Vertical bandsaw

[RandyWilson]

Those that have the Harbor Freight 93762 horizontal saws, how do they work as a bandsaw? I've been avoiding buying one, simply because I am out of space. I have a 12" wood bandsaw, and looked at converting it. While I have some ideas on how to pull that off, I really don't have my heart set on it. OVer the last few years I have bought a handheld bandsaw, and a chopsaw. Even with both of those, there is a large hole in job coverage. I don't need anything large, Right now I would like to cut 15" diameter 1" thick aluminum blanks down to 10" around. While I could d it in the lathe, it wold burn me to turn 160 cubic inches of aluminum in dust. Is this sort of thing within the capabilities of the Chinese cheapo 4x6?

 

[C-Bag]

If I’m reading your post right you say 15” ID x1” thick aluminum down to 10” ID. The 4x6 is a great horizontal bandsaw, but not good vertical bandsaw. I ended up getting an old HF 14” vertical wood bandsaw and converting it to metal cutting speed.

your problem is something I just ran into the other day. Neither of the above saws are that great for what you are talking about. No matter how narrow the blade they really don’t want to go around a corner like that. I ended up using my jig saw that I’ve made a bench mount for with an aggressive wood cutting narrow blade and it did the curve the best of my saws.

 

[francist]

I have a 4x6 and I would not be confident that it could pull off a cut like the OP is thinking of. For one thing, they tend to be spookily tippy in the upright position, and any kind of leading pressure to make the cut is prone to making the saw tip backwards. Some guys resort to sitting on the lower part for a bit of ballast but on a diameter like that I don’t know if that would be comfortable.

Also the table is very small — like 2” by 4” or something — so not so good for larger pieces. Auxiliary table is not hard to come up with though, and many guys have done that mod too.

Just my thinking on it, I know I would not consider mine anywhere near capable of doing those types of sizes with any degree of comfort.

-frank

 

[RandyWilson]

I have two drops that are a shade under 15" OD each. Perfectly round except for the notch for the initial plunge cut. Ir's obvious from the cut that these are drops from whacking out a 16" hole in 1" plate in a single pass with your handy pocket CNC router. The problem is, I'm having a hard time cutting them. It laughed at my jigsaw attempt. Since the scrap dealer I got them from is half way between Newport News Ship Building and NASA Langley, They may not be 6061. Maybe they aren't even aluminum.....

I'm not looking for a scroll saw; not after sawing out a perfect circle. I'd just like to lope off as much material intact as possible.... and it got me thinking about my inadequate saw situation again.

On the subject of converting the old Craftsman 12" wood saw. Ever watch a front load washer drum in action? Rock rock rock, turn 90, rock rock turn... and then it spins, up to turbine speed. A single motor direct drives the drum through a flat belt at about 12:1. No clutch, no transmission. I looked at the motor I snagged from our failed Magtag. It's rated at .85 HP @ 192V and 260hz. And it's three phase. It appears modern washing machines have a VFD to drive the drum. And I suspect it would make a dandy replacement for that old 1/2 on the saw.... if I had a 120V VFD laying around.

 

[Asm109]

Its aluminum, Put a nice coarse 6 tpi or so blade on your wood bandsaw and go to town on the round.

 

[markba633csi]

Many washing machines use multi-phase motors now. Electronics is(are) cheaper than gearboxes
I wonder about the long-term reliability though, especially in areas with a lot of lightning
-Mark

 

[RandyWilson]

I just figured out how to mount the 15" disc on the cruddy old 12" rotary table that came with the mill and has been sitting ever since. I had come to the conclusion that part of the problem was the only blades long enough I found locally are way too fine. If there is one thing the late father in law had, it's all sorts of blades for that band saw. I'll give that a shot first. Thanks!


I still need to improve my saw arsenal, though.

 

[RandyWilson]

Okay, that was odd. I popped into this thread and find the post I typed up last night, *at home*, in the editor. Apparently I had failed to hit post, and the BBS buffers and syncs between computers.

With the density of dead washing machines on the curb every trash day, I"m surprised no one has ventured out of the tread mill arena for variable motor sources.

 

[C-Bag]

The fact the newer washing machines were using 3ph motors and VFD was only recently up on my radar. Around here the dead washers are older than that so don’t have that tech. It is definitely worth looking into and has been added to my radar. But as I learned with treadmills it’s still a big hassle to get rid of what’s left over.