- Joined
- May 7, 2023
- Messages
- 1,451
Years back before I even thought of having a mini shop in my basement, a neighbor gave me a non working Delta 10" 3 wheel bandsaw. The blade wouldn't track and just kept coming off, and he was too frustrated (and mechanically inept) to figure out why it no longer worked.
This is that saw.
I figured out the tracking adjustment screw went AWOL and replaced that (Strange setup, it was hidden) and have used it for years now. The only problem is the blade speed is way too fast for anything other than woodworking. Even though I make my own blades for this out of good blade stock, the second it would touch anything harder than sheet aluminum or brass it would send a shower of sparks off of the blade and the blade would be toast.
So, one of my back burner projects was to figure out how to adapt a variable speed motor to this saw to slow it down to a reasonable speed for metalworking. This particular saw was direct drive via the motor shaft being the shaft that held the third (Left) wheel. Conjuring up different ideas over the years of how to go about using a bearing/shaft/pully to make this work I hit on another variation of this same saw that is driven by a toothed belt. This would make the conversion much easier and more compact than hanging a bunch of junk (Motor/pullies/belts) off of the back so I began looking for one.
Found this one on FBMP for $50 and snatched it up. Perfect!
Its the exact same saw save for this one having a slight 1.4-1 drive ratio vs running 1/1 off of the motor.
Here's the belt and pully in stock form.
And a closeup.
First order of business was to hit the McMaster catalog and see what their toothed pully selection held. I found a 62 tooth pully that looked just right and ordered it.
Test fitting it for clearance and such looked like it would be a good fit. There was a 76 tooth option, but I thought that might put the belt too close to the ships coming off of the blade.
This should work.
I have a belt on order and need to figure out how to mount the pully over the old pully, but I think I have that worked out. This arraignment will give me a much slower 4.7-1 drive ratio which will be a huge improvement if not solve the issue all together. Well have to wait and see.
In the mean time I sold my old saw for $15 more than what I paid for this one and removed the vacuum port I made for it to reinstall it on this new saw.
It fits right over the sawdust port? on the bottom of the saw and worked great hooked to a little shopvac hidden under the bench just for this.
Inside the saw under the blade wheel where the chips fall. You can even see some chips in there leftover as I ran it without the vacuum hooked up making the new zero clearance guide plate.
Backside where the vacuum hose attaches.
ETA: Parts used.
This is that saw.
I figured out the tracking adjustment screw went AWOL and replaced that (Strange setup, it was hidden) and have used it for years now. The only problem is the blade speed is way too fast for anything other than woodworking. Even though I make my own blades for this out of good blade stock, the second it would touch anything harder than sheet aluminum or brass it would send a shower of sparks off of the blade and the blade would be toast.
So, one of my back burner projects was to figure out how to adapt a variable speed motor to this saw to slow it down to a reasonable speed for metalworking. This particular saw was direct drive via the motor shaft being the shaft that held the third (Left) wheel. Conjuring up different ideas over the years of how to go about using a bearing/shaft/pully to make this work I hit on another variation of this same saw that is driven by a toothed belt. This would make the conversion much easier and more compact than hanging a bunch of junk (Motor/pullies/belts) off of the back so I began looking for one.
Found this one on FBMP for $50 and snatched it up. Perfect!
Its the exact same saw save for this one having a slight 1.4-1 drive ratio vs running 1/1 off of the motor.
Here's the belt and pully in stock form.
And a closeup.
First order of business was to hit the McMaster catalog and see what their toothed pully selection held. I found a 62 tooth pully that looked just right and ordered it.
Test fitting it for clearance and such looked like it would be a good fit. There was a 76 tooth option, but I thought that might put the belt too close to the ships coming off of the blade.
This should work.
I have a belt on order and need to figure out how to mount the pully over the old pully, but I think I have that worked out. This arraignment will give me a much slower 4.7-1 drive ratio which will be a huge improvement if not solve the issue all together. Well have to wait and see.
In the mean time I sold my old saw for $15 more than what I paid for this one and removed the vacuum port I made for it to reinstall it on this new saw.
It fits right over the sawdust port? on the bottom of the saw and worked great hooked to a little shopvac hidden under the bench just for this.
Inside the saw under the blade wheel where the chips fall. You can even see some chips in there leftover as I ran it without the vacuum hooked up making the new zero clearance guide plate.
Backside where the vacuum hose attaches.
ETA: Parts used.
57105K33 | $17.61 | |
XL Series Lightweight Timing Belt Pulley, 3.8" OD |
6484K227 | 10.50 | |
XL Series Timing Belt, Trade No. 170xL037 |
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