Bandsaw Gloat

[Timo Christ]

Hey Folks,
today my bandsaw came, with a few days delay. Lugging it into the basement (6 steps down) wasn't as bad as i had feared. I had the dealer do it, he came with a helper plus me. With three men, it was about half an hour of work. These guys have a routine of moving heavy machinery of course, this makes the difference...
Now to the important part: PICTURES!!! :D:D
First picture shows the back of the saw, shot from the hallway through the door. Rest are details of the saw.
Nothing flimsy on it..
The bearing guides have "a bit" of play, but i'll save the whining for later.

[Silas Smith]

I guess I haven't been following your posts, but what kind of bandsaw is it? What are the specs? It looks like a monster.

[Timo Christ]

Some more pics...
The ESTA clean-air dust collector. 10 years old.. i'll have to give it a little TLC.
It came with a floor sweep.
The last picture shows my little work table with planes and saws and lots of stuff piled on it. It will be moved into the other room. Tour of that later.

[Timo Christ]

Silas,
it's a Holzkraft HBS533S, which is the same as Grizzly G0566.
Specs..
5HP, 3-Phase, > 300kg weight, 14" resaw, max blade 38mm..
It looks bigger than in the catalog, when you stand in front of it!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Timo what a gloat and what a monster. You are going to be able to make some major sawdust with that machine. Congrat's and enjoy.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Timo congrats on that major saw gloat!! It sure does look like a nice machine.

[Bruce Page]

Great gloat and a beautiful saw!

[Christian Aufreiter]

Congrats on the saw, Timo!
Thanks for the pics. I liked them but they don't count as a shop tour though. :cool: :rolleyes:

Regards,

Christian

[Timo Christ]

Christian,
the pics above give you half of the tour, everything that's in the "machine room". The "bench room" is such a mess that i can't take pictures of it now. Will take a few weeks.. :rolleyes:
I can also post about a few other things such as my clamping table / DIY "wonder-dogs" etc.
Later! Now i'm busy with bandsaw setup and trying it out! :cool:

[lou sansone]

congrats on the new band saw.. I always get a kick at looking at other work shops in other countries. there are always few different looking things, your dust collector caught my eye on this series of photos. best wishes
lou

[Corey Hallagan]

Congrats on the new saw Timo, Enjoy it and be safe!

Corey

[Howie French]

Timo,

great looking saw ! I hope it performs very well for you.
I also will be receiving a hefty bandsaw within a week or so, and like you
need to lug down a basement bulkhead. I would be interested to know
how the "pros" do it.

thanks, Howie

[John Miliunas]

Congrats on the new BS and the DC! The latter looks like it's a pretty neat setup. I've always hated the bags on the "typical" DC's. I also like the way the chip input is configured on that...Again, the "typical" DC's have the chips/dust going through the impellor. Nice design, IMHO. :) Keep us posted on the performance of both.:) :cool:

[Timo Christ]

Howie,
the saw was on a pallet, and they hauled it with a trailer behind a car. They had a little (ca 1m x 0.7m) board with four swivel casters. So they slid the whole thing down the trailer onto this "trolley", and we rolled it in front of the house. Then we had to get the pallet off, and rotate the saw, so that it was sitting with the spine on the trolley. We put two heavy planks on the stairs, manouvered the saw over them and slid it down with the base forward (two men below, one above). Now (on the basement floor) we slid the trolley under it again and pushed it into the workshop. We could barely erect the saw, because it was so heavy. Then just pushed to the right spot.
What BS model are you getting?

John,
the DC is of the clean air type, which is the only type allowed by the german authorities in commercial workshops. The Felder extractors (the big boxes) work basically the same way. The extractor has HEPA H2 classification (less than 0,2mg dust per cubic meter). Previous owner built plastic windows, so it hasn't seen any wood dust and the filter seems to be in good shape.

Back to the bandsaw:
Cleaned the table yesterday and put some grease in strategic places. No weak points in the design that i can detect so far. The blade seems to track well, too, and you can crank up the tension pretty high. Tension release lever works beautifully and is sturdy. I will have to take a file to the upper door lock, as it doesn't close fully. The hole was drilled a few mm off.. Also have to check out the door safety switch..
First thing when i get home will be to put 3-phase power into the shop so i can run this thing!

Thanks for the responses everyone :).
I will keep you posted!
Timo

[Alan Turner]

Thanks for the post. I too enjoy seeing shops in other countries. I was wondering about the 3 phase power. In the US, this is basically ot available in a residence. Is it generally available in German homes?

[Timo Christ]

Alan, yes generally every home has a three phase power connection. All "real" kitchen stoves are 3-phase, and that is the only application most people have for it. The bigger WW machines aren't available in single phase here.
I used to have a 3-phase powered audio system.. but it wasn't store bought ;)

[Maurice Ungaro]

Timo,
Congrats! Are you sure the table on that bandsaw is BIG enough? :rolleyes:

[Timo Christ]

I'm planning to build some table extensions..



really!!! should make it easier to run longer pieces (little logs) through it...

[Niels J. Larsen]

Congrats on the new saw - however it doesn't seem to fit in your shop.....

It would look MUCH better in mine! :D

Seriously - congrats with that big hunk of steel - and I hope we get to see some pics when you've put it to good use! :p

/Niels

[Timo Christ]

After running the three phase line into the workshop (relocated from living room), and dealing with a defective door safety switch (stupid design, and damaged in shipping), i was able to run the saw for the first time yesterday night. At first i had some vibration, but i think this came from the belt sitting around for quite some time (belt memory). Will try to loosen the belt a bit, as reported by Brad Knabel (IIRC) on his G0566.
I ran out of time last night, but wanted to cut a piece of wood at least. So i ripped (resawed) a 3"x2" piece of pine, which was no problem at all and came out straight. The stock blade is a 4 TPI, 1" blade. The blade had lots of grease on it which got smeared on the wood.. i have to clean it up today. Still have to do some setup work, e.g. installing the laser.
I'm looking forward to a weekend in the Shop :D
Timo

[Philip Duffy]

Wow, and it even has a dust collection port that looks like it works! Beautiful looking machine, and most anxious to hear how it resaws. Philip

[Timo Christ]

The DC works, but i have to improve it. Some Dust collects on the bottom, as i had only the front port hooked up to my little collector with some flex hose. The flex hose also had some bends, and it isn't smooth inside, so i am counting on some improvements from better hose. Will also try to canalize air flow a bit better, and build a zero clearance insert like the minimax machines have. The table insert could also use a bit bigger holes i think.
I think with a high volume collector it would work better ... but that is always true! I don't think i can hook up both ports to my collector and still get good flow... :(
Well we'll see what the ZCI does to the problem.
Timo

[Timo Christ]

As reported previously, the DC isn't satisfactory. So i tried to make some improvements today.
Photographic Evidence below:
Pic 1 shows added "airbox" (i removed the under table blade guard) and zero-clearance insert. I also adjusted the brush a bit closer to the blade.
These improvements definitely helped!
Pic 2 shows the old, really bad piece of 100mm flex hose which came with the collector. The suction at the end of the hose is about half compared to the connection at the collector... hose is maybe 4 foot long..
I have to do something about this.. i suppose a smooth walled flex hose would be a major improvement already. Or should i aim higher and use bigger diameter hose and adapters to step up and down to the 4" connectors??
Any anecdotal evidence would help :) thanks!!
Timo

[John Miliunas]

Timo, sounds like you're getting there! Good job.

Anyhow, on the DC end of it; Smooth is always better and, when you do have to make a turn, long sweeps are also better than abrupt 90° turns. As for diameter, it will partly depend on the pull of your DC. Typically, though, the rule of thumb is to go as big as you can for as long as you can. In other words, as large a diameter as your system can handle and keep it that as close to the source of the pickup as you can.:) :cool:

[Timo Christ]

Hello,

just an update after the first resawing job.
I sawed one of the planks you see in the first picture (Meranti hardwood) into four boards with the stock blade. That's a 4TPI blade and feed rate was about 10mm/sec. I'm looking forward to a 2/3 TPI bimetal or carbide blade...
Anyway it went well and the cuts were straight. Today i needed about an hour with the hand planes to take care of the saw marks on all boards.
The planing setup (for the faces) is shown in the second picture. The last picture shows the four boards side by side.

next shop projects: Table extensions, "hand-held sawmill" log sawing jig....

bandsawing is fun! :D

Regards
Timo

[Timo Christ]

Dunno if anyone's still reading this...
anyway, i was not happy with the dust collection, so first i wanted to use 140mm smooth walled flex hose to connect the collector. Unfortunately i couldn't get it locally. Went to a big box today to get some sewer pipe (125mm/5"). You can see the result of my efforts in the pics.. i know the 90 degree bends aren't nice, but i didn't see any other way to place the collector conveniently. Stepping over the pipe will be something i have to live with. I'd have to step over the hose otherwise, so no big deal.
Well i don't think there is much improvement.. previously the saw was connected only with the grey flex hose you can see in the pic. Now both ports are hooked up. It does collect air borne dust particles, but there isn't alot of flow going on at the table or just below..
Couldn't try sawing today as i hit a nail with the stock blade when i was cutting boards from firewood (which worked well). Bimetal blade is ordered..

Regards
Timo

[John Bailey]

Timo,

How about an update on your bandsaw. The Grizz 566 is on my short list of bandsaws and I'd like to know if you've had a chance to use it anymore.

John

[Timo Christ]

Hey John,
appreciate the interest!
I installed a new bimetal 2/3TPI blade today after i killed the oem blade with a nail..
Feed rate is now three or four times faster and the cut is smoother. I resawed 4" thick pear and apple stock today at about 1ips. No resawing over 5" yet, but i don't anticipate problems. Power is a non-issue, i have the 5HP three phase version of this saw.
The saw runs fine, i really like the fence (it is adjustable, you have to shift the guide rail). Haven't used the miter gauge yet. The cut line indicator laser is not that useful.
I haven't built table extensions yet but will be one of the next projects.
DC could be better, it collects the sawdust but not the really fine stuff and in the corners the dust still accumulates. My collector doesn't have enough cfm (~500).
I hope to come across some more wood soon to make boards. Also want to start making dovetail joints with the saw soon.
Hope this helps, otherwise please ask specific questions.
Regards
Timo

[John Bailey]

Timo,

Thanks for the info. Do you know if the fence that came on your saw is the same fence that's on the Grizzly? Do you have a picture of the fence. Can't seem to make it out on your posted pictures. Have you done any work with smaller blades, like 3/8th or 1/4 in.? (Sorry, I'm not sure of the metric eq.)

Thanks for any info.

John

[Timo Christ]

John,
i haven't used small blades yet. Bought some 10mm blades already though. I don't think this is the right machine to replace a scroll saw anyway..

Snapped some pics of the fence for you. Under the table you see how the guide rail is fastened, it has elongated holes so there is at least 5 deg of play for adjustment. The guide bar is solid.
the fence itself is one-piece of cast iron. From everything i can see this is the same fence as on the grizzly. The machine is made by OAV in Taiwan.

Regards
Timo

[John Bailey]

Timo,

Thanks for the pics. It looks like the same from the pictures. Doesn't look like the fence would be easily adjustable, if you often changed blades. However, I've read that since most don't change blades often, that's not a problem. I hope I'm interpreting the pictures correctly, you adjust the fence by changing the position of the rails. Is that correct?

John

[Timo Christ]

That's correct. You loosen the three hex bolts below the table and adjust the rail. With both 1" blades i've used so far there was no need to compensate for blade lead etc, the fence is set parallel to the miter slot. Narrower blades are for curves and no fence is necessary.
Timo