Custom stand for bandsaw?

[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.