Fun thread, which I just ran across because I was at
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/i-hate-the-vice-clamp-on-my-4x6-bandsaw.19232/#post-477948
I'll post a couple of the mods I've done (to several saws) over the years ..
(1) Starting off, a variation on the vertical mode table from Post #4 above, where Nels quoted Mike Cox:
http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/bandsaw-table-and-fence.html
A simpler version, based on a door hinge, was created by Rick Sparber (of this forum) and is described in
http://rick.sparber.org/FTHV.pdf
My own variation uses a gate hinge from Home Depot (about $6) and a 6" by 6" piece of 10 gauge steel. The hinge has one nice, long leg, so you can screw it directly to the blade positioner. It also has plastic inserts around the pin, so it doesn't rattle, and stays put when you move it to either position.
The aluminum spacers under the bolt heads keep the plate perpendicular to the saw blade.
(2) For swarf control I like to use a stainless steel "mud pan." The 14" size is nice. You can get them at either Home Depot of Lowes. I add a sheet aluminum, mounted under the saw casting, as a deflector for swarf that falls through the gap under the blade. The mud pan hooks under the lower edge of the deflector. A piece of 1 ½" by 1 ½" aluminum angle attached to the saw legs supports the mud pan, which is easy to remove and dump.
(3) Finally, once I get the fixed vise jaw set up perpendicular to the blade, I drill a small hole through the jaw and table. A pin, captured with a bit of sash chain, will reset the jaw at this angle very reproducibly. The photo also shows the 45º position. Once that is found, I use the existing hole in the jaw to drill a second hole in the table.
PS - Mike Cox (see Post #6 above) came up with the fantastic idea of making a needle valve from a piece of rod and incorporating the needle valve seat in the piston of his hydraulic downfeed. I've come up with a way to modify a screen door closer with (among other things) Mike's needle valve design, to produce a hydraulic downfeed that costs well under $50. I just finished a lengthy article about this downfeed and sent it to HSM/MW. The editor, George Bulliss, appears to have liked it. So now it's just a matter of waiting until he has room in one of his magazines to put it in print!
