[Bandsaw] Old Bandsaw

Big difference over the pressed steel stuff out there now. With light castings that fall apart . Nice clean looking saw good luck with her. That's the route I'm looking to go myself. Find an old one and fix it to run for metal . If I can't find one I have an old portaban ill mount vertical. So many plans , and so screwed up physically.
 
Guess I'll get the 1/4" 24 pitch and a 3/8" 14/18 for now. Needs tires too, I'm not convinced that the more expensive blue urethane is any better than the orange urethane, but hey, the saw is blue... and I sold the Homecraft scroll saw today and a guy's coming over for the Shopmaster bandsaw tomorrow, so I have some cash...

Got the blade guide fixed today, now all that remains is the table pivot bracket. Didn't realize when I bought it (would have bought it anyway) but the original bracket is gone, somebody improvised with a bit of steel angle iron, and not that well. But it shouldn't be too tough to make a proper pivot. Fortunately, one thing I love about old machines, is that everything is even inch dimensions so it's easy to reverse engineer.

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table lock w.JPG
 
Looking at a jackshaft speed reduction, then the variable speed pulley on the treadmill motor will give me 589-1060 fpm.
 
Tonight I finished the speed reduction. I bought a 7" and 2" pulley, 12" of 5/8" round bar, and two pillow blocks from McMaster. Last night I milled keyways in the shaft. Boy, 12L14 steel is nice to machine! It cuts as easy as aluminum. Then I mounted the pillow blocks to the shelf using 2x4 wood spacers:
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Tonight I mounted the treadmill motor, which has a variable pulley that goes from 1.75-4.5" OD:
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The motor is mounted on its original mount from the treadmill, which allows it to pivot and vary the pulley center distance, which pulls the belt in and out on the spring loaded variable pulley. I went quick and dirty, and mounted the pivot shaft on Adel clamps (cushioned cable clamps), and a bit of threaded rod screwing into a brass trunion under the table to make the adjustment. I had the same setup on my old bandsaw; I sold it with its original motor and kept this one.
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I now have a working speed range of roughly 350-1100 fpm, which is perfect for aluminum, and usable if a bit slow for wood or plastic.

Then the wiring, and the saw is usable. I still need to make a replacement for the missing motor wiring cover, and then finish the table pivot, but I can use the saw as it is to work on the pivot.
 
Got the table pivot bracket finished tonight. Compare it with the red hack job bracket that was on the saw when I got it and the image from the catalog above:

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Now I just need to get the new tires on, and tune it properly.
 
Nice job and much better looking too
Mark
ps now I know what Adel clamps are - learn something new everyday
 
So if I ran an even bigger pully on the jack shaft it would be slower still? I am thinking right, right?
 
Big pulley on the motor side of the jackshaft, small pulley on the saw side makes the saw slower. The speed ratio is the same as the pulley diameter ratio.
 
I meant to say bigger than the one you show in the photos, at the jack shaft. to get the speed even lower than yours. I like the way you did yours as I can do all that easily. thanks for the post.
 
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