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Thread: Wooden bandsaw project

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Fishers, Indiana
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    Wooden bandsaw project

    Every since watching Matthias Wandel's (woodgears.ca) videos on his shop-made band saws, i have wanted to build one.
    I finally bought the plans for his 20" band saw in January and have been slowly making progress.

    I have mostly 2x6 and 2x8 construction grade Southern Yellow Pine on hand so adapted the plans quite a bit to the materials I either already had or could get cheaply. I also wanted a free standing saw without a cabinet/stand. Despite all the changes, at the heart of it, it is still pretty similar to Matthias's plans.

    I was originally looking around for a used 1HP motor, but found a new Dayton 1.5HP 1725 RPM motor from Grainger at a very good price. Since I have a Grainger close to home, no shipping cost either.

    I wish I had started taking photos earlier as I started the build from scratch, but I'm often too lazy to take many photos.
    I thought I would just have this as a running thread as I move ahead.
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  2. #2
    That's pretty neat! I was wondering how much flex the frame would have, but then I looked closer and saw that the backbone is pretty stout. Look forward to seeing it done and hearing how well it cuts!
    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  3. #3
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    Berkshire County in Western Ma
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    Nice job. I expect you'll made a wooden chain and sprocket to drive it.. I have the woodgears on my desktop and like it.

  4. #4
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    My Dad made a wood framed bandsaw. His had metal wheels and other parts from a kit. It worked quite well. His was a 16 or 18 " saw.

    I think your wood selection will lead to problems with deflection when you tension the blades.
    Last edited by Lee Schierer; 03-24-2019 at 9:22 PM.
    Lee Schierer
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  5. #5
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    Mar 2014
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    That looks great. Looking forward to seeing more.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Fishers, Indiana
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    Making slow progress.

    Last week I turned the wheels true using a temporary bolt on pulley and shaft attached to my bench, pretty much as Matthias shows. I was nervous about using the 1-1/2HP motor to spin this up, so temporary stole the pulley from my drill press and mounted it on my bench grinder instead. This has much lower torque and gave me variable speed as a bonus. Sorry, didn't take any pictures of this Rube Goldberg setup, but it all went surprisingly smooth.

    I was able to add the motor mount this weekend.
    Because I have a variable pitch pulley, I needed the belt tension adjustment to have a larger range than just the slotted motor mount provided. I also wanted something less troublesome to adjust, so i decided to add a pivoting motor mount. The mount pivots on a 3/8 through bolt that passes through the rear frame member and can also be slid sideways by ~3/8" to center the pulley after a pitch change. Currently the belt tension is just being set by the motor weight, but I'm going to add a spring loaded adjustment to the front of the mount so I can adjust the tension as needed.

    My son and I wired the motor for 120VAC and tried it out spinning the lower wheel. Even though the wheels have been turned true, I have not yet balanced them. Even so, the lower wheel ran very smooth with little vibration.

    I also received the die spring I'm going to use for blade tension. You can see it temporarily just slid on the vertical adjustment screw on top. Eventually I'm going to let this into the top frame member and add some kind of visual indication of spring compression for setting the tension.
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Fishers, Indiana
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    Some more progress.

    I waffled back and forth on whether I would add a tilting table. I'm just not sure I will use it in anything but the 90deg. position, but I figured I have gone this far, so just as well add the trunions for the table.
    I cut the trunnion parts from the same sheet of plywood I used for the wheels.
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    I also have most of the upper and lower blade guide assemblies done, and added the trunnion/table support beam.
    20190428_182328.jpg20190428_182346.jpg20190428_182415.jpg20190428_182424.jpg

  8. #8
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    Not too much this weekend, but still some progress.
    Balanced both the upper and lower wheel. I also removed material from the top wheel to reduce its weight.
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  9. #9
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    Added the table. Still need to make the blade slot and cutout for lower blade guide and insert.
    Trunions work smoothly and lock well, but I will probably add an additional hard stop and lock for the 90 degree position.

    I haven't decided what to use for the table surface. I don't think the bare plywood would hold up very well. I have considered Formica, but am leaning towards stainless steel counter top material if I can find it cheap. If not I may use mild steel to keep the cost down but having to keep the rust off would be a bummer. I have also considered using replaceable hardboard.
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  10. #10
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    Very nice build! Will you paint it or leave it natural? What is the peg in the foot for?
    I used melamine for my TS outfeed table. It has proven to be much more durable than I thought. Hard board would also make a nice table surface and easily replaceable when needed.
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
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  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Fishers, Indiana
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    Thanks Bruce,

    I plan on using a clear finish.

    The handle on the foot is for a leveling pad. Since I wasn't really concerned about "level" but just about keeping the base from rocking on my uneven garage floor, I added a leveling pad on just one foot. Basically, the wooden pad on that foot is free floating with some corner screws that just keep it from falling off and I have a 1/2" bolt thread down from the top that pushes down on the pad.

    -Jeff

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Fishers, Indiana
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    Not much time to work on the band saw the last few weeks.

    I did slot the table for blade removal and added a recessed hole for the blade insert.
    I have decided to just stick with the plywood as the table surface for now. I figure I can always add a hardboard surface later if I want to.

    I also finished most of the wiring.
    I was able to buy some misc. supplies for the electrical like the flexible conduit from a local Habitat for Humanity store. Great place to scrounge for used construction supplies.
    I decided to buy an RV power inlet plug instead of adding a power cord. I always end up dragging an extension cord to what I am working with anyway so the inlet makes sense. I just punched out the motors box cover for the RV plug so the power entry is close to the floor.
    I have been looking at magnetic paddle switches, but have decided to just stick with a plain 20A switch for now.
    I also added an additional box and switch for a work light. i have a flexible light left over from a bench grinder that I will probably attache to the box.
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  13. #13
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    Will you be making the guides for the saw too?

  14. #14
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    Dec 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Gibney View Post
    Will you be making the guides for the saw too?
    Yes. it is probably hard to see from the photos, but the blade guides are complete though I imagine I will be monkeying with them a bit once I have a blade on and running.
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    Last edited by Jeff Wittrock; 06-24-2019 at 5:19 PM.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Fishers, Indiana
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    I originally planned on using a bicycle inner tube for the wheel tire. I actually tried one, but the inner tube had some fairly large bumps at what turned out to be a seam. It may just be the tube i chose. In any case i tried to lightly "buff" off part of the seam to get rid of the bump. All seemed well, but the next morning the inner tube was lying on the ground after it had split at the seam over night. I have read about others using everything from silicon caulk to masking tape to make the tires, so decided to try something different.

    I settled on one layer of gorilla tape. It went on easily, was easy to join cleanly at the seam and the adhesive does seem very strong. After applying a layer, I used an x-acto knife to trim to width. I also applied a small amount of CA at the end joints to help bond the seam. We shall see how it holds up.
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    Last edited by Jeff Wittrock; 06-25-2019 at 7:21 AM.

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