshop is being sponsered by Ridgid tools:D, Boy I really thought I had a cramped workshop.

[Hugh Jardon]

No, it was sponsored by Home Depot.

And yes, it's cramped. The wall on the right will be disappearing in a year or so, then I'll have a lot more room. May have to move some tools out in the meantime! Still, Home Depot appear to have stopped giving them away, so perhaps I won't fill the void so quickly!

[Joseph Tarantino]

ned...dump the powermatic and move on to a better tool, something like a rikon 10-325 or a grizzly. the new polar bear series from grizzly looks to have some good values. nothing coming out of the walter meier tool group (jet, powermatic and wilton) ever lives up to its hype. long on promise, short on delivery and high prices relegate their tools to poor value status.

hugh..very nice shop. i like the tandem table saws. and that dust collector! do you bleed orange?

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

I have to really disagree with you here Joseph. Dump the Powermatic? To each their own I guess but Powermatic is a great tool in my opinion and I have a couple in my shop and love them. I also have some grizzly tools and like them also. If I was going to make a list of bad tool company's Powermatic wouldn't even come close to making the list. Just saying.

[John Thompson]

Here ya go Ned. I've made stands for my smaller BS ( I have an 18" for re-saw also).. grinders.. DW scroll saw.. belt-disc sander from southern yellow pine. Assembly table bases for that matter. Very strong with the use of M & Ts'. I suppose that long deck screws or lag bolts would work also if you are into quick and conveint.... I'm not usually.

This BS is a Jet and it it vibration free mounted to the stand. The "sled" can be used on the floor alone or on a mobile base... in this case a Jet light duty universal base rated to hold about 500 pounds. They make a heavy duty that my 18" BS sits on that is rated for 1000 lbs. Either way the "sled" should assist you in cutting down the vibration.

I wouldn't throw that PM out of the door just yet as suggested. My smaller Jet has been around for 10 + years and I have cut more templates and curves on it than I could ever keep count of as I am in the shop daily.. even before retirement several years ago. Try a stand and belt and with luck you don't have one of those cast iron wheels out of balance but I would check to see if that is a problem.

Good luck...

[Chip Lindley]

Number One best way to get rid of lots of vibration (IMO) is to put a Power Twist belt on your BS. It worked wonders for my '90s Delta 14". I have had varying results on other machines, but adding one to my BS and my old CS made tons of difference.

Every moving part of a machine contributes to vibration and resonate noise; especially with an enclosed sheet-metal stand. Other contributors are solid motor mounts; poorly balanced pulleys; out-of-balance wheels; lumpy tires; out-of-round or bent shafting.

It is a laborious process to track down the main culprits, but tweaking is cheaper than buying the same tool again, with no guarantee of improvement.

[Bill White]

Power Twist and balancing the wheels did wonders for my saw. :D
Bill

[John Lanciani]

Built from 1" MDF, the motor is inside the base where the cutout is, and there is about 100 lbs. of sand below. The motor is in a fixed location and I used a link belt so that I could size it to fit. Belt guard is a modified stock piece.

[Tom Wassack]

Greetings from NC!
I have attached pictures of a bandsaw base constructed from birch plywood. The band saw is a 1946 model Delta purchased at auction back in the late 90's. The bandsaw and base have served me well.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/TomRandNC/BandSaw/P8290022.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/TomRandNC/BandSaw/P8290023.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/TomRandNC/BandSaw/P8290027.jpg

Respectfully,
Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC

[Jason White]

The link belt is a no brainer. Start with that and see what happens.

As for the base, I built a plywood cart with drawers and locking casters. Works great with the motor mounted directly behind the saw on top of the cabinet. Very minimal vibration.



Greetings folks, My Powermatic PWBS-14CS bandsaw has a lot of vibration. In trying to remedy this, I am considering making a custom stand for it. Will also consider replacing the belt with a link belt. I'm trying to find examples of shop-built stands for the bandsaw - anyone have any pix of something like this? Thanks in advance -- Ned Otter

[Mike Cruz]

I made mine out of MDF. Had I to do it over again, I would use plywood. There is a slight sag in the middle of the top now, due to weight from the BS. I'm going to have to add a support in the middle now. I had never really used MDF before for this type of application. Not happy that I did. I'm otherwise happy with the base, though. Here's a link to my Ridgid BS upgrade.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116726

[Ned Otter]

Thanks to all who have responded, and a special thanks to Josiah, Hugh, John, Tom and Mike - and also to those who gave advice.

I really appreciate it --

SMC is a fantastic resource --

Best wishes to all,

Ned

[Joseph Tarantino]

tom...really nicce base! great design and finish. how do you keep the saw from rolling around during cutting operations? are those double locking casters?

kurt...try gettig technical assistance from any walter meier tool group company. unless a problem is restricted to replacing a defective or missing part, they are absolutely useless, as is their dealer network. mind you, i refer to technical, not customer service, assistance. they are all very pleasant to deal with but the tech guys are simply poor at what they are supposed to do. i will never own another jet tool, and will never even consider powermatic, in any future tool purchase decisions. just my $.02.

[Tom Wassack]

tom...how do you keep the saw from rolling around during cutting operations? are those double locking casters?

Yes they are locking casters, but with the weight of the saw coupled with the relatively soft durometer rating of the casters, movement has not been an issue. This saw has been used in this configuration for 11+ years.

Regards,
Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC

[John Mark Lane]

tom...really nicce base! great design and finish. how do you keep the saw from rolling around during cutting operations? are those double locking casters?

kurt...try gettig technical assistance from any walter meier tool group company. unless a problem is restricted to replacing a defective or missing part, they are absolutely useless, as is their dealer network. mind you, i refer to technical, not customer service, assistance. they are all very pleasant to deal with but the tech guys are simply poor at what they are supposed to do. i will never own another jet tool, and will never even consider powermatic, in any future tool purchase decisions. just my $.02.


I've been kind of surprised at your comments on Jet/Powermatic. Apart from the fact that I think these must still be some of the best tools out there, I've had very pleasant and satisfactory experiences at least talking to the tech people there. I called them a couple of months ago about a couple of saws I was looking at, and the guy spent a long time on the phone with me, answering lots of questions, and even going out to look at the saws, measure various things on them, etc. Just two days ago I spent a good while on the phon with a Jet tech rep in Tennessee, asking lots of questions about two bandsaws. Same thing. Very helpful, polite, knowledgeable and gave freely of his time. Went out and actually made measurements for me an answered lots of questions. And was happy to do so.

FWIW, I've had similar experiences calling Rikon, and recently Bosch.

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Me also John. All company's will have a bad employee now and again. Maybe he just had a bad experience. As I said before. Powermatic is far from being a bad company and as far as I'm concerned they are in the top 10 in the country if not the top 5. I bet if you put a powermatic 17" bandsaw next to a Rikon 17" bandsaw and ask 100 people to pick one and it's yours that would tell the story. I've had nothing but good experiences with them.

[Jason White]

Here's a picture of mine...


The link belt is a no brainer. Start with that and see what happens.

As for the base, I built a plywood cart with drawers and locking casters. Works great with the motor mounted directly behind the saw on top of the cabinet. Very minimal vibration.