Ellis 1100 Bandsaw Restoration And Modifications

[Hal H]

I always do more than a freshen-up things, I like to improve things to make them work better or faster. See if you can find all of the improvements I made to this as things unfold here. Good Luck!


Here is more of the trunion assembly.

View attachment 69393 View attachment 69394

Randy do you get a discount from your insurance Co. having a Fire Hydrant in your shop ?

Hal

 

[FOMOGO]

Beautiful job on the saw and the upgrades Randy. You do good work me amigo. Cheers, Mike

 

[Hal H]

Randy
You did a great job on the rebuild, it turned out great.
You added several improvements, new chip tray handle, bushing for transport handle, painted the pointer red, added a bumper for the cutting head, electrical outlet, a long handle for the table pivot clamp.
Are the slide plates, for the blade tension adjustment made of brass ?
Did you replace the rubber tires on the band saw blade wheels ?
Any upgrades I missed ?

Hal

 

[Firestopper]

I love that Heinrich style vise. Never seen one on a saw. I am a big fan of Ellis products. As usual, great work.

Randy

These "cam lock" vices offered by Ellis are the weak link to this otherwise nice saw. I purchased an extra cam lock vise when I bought my 1800 new to secure both ends as I do a lot of gang/stacked cutting. They work great for straight cutting but slip when cutting 45 degree (single piece) angles resulting in blade tooth breakage. I have taken them apart for cleaning, lubing, and adjusting only to have them let me down time and time again when cutting the next angle. I learned to use a C-clamp to prevent the material from being sucked/pulled in to prevent the issue but all that went away when I broke down and purchased the screw type vise they now offer.
http://www.ellissaw.com/accessories/#bandsaw-vises.

Randy, you did a beautiful restoration. I like the finished colors you used, the saw looks better than new.

 

[RandyM]

Randy
You did a great job on the rebuild, it turned out great.
You added several improvements, new chip tray handle, bushing for transport handle, painted the pointer red, added a bumper for the cutting head, electrical outlet, a long handle for the table pivot clamp.
Are the slide plates, for the blade tension adjustment made of brass ?
Did you replace the rubber tires on the band saw blade wheels ?
Any upgrades I missed ?

Hal

Hal,
You are correct, the slide plates were up-graded to brass. The blade wheels were replaced entirely. The rubber is molded onto them and it was way easier to just replace the whole wheel. I think I added a knob to replace the bolt for the one blade guide adjustment otherwise I think you found all the hidden treasures.

 

[RandyM]

Randy do you get a discount from your insurance Co. having a Fire Hydrant in your shop ?

Hal

Hal, good one.

Actually, the fire plug is cement and a lawn ornament. It was getting a fresh coat of paint also.

 

[Hal H]

Randy

I didn't think you built your shop around it.

Thanks for your reply.

Hal

 

[Alan H.]

Randy, what did you use for the linear bearings for the moving handle.?

 

[RandyM]

Randy, what did you use for the linear bearings for the moving handle.?

Alan,

I just used aluminum, nothing fancy. I don't move the saw all that much and precision movement is not an issue. I did up-grade the handle, made if a little longer and out of Stainless (had it lying around).

 

[pgk]

Geeze Randy, when you said you had a used 1100 I didn't realize that it looks better than the new one I have coming! LOL Hope your using cotton gloves to keep the finger prints at bay!! Sweet Lord that saw looks awesome man, beautiful job!!
Pete