- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
- Messages
- 125
My shop is a 1922 1.5 car garage. With the two motorcycles, mill, lathe, compressor, assorted toolboxes, compressor, welder and table...not much floor space for a metal cutting band saw. A while back I saw a photo on Pinterest of of a stand a guy had fabricated for a Delta portable metal cutting band saw. The link took you to knife making forum where I couldn't get the rest of the photos to come up. It looked pretty simple, so I found a used Delta saw on Craig's List for $170. Offered and got it for $150. Purchased some 3" square tube, a square piece of 12"X .25 plate, and some 1.5" X .25 flat bar. First I welded the upright tube to the 12" base. I removed the front handle from the saw, and found the casting that it bolted up to it to be .125 wider than the 3" upright. I cut two upper mounting brackets from the flat bar and machined a sixteenth slot off the insides to allow for the saw to slide in between. I drilled the through hole in the saw's top handle to accept a 1/4 x 20 stainless carriage bolt to replace the M6 that originally held the handle on. I am a VERY beginner welder, so I drilled and tapped the mounting brackets to the upright so I could make adjustments if needed. I decided to use the left side of the saw's lower handle screws to mount to the bottom of the upright. Most of the stands I've seen out there just utilize a zip tie to keep the saw's trigger switch compressed. I welded a tab to the top of the bottom mounting bracket and drilled and tapped it for 5/16" 18 tpi. Then I turned a pin down from 5/16 ths to 1/4 X 20 tpi on one end, threaded the center to 5/16 X 18 tpi. and turned the retaining pin down to about .250 and screwed a twist knob on. This allowed me to insert the trigger pin through the hole and screw it tight, allowing it to hold the compressed trigger in place. I've used it a couple times already and it works great! It takes very little space and converts back to a hand held saw with the removal of four screws.