# Best Homemade Tools >  My Homemade 18" Band saw

## mr95gst

Hello All,
My name is Matthew and last year I made an 18" band saw from a treadmill, wood, steel, aluminum, and whatever else I could find laying around. I had been using an angle grinder to do my metal cutting. I finally got fed up with the shavings it through all over me and the shop and decided I needed a band saw. I couldn't afford the saw I wanted so I decided to try and make one.The motor is 2.5hp 90v dc and came from a treadmill. The wheels are made from MDF. The axles are 5/8 bolts. I used tubing from the treadmill to make the frame for the saw along with other tube I had. The blade guides were milled from aluminum and use skate board bearings. I used the wood melamine deck from the treadmill as the table top. I started out making the table pivot but end up just doing a fixed design. I am currently using the treadmill dashboard to control the blade speed, but I plan on switching it out eventually for something a little more user friendly. 

It runs pretty good. I have used it to cut metal and wood. My father in-law used it to resaw 12" maple guitar tops. I still need to finish the controls and enclose the back side. I figured I would run it for a while to see if there was anything I wanted to change before buttoning it up.

I would like to credit John Heisz and Mathias from Woodgears. I studied their designs extensively to come up with mine.


********* :Flame:  Photobucket screwed up all my pictures. I was able to get them back to attach to this thread but they are not organized. Since it will only allow me to add 20 pictures at a time, I will add more pictures at the end of the thread. ********

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baja (Nov 4, 2019),

bigjulie (Dec 9, 2019),

dan48 (Oct 18, 2017),

DefianceMotorsports (Aug 6, 2015),

Jon (Jun 14, 2015),

kbalch (Jun 15, 2015),

Little Rabbit (Nov 5, 2019),

matermark (Oct 29, 2015),

moisess (Sep 9, 2020),

Mrmojo112 (Oct 24, 2021),

Paul Jones (Jun 20, 2015),

rossbotics (Sep 17, 2017),

Seedtick (Sep 12, 2017),

Tonyg (Mar 26, 2020),

Wmrra13 (Jun 15, 2015)

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## Hotz

Hello Matthew is welcome ..
Congratulations for the work, Matthias Wandel has lots of information and interesting projects.
Its manufacturing process is excellent.


 :Hat Tip:

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## DIYer

Great first post, Matthew! Thanks for sharing.

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## Altair

Hello and welcome Matthew! Great job on the bandsaw! Thanks for showing us how to turn scrap into a beautiful machine. Any stability issues on the base?

Al

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## kbalch

Thanks Matthew! I've added your 18" Bandsaw to our Bandsaws category, as well as to your builder page: mr95gst's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:












18" Bandsaw
 by mr95gst

tags: bandsaw, motor

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## Christophe Mineau

Hi Matthew,
Congratulation for this great job !
I also immedialty thought about Mathias Wandel, looking at your pictures. Thought you did the frame out of steel whereas he did it out of wood. 
But honnestly, if I had to build one, I think I would do like you, a frame from steel.
Thanks and keep posting such great tools !
Christophe

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## Wmrra13

Nice work! Thanks for sharing

-Tyler

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## Lenny

Wow Great Job!

I've been planning something very similar. I like Matthias' designs very much, but I felt that he loves wood a little too much. Like useing it in many places where steel would work much better. The bandsaw frame was precisely where I thought, it needed to be made of steel. 

I like your work, it's really neat and looks pretty professional. Thanks for sharing and inspiring. 
I had a question I wanted ask: I see the bottom wheel is fixed. But the top wheel adjusts, up and down between two parallel pieces of square tubing. How is it fixed to the those "rails"? 

Well done again!

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## zetuskid

Great job!!! Where did you get the rubber for the wheels? How well does it track ?
Amazing ingenuity on the frame build and the finished product. Keep them coming!
zetuskid

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## kbalch

Hi Matthew,

Great job! Your 18" Bandsaw is the 'Tool of the Week'!

You'll be receiving one of our official HomemadeTools.net T-shirts:

 
 
Just let me have (via PM) your details (size, color choice, and mailing address) and we'll get things processed directly.

Congrats!

Ken

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## kbalch

This thread has been moved to the Must Read subforum. Congrats (and thanks) to mr95gst for making such a valuable contribution!

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## mr95gst

The saw runs pretty smooth. Since is has a DC motor, it is very quite. The only thing you really hear is the metal blade running against the bearings. The rubber is 16" bicycle inner tubes. It tracks well. I have not had any problems with that. However, my wheels have somewhat of a pointed crown. I kept reading that people were putting a 5 degree crown on the wheels for tracking and I misunderstood what they were inferring. I see what they mean now and plan to grind more of a radius profile on the outside of the wheels. 

The bottom wheel is fixed with a bolted plate. I did this so I could shim the back of the plate to adjust the tilt of the axle. I found that the blade tension wants to fold the two wheels together like a taco. I can counter that by shimming the axle plate. 

The top is a little more complicated. The entire carriage assembly at the top is removable from the main saw frame. The mounting hole are slotted to allow for the carriage to move left and right. This will allow me to square the blade to the table. The upper axle is welded to a plate that is hinged. Above and below the hinge are bolts for adjusting the tilt. It is similar to small bandsaws you buy at the store, but mine has a bolt above and below the hinge. I can tilt it by loosing the bottom bolt and tightening the top (and vise versa). I will try to find a better picture. The carriage glides up and down against 1" square tubing on either side. It is retained with 1/8" flat bar attached to the front and back sides of the 1" square tube. . The unpainted frame pictures only show the 1" vertical tube, but you can see the retaining pieces in the pictures with the painted frame.

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jere (Jun 29, 2015),

Paul Jones (Jul 2, 2015)

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## Paul Jones

Hi Matthew,

Wow! Terrific homemade tool posting with lots of tool making details and great photos. Thank you!

Regards, Paul

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## kbalch

Hi Matthew,

Fantastic photo essay! There are more facets to documentation than text alone. Your 18" Bandsaw is our 'Best Documented Build' for June, 2015!

You'll be receiving a $35 online gift card from GiftRocket.

Just send me (via PM) your email address and we'll get things processed directly.

Congrats!

Ken

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Mrmojo112 (Oct 24, 2021)

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## Jon

Congrats from me too Matthew  :Hat Tip: .

"More details" is our most common feedback, and you certainly delivered.  :Rocker: 

This is a tough award to win, because you need to build a good tool _and_ document it thoroughly. You're in good company too. We've only had this award for two months now; last month's winner was rgsparber with Reducing X and Y Axis Backlash on a RF-30 Mill/Drill.

Looking forward to next month...

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## mr95gst

Thanks guys, That is fantastic. I might have just peed my pants a little bit out of excitement.

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Mrmojo112 (Oct 24, 2021)

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## aganser

That is a great build. Is it true that you did not incorporate an upper blade guide? I don't see one. Thanks much for your posting.

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## sawswood

Great job. I really like homemade tools like this. Keep up the good work.

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## The sawdust maker

A great and very professional looking bandsaw Matthew.
I too was hoping to build Mathias bandsaw but unfortunately decent timber is scarcer than hens teethhere in Thailand believe me.
Metal for me would be the obvious way to go and your pics look great but I think realistically I would need a little more detail in the way of dimensions.

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## mr95gst

The saw does have an upper blade guide. It is hard to see in the pictures since it is in the up position. The upper guide construction is very similar to the lower guide. It is attached to a tube that can be raised and lower. There is a wooden hand knob on the back that locks the height of the guide. 

Saw Dust Maker, the most critical dimensions, in my opinion, is the distance between the wheels and how much cutting height you want. The cutting throat is dictated by the diameter of the wheel. Everything else is just built around that. I looked to see what blade lengths were most readily available and sized my saw that way. The top wheel has a lot of up and down travel so that I can use blades between 131" - 140". I mainly use the saw to cut metal, but a family member makes guitars so I wanted to be able to resaw lumber around 12" tall. I do have a AutoCad drawing with dimensions that I made before I started fabrication. It is not exactly what I ended up building because I tried to use material I already had and in the lengths I had. That required me to make changes and concessions.

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## mr95gst

Update
Saw still works. I have been beating on it pretty hard. I just cut up a 16" aluminum alloy car wheel into small chunks for casting material. Unfortunately, I just noticed that the main bearings on the wheels have come loose. The bearing blocks I used were made from MDF wood. The force exerted by the blade tension has caused the bearings to widen the hole they were pressed in. The hole is big enough that the flange of the bearing is inside the hole now. It looks bad but the saw seems to still be working as it should (right now). To prevent a catastrophic failure in the future, I plan to replace the bearing blocks with aluminum. I will bore a block for the bearings and then bolt that block to the MDF wheel. If I get any better at this casting thing, I might try to cast all new wheels out of aluminum. For anyone looking to make their own saw, I would suggest to use at least hardwood for the bearing blocks.

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## The sawdust maker

Matthew.
Thank you for your reply and I figured the distance between the wheels as being the most critical and the rest I will just wing it as I go along. I have already started on my copy of your excellent version but another couple of questions if I may please.
The diametre of the motor pulley attached to the bottom wheel looks to be about 14' dia, is that about right? I ask simply because I will be using a one and a half HP induction motor on 240 single phase and of course unlike your motor doesn't have variable speed and I have no real idea of the optimum speed for a bandsaw.
I am or will be making 16" wheels.
I have not been able to find a supplier of bandsaw blades here in Thailand so guess I will have to import from the states. Thank you for the size of the blades, a good reference for my wheel spacings.

David.

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## mr95gst

14" sounds about right for the pulley connected to the back of the 18" wheels. I have purchased my blades off Amazon. The optimum bandsaw blade speed depends on what you are cutting. For wood, it can be as fast a 3000 feet per minute. For some steel and other metals, it would be as low as 100 feet per minute. I mainly run mine at slower speeds for metal, but slower speeds can also cut wood just fine. Below is a website that will calculate your blade speed based on motor RPM and wheel diameters. 

Calculate Band Saw Surface Feet per Minute (SFPM) | VintageMachinery.org

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## The sawdust maker

Thank you for your reply Matthew. My build is progressing slowly but just 2 points I am not sure about and that is the way you say that you hinged the top wheel bracket to enable the wheel to tilt, that has got me stumped and the top sliding blade guide.
Sorry to be a nuisance and a real pain in the butt lol.
Thanks for the link to that site.

David.

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## pacheson13

What did you on the outer rim of the wheels. And those blade guides are nice. Could you show how you made those. Are they just sleeves on a bolt or ball bearings? I want to make a horizontal bandsaw and I got some good ideas from you pictures. Great job

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## mr95gst

I have not been back to the shop recently and I don't think I have good pictures of the tilting mechanism. See if this sketch helps. The wheel axle is on a plate that can pivot. There are 2 bolts that come through the back to adjust the amount wheel tilt. One bolt above the hinge pivot point and one below. If I want to pitch the bottom of the wheel out, I loosen the top bolt and tighten the bottom. All this moves up and down on the slide assembly that tensions the blade.

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## mr95gst

Pacheson, The blade guides are skateboard ball bearing. However, I would recommend some that are sealed on both sides. The Skateboard bearings I got are open on one side and they allow dust and metal chips to get inside. The rest of the guide was a 2" square aluminum bar that I milled to hold and adjust the bearings. The main wheels are just MDF wood. The rubber on the rim is a 16 inch diameter bicycle inner tube that was split and stretched over the 18" wheel.

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Paul Jones (Mar 31, 2016)

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## The sawdust maker

Matthew.
Thanks for the sketch, it explains everything perfectly. I thought that it would be something along those lines but now it's full steam ahead.
Once again thank you for your patience in replying to my questions.
Much appreciated. David.

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## G.Paul

Nice work Matthew. I would be concerned about the blade wheels. MDF is basically compressed cardboard

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## mr95gst

MDF might not be the best choice, but it works. I have been running the saw for 2 years now and the wheels have held up fine with the exception of the bearing blocks. I would definitely recommend making that portion from hardwood or metal. I recently replaced my original MDF bearing blocks with a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate. The bearings are pressed into the plate and then screwed into the old MDF wheels. It is a pretty solid setup now. The original wheels have almost no wear.

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## G.Paul

You may want to watch e-bay the wheels come up for sale every now and then

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## Mikebr5

Another valuable thread trashed by Photobucket's ransom-pic business decision. 
A big bandsaw is on my to-do list. 
I hope that these nice project threads are restored for posterity.

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## mr95gst

See if this works.
Bandsaw by Matthew Rowlett | Photobucket

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## Mikebr5

> See if this works.
> Bandsaw by Matthew Rowlett | Photobucket



Thank you mr95gst, much appreciated. It came back with "This album is private."

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## mr95gst

I'm trying to figure out how to change it to public. I will let you know once I figure it out. Trying to do it on my phone is impossible. I had no idea photobucket changed until I saw your comment.

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## Mikebr5

This move by PB has done serious damage to fine work done by many people. 

Google "Photobucket alternatives" for some ideas.

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## mklotz

If you encounter a forum post that contains a blocked PB image, there is a way for you to view the image without requiring any action on the part of the person who originally posted the image.

I can't explain why this works, or whether it will continue to work, but, using Firefox...

Right click on the PB "speedometer" and select "View image" from the dropdown menu. You should be taken to the PB page; the display there will still show the speedometer.

Now click on the page refresh icon next to the page address at the top of the screen. If it works for you, the correct picture should now appear.

But, here's where it gets interesting.

Click the back button - you may have to click it several times - until you return to the page that had the blocked image. The correct image should now appear in place of the dreaded speedometer!! Moreover, any other references to the image (e.g., a post that quotes the original post that contained the blocked image) will also now show the correct image.

I can't say if it will work with browsers other than Firefox but it's easy enough to try.

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## Mikebr5

Thank you Marv. I tried it out of curiosity and was able to view 2 of the pics after ~5 page refreshes each. I tried most of the rest in the first post and quit after about 10 refreshes each. Strange that its not consistent one way or the other. 
Matthew, I wasn't able to see much, but... Busch beer?! Come on man... I'll bring over a 6 pack of good stuff.  :Beer2:  hahah
I know you put a lot of work into it, and thanks for that. Hopefully rescuing the ransomed pics from PB doesn't turn in to too much of a hassle.

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## mklotz

> Thank you Marv. I tried it out of curiosity and was able to view 2 of the pics after ~5 page refreshes each. I tried most of the rest in the first post and quit after about 10 refreshes each. Strange that its not consistent one way or the other.



I know it's very tedious and frustrating. I only do it if the text convinces me that the ransomed photo is something I really, really want to see. 

If you do manage to obtain the photos and intend to use them as a guide in building your own version, it's probably a good idea to save them locally on your own computer; use the "save image as" option in the pulldown menu. There's no way to predict how long this dodge will work. I imagine that PB is chasing down and blocking tricks like this as we speak.

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## mr95gst

MORE PICTURES

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G.Paul (Sep 11, 2017),

Jon (Sep 11, 2017),

Mikebr5 (Sep 11, 2017),

olderdan (Sep 12, 2017)

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## owen moore

Congratulations on your noteworthy achievement. I did the same thing when I was younger. I built a bandsaw (18"). Later in life, I was involved in a project that involved a huge machine with a bandsaw that had a 29ft. blade. I learned a lot from that job. My grandfather made a wood cutting band saw back in the 40's using two bicycle wheels (with tubes and tires). He also made a pretty neat floor model drill press from pipe and pipe fittings. I sure wish I had some pictures to show you guys. The nice thing about making your own equipment is that you know where to get spare parts, you know it doesn't have a warranty, you can repair it yourself, and you give it a little more respect, because you made it yourself. It is kind of a "warm fuzzy feeling"! By the way, one of these days, I will post pics of a 16 speed bandsaw transmission I made for my 14" Rockwell. It is "geared down in the basement". It will cut metal or wood or plastic! You will be visibly shaken!

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## G.Paul

> Another valuable thread trashed by Photobucket's ransom-pic business decision. 
> A big bandsaw is on my to-do list. 
> I hope that these nice project threads are restored for posterity.



The link worked for me. I use google chrome

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## mklotz

> Another valuable thread trashed by Photobucket's ransom-pic business decision. 
> A big bandsaw is on my to-do list. 
> I hope that these nice project threads are restored for posterity.



You may want to take a look at this post of mine...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/f...b-images-63187

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