Homemade vertical bandsaw.

[tonyfoale]

Home made bandsaws are not new but it seems that the majority are built mainly for cutting wood and many are actually made of wood. Although I occasionally need to bandsaw wood my prime requirement is cutting metal, aluminium and some steel. The main difference between the two types is the optimum blade speed. Around 1000 m/min or more for wood and less than a tenth of that for metal. A wood only saw can easily achieve the required speed with a single reduction from the motor, but for a metal cutting saw a compound reduction system is usually more practical. Motor power is another consideration. Wood is easier to cut than metal but the high speeds demand lots of power.

Here I describe the ideas behind various features in my build with the hope that it might be some inspiration. No claim is made that this an optimum design because it was largely determined by what I had laying around.

A little while back I made a post describing how I modified a pair of moped wheels for use on a bandsaw.
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/m...bandsaw+wheels

Click thumbnail for full size

The saw is now complete except for a couple of minor details. For example I have hard bolted the motor in place because I want to see if it is man enough before I make a pivotted mounting for quick speed changes. I also need to add an on/off switch, which I had completely forgotten until I wanted to start it for the first time.

I have put build details into a PDF file and for completeness of that document I have also included the original wheels only post.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pveht1tyu8...ndsaw.pdf?dl=0

I have just uploaded the first of what will be about 4 or 5 parts showing more details of the build. Here is the YouTube link

[Canobi]

Awesome build, great job��

[olderdan]

Well that was worth waiting for, thanks for taking the time to provide such a comprehensive build log and sharing it with us. I have downloaded your PDF and maybe I now have a use for that old Villiers gearbox. BTW I love that sign on your workshop doors.
Regards
Alan

[tonyfoale]

Well that was worth waiting for, thanks for taking the time to provide such a comprehensive build log and sharing it with us. I have downloaded your PDF and maybe I now have a use for that old Villiers gearbox.

Another gearbox possibility is from an electric cement mixer. I have one in the garden and yesterday when I was walking past it, I remembered the gearbox so I had a look under the covers and it looked like it would be suitable for a metal cutting bandsaw.

BTW I love that sign on your workshop doors.

It is enforced with vigor.

[DIYer]

Thanks tonyfoale! We've added your Vertical Bandsaw to our Metalworking category,
as well as to your builder page: tonyfoale's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Vertical Bandsaw by tonyfoale

tags: bandsaw

[Captainleeward]

Well Tony, WOW what a beastly machine ready for anything I see. good build Cap.



PSST,,,,,,, keep your arms and hands away from that blade.

[tonyfoale]

Well Tony, WOW what a beastly machine ready for anything I see. good build Cap.

PSST,,,,,,, keep your arms and hands away from that blade.

I put a blade guard on the non-cutting side, beyond that it will be down to me.

[tonyfoale]

I neglected to include a photo showing the table in the tilted position so here it is. This also shows the on/off switch fitted on the LHS.

Click for full size.

[tonyfoale]

The blades arrived today which let me finish off a few things.

I adjusted the blade tension and tracking of the blade. It runs very true with no sign of blade drift. When I was happy with that I fitted and aligned the guides.

Click thumbnails for full size.
Top guides fitted and aligned.


Under table view showing table pivot and lower guides.

The blade tension is applied through a spring (nothing unusual in that). This is done for two reasons, firstly it allows some compliance to reduce machine loading in the event that a cutting remnant gets caught between the blade and wheel, secondly it allows an easy way to determine the blade tension by measuring its length.


Showing the compression spring used for tensioning and cushioning.

The springs on many bandsaws sag over time and the tension reading becomes in accurate, in many cases it even starts off inaccurate off the showroom floor.
I am using a high quality racing valve spring and is unlikely to sag significantly in bandsaw duty. I used my valve spring measuring device to calibrate the spring accurately, so now I only have to measure the length of the spring installed on the saw to determine the blade tension. In fact I'll make a simple length gauge with 3 or 4 different tension values on it.


Spring calibration. To the left and near the top of the dial gauge is a load cell which is connected to a force readout (not in pic), the dial gauge shows the spring compression. The assembly is mounted in my press to apply increasing load in stages.

Now that it is up and running I am pleased to report that test cuts of various samples indicate that the saw works as per my expectations. BTW I have fitted a bimetal M42 10/14 tpi staggered blade at the moment which is a good general purpose blade. It will cut steel, aluminium and also works on wood if required but that is not a prime need.

[tonyfoale]

I forgot to mention the table height that I used. I checked the specs of several 16" bandsaws on the net and they seemed to be around 900 to 950 mm. I am not tall by any means at 1.74 m but those numbers seemed a little low and I went for 1 m. It feels ideal, I also have my work benches higher than many because it seems much easier on my ancient back

I have got around to preparing the first of what will be about 4 or 5 parts of a video showing more details of the build. Here is the YouTube link