About ten years ago, my neighbor who runs a professional machining operation out of his ranch, sold me a 1987 Enco 7 X 12 HV bandsaw. It was in good shape except it was the style that has a large open base to hold coolant. It became rather unpleasant if I left it for any length of time with coolant in there. Worse yet, it didn't have a drain plug.
I noticed that the newer models had cured this problem by incorporating a separate coolant tank and, in effect, made the machine into a dry sump. That is, all of the coolant would drain back into the separate tank which also held the pump. I decided that this was the way to go since the rest of the saw was more than adequate.
With this in mind I decided to make a new base and raise the upper portion of the saw 4". The base was made from 3/16" plate steel with corners bent up. I don't have a brake so the steel shop bent the sides up 30 degrees for an inch. I welded in the short sides and drilled a drain hole in the center and that gave me a base. There are also some 1-1/2" round aluminum risers to raise the saw even further to allow clearance for cleanup. I use a plastic Choreboy to keep the swarf out of the tank. Works for me!
I built risers from 1/8" steel sheet and the tank was built from a Wal-Mart plastic storage bin. I use about two gallons of water with a cup of Mobil soluble oil and a cup of Lysol for coolant. While I was at it, I added some larger wheels with two that swivel. Oddly, the original configuration had four small wheels that wouldn't swivel. Now I can move the unit out of the way when I'm not using it.
The coolant pump gave out a few years ago so I replaced it with a pump from an evaporative cooler. It does a great job and blades last for a long time. This has been a good saw. It will consistently cut large sections of aluminum and steel within .003 to .004 across. That's good enough for me.
Here are some pictures.
Mocking up risers and coolant tank before installing new drain base.
Layout of new tank and drain base.
Makiing a cut.
All finished!
I noticed that the newer models had cured this problem by incorporating a separate coolant tank and, in effect, made the machine into a dry sump. That is, all of the coolant would drain back into the separate tank which also held the pump. I decided that this was the way to go since the rest of the saw was more than adequate.
With this in mind I decided to make a new base and raise the upper portion of the saw 4". The base was made from 3/16" plate steel with corners bent up. I don't have a brake so the steel shop bent the sides up 30 degrees for an inch. I welded in the short sides and drilled a drain hole in the center and that gave me a base. There are also some 1-1/2" round aluminum risers to raise the saw even further to allow clearance for cleanup. I use a plastic Choreboy to keep the swarf out of the tank. Works for me!
I built risers from 1/8" steel sheet and the tank was built from a Wal-Mart plastic storage bin. I use about two gallons of water with a cup of Mobil soluble oil and a cup of Lysol for coolant. While I was at it, I added some larger wheels with two that swivel. Oddly, the original configuration had four small wheels that wouldn't swivel. Now I can move the unit out of the way when I'm not using it.
The coolant pump gave out a few years ago so I replaced it with a pump from an evaporative cooler. It does a great job and blades last for a long time. This has been a good saw. It will consistently cut large sections of aluminum and steel within .003 to .004 across. That's good enough for me.
Here are some pictures.
Mocking up risers and coolant tank before installing new drain base.
Layout of new tank and drain base.
Makiing a cut.
All finished!