Modifying a bandsaw to cut metal
This one is for all you rod builders who have a small machine shop wth a bandsaw. I just completed a weekend project, and it went very smoothly. I pulled the motor out of the base of my bandsaw, and built a seperate hinged baseplate. Added a 3/4" shaft and a set of SKF pillow block bearings, and a 4 step pulley. Took the whole new base--motor, jackshaft, pulley and all up to my local hardware store and picked out a belt to fit from the motor pulley to the jackshaft pulley (I hate driving back and forth to the hardware store half a dozen times trying to get the right length belt). Mounted the hinged base back into the bandsaw base, and hooked everything back up. It works marvelous!!! My calculations showed that by adding a jackshaft and a second set of pulleys, it would reduce my blade speed from 677 foot per minute to approximately 250 FPM. I immediately grabbed a peice of mild steel and sawed it in half. Total cost?--$12 each for bearings, $3 for a 14" peice of shaft, $25 for a 4 step pulley, and $17 for 2 new v-belt pulleys. (the machine already had one jackshaft on it, and I needed to buy a slightly longer belt for the second drive).--So, about $70 and a day and a half of my "fabricating time"--which is pretty cheap when I',m working for myself.
