Wood saw conversion

[Ken from ontario]

aliva, that is one of the cleanest, neatest conversion I've seen, well done.

Eddyde, the same goes for you with your conversion, your vintage Boice Crane is well preserved and the conversion to metal cutting is well thought out , I would love to have that saw in my shop ,who wouldn't.

 

[C-Bag]

We all think differently and value different things, I get that. But personally I’m glad I didn’t have a gearbox in my junk pile. I used to. But for me it added complication and possible service complications along with added cost. I could see if it was something cool like a multi speed box, but I didn’t need that. I don’t cut much wood. Belts are simple, easy to replace(in my case super easy) and are cost effective. My setup is even auto tensioning as the weight of the motor is used to tension the belt because the motor mount was off an old table saw.
Speaking of cost effective, I also repurpose my used Sonicare toothbrush heads to clean the swarf from the tires on the bandsaw and the leadscrew of my lathe. They have these crazy strong magnets in the base that make them stay right where needed.

 

[DavidR8]

We all think differently and value different things, I get that. But personally I’m glad I didn’t have a gearbox in my junk pile. I used to. But for me it added complication and possible service complications along with added cost. I could see if it was something cool like a multi speed box, but I didn’t need that. I don’t cut much wood. Belts are simple, easy to replace(in my case super easy) and are cost effective. My setup is even auto tensioning as the weight of the motor is used to tension the belt because the motor mount was off an old table saw.
Speaking of cost effective, I also repurpose my used Sonicare toothbrush heads to clean the swarf from the tires on the bandsaw and the leadscrew of my lathe. They have these crazy strong magnets in the base that make them stay right where needed.

I use the same brush. Definitely borrowing this idea!


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[NC Rick]

I use the same brush. Definitely borrowing this idea!


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Man! Keep the vibration feature in the saw

 

[NC Rick]

I see the gear box as a compact way to get a 10 or 20x reduction in motor speed. I always wanted a powermatic 143 and a super clean one showed up on Craig's list just a year after I purchased my Grizzly out of frustration. I do like my grizzly saw but the gearbox of the 143 is a real nice feature to have. I was also thinking that a surplus woods gearbox may not be so expensive. I'm not knocking the pulley system but looking at my own situation, I can't find a practical way to get a speed range down to 40-60 fpm which I think would be my ideal lowest speed. Again, thinking optimal but I settled for 100 fpm and normally use 180fpm.
I am new here and sometimes think I get misunderstood as being overly critical. I enjoy throwing ideas out there and hearing others take or approach. I hope my ideas may spark someone else to have an idea, think a new way or prove me wrong which is my favorite thing. I have a lot of practice being wrong. I am sometimes right.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

But for me it added complication and possible service complications along with added cost.

Agreed. The gearbox adds a bit of complexity (in terms of number-and-size of shafts), takes up a bit of space, and is certainly not cheap. I'm kinda leaning towards a 1" to 3-4-5" step pulley combo, with a VFD on the motor to slow it down from there. Haven't really spent much time on it, as this project has already become a much greater time investment than expected.

 

[NC Rick]

A friend of mine gave me his wood bandsaw, so why not convert it cut metal.
With appropriate sheaves I got the SFPM down to 237, which should be adequate. I also added a cleaning brush for the blade as I'm told when cutting metal the chips will destroy the wheel tire in seconds. Still have to build a guard around the sheaves and order a blade. I'm thinking variable TPI 10-14.
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I'm wondering if you know what motor rpm would be needed to achieve 100fpm at the blade? I don't know my ratios and wonder why the VFD on my Grizzly can't be set slower. I am sure there is a reason. I'm thinking about making a call to Starrett regarding optimal speeds in dry cutting. Most pro level saws seem to go down to 40fpm or less. Most professional saws I have seen are also older. If I am covered with my 100 fpm I might quite worrying

I do run my horizontal saw at 80fpm when cutting O1 which I do often. I *think* some of this conversation will come down to blade life. I'll admit to wrecking most because I was too lazy to change the pitch and the last few years of having two saws had quadrupled my blade life just because the two saws are setup differently.

 

[C-Bag]

I see the gear box as a compact way to get a 10 or 20x reduction in motor speed. I always wanted a powermatic 143 and a super clean one showed up on Craig's list just a year after I purchased my Grizzly out of frustration. I do like my grizzly saw but the gearbox of the 143 is a real nice feature to have. I was also thinking that a surplus woods gearbox may not be so expensive. I'm not knocking the pulley system but looking at my own situation, I can't find a practical way to get a speed range down to 40-60 fpm which I think would be my ideal lowest speed. Again, thinking optimal but I settled for 100 fpm and normally use 180fpm.
I am new here and sometimes think I get misunderstood as being overly critical. I enjoy throwing ideas out there and hearing others take or approach. I hope my ideas may spark someone else to have an idea, think a new way or prove me wrong which is my favorite thing. I have a lot of practice being wrong. I am sometimes right.

Believe me Rick, I’m coming from exactly the same place. A lot of forums hyjacking is taboo, and I’m not trying to push my solution. As a musician this is “jamming” to me. I’m not more right-er, just throwing my solution out there. And luckily everybody feels ok to do that too. I doubly suffer from having done this maybe too much, but this site is so vast not everybody can see everything. And it’s obvious everybody did what they did because it was what they wanted. As most of my hodgepodg’s are I didn’t think it would work but I think it’s been 5yrs since I modded mine and it is my most used machine. With purchase of the old HF saw and the bits and bobs I‘m under $400 even buying the fancy ball bearing guide heads which are almost 1/2 the upgrade. I can’t even fathom being without it because it’s so central to my work.

 

[NC Rick]

Believe me Rick, I’m coming from exactly the same place. A lot of forums hyjacking is taboo, and I’m not trying to push my solution. As a musician this is “jamming” to me. I’m not more right-er, just throwing my solution out there. And luckily everybody feels ok to do that too. I doubly suffer from having done this maybe too much, but this site is so vast not everybody can see everything. And it’s obvious everybody did what they did because it was what they wanted. As most of my hodgepodg’s are I didn’t think it would work but I think it’s been 5yrs since I modded mine and it is my most used machine. With purchase of the old HF saw and the bits and bobs I‘m under $400 even buying the fancy ball bearing guide heads which are almost 1/2 the upgrade. I can’t even fathom being without it because it’s so central to my work.

I can see where the only thing better than one of those would be two of them. We have been shocked here in our shop how fantastically useful the vertical saw is. I have had the ubiquitous horizontal 4x6 Taiwanese saw since 1989 and also have a Milwaukee porta-band but the vertical saw is a game changer for my small shop. It eats plastic, aluminum, steel, wood and even occasional cardboard . The well made old wood band saws need to be pried from the fingers of woodchucks everywhere and converted to real tools

 

[ericc]

Those large gearboxes are expensive, even used. I bought a large 11:1 gearbox and the project never materialized, so I end up tripping over it all the time. I have tried to sell it locally, but the use is so specific that almost nobody wants one. And, it is heavy.