Welding Tips and Tricks

Was just about to commit to a cheap benchtop band saw when my brother stumbled on this old relic in the open hangar of one of my Dad's flying mates. (Yes, I know...all in the family!).

The good news is that it's free. The bad news is that it's something of an unknown, and it's apparently a two-man lift to shift the thing - so it's yet to arrive at my place.

However, it's been used to help build at least two aircraft in the past, including a Thorp T-18, so it has a pretty decent track record and probably just needs some TLC prior to being put back into service.

Not quite a 'portaband', but I reckon it'll be very handy. If you have any idea what brand saw it is, let me know, eh?


Kym

Free makes it exceedingly handy. It'll be great for your small jobs. Watch the way Jody uses his one on the stand for tips,

Mick

weldin mike 27 wrote:Free makes it exceedingly handy. It'll be great for your small jobs. Watch the way Jody uses his one on the stand for tips,

Mick

Yeah, I think it will be one of those things that once I have it in my shed, I'll wonder how I ever got by without it.

Also, I understand it's a dedicated metal saw - not that I really know a thing about band saws. All I can say is that I was close to buying a light-duty 'wood and plastic' saw and pushing it into service as an aluminium saw - this should be much better.


Kym

For sure. Anything that takes two blokes to lift is a good start. As far as i have been told, you can interchange a wood and metal blade on the same saw.

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Looks like a Delta that I had.
Was a wood saw(high SFM) put a Jack shaft gear reduction on so could lower sfm for metal with a belt/pulley change.
Wood sfm/tooth count suitable for alum.
High tooth count low sfm for metal.
proper sfm(surface feed per minute)speed blade is moving, for different materials.

rick9345 wrote:Looks like a Delta that I had.
Was a wood saw(high SFM) put a Jack shaft gear reduction on so could lower sfm for metal with a belt/pulley change.
Wood sfm/tooth count suitable for alum.
High tooth count low sfm for metal.
proper sfm(surface feed per minute)speed blade is moving, for different materials.

Thanks for the info, Rick. When it arrives I'll take a look at the gearing, blade etc. I suspect it is set up for steel as it has done a lot of tube cutting for aircraft building.



Kym

It may have a gear box. Would be sweet setup.

rick9345 wrote:It may have a gear box. Would be sweet setup.

Yes, hope so. Just received a message from my brother - the saw is arriving tomorrow. It is certainly an ancient piece of equipment, so I'm hoping that it has all those Old School quality touches like a gearbox.

Now to find room in my shed for the thing...


Kym

MosquitoMoto wrote:

rick9345 wrote:It may have a gear box. Would be sweet setup.

Yes, hope so. Just received a message from my brother - the saw is arriving tomorrow. It is certainly an ancient piece of equipment, so I'm hoping that it has all those Old School quality touches like a gearbox.

Now to find room in my shed for the thing...

Kym

Maybe the misses will get you a new shed!!

Richard, I wish it was that simple!

I currently have one shed and one garage, both of which are packed full of motorcycles, parts, projects, tools and workshop equipment. In fact they are now packed so full that I barely have room to move. And there is no room left on our property to build a bigger shed.

So the plan is to eventually upgrade to a property with a very large shed and room to build several more...

Happily the wife is onboard with the whole idea. I make and fix enough stuff for her to keep her happy.


Kym

Well one could build up 2nd,3rd storey!!
A garage-scraper. Or dig down.

Used shipping containers are usually pretty cheap and make good storage sheds.

Sounds like you need a block of land out Lewiston area

Yes, it's ancient...'McPherson Powered Tools'



A shot of the gear system...4 pulleys



Well, my band saw arrived on a trailer on the weekend.

It's almost as tall as I am, it weighs more than I do and it's ancient. I reckon at least 50 years old. It showed up with an assortment of blades. I tried a high tooth count blade on steel and it was pretty hopeless, not sure if the problem was speed or, more likely, just an old, dull blade.

I then fitted up a lower tooth count blade and cut some aluminium - worked nicely.

The saw is worn, cantankerous and needs some TLC, but I think it will be a very handy tool once refurbished.


Kym

Nice addition!

If you ran the step pulley set up on steel,instant dull blade.
Appears to have Jack shaft set up for reduced speed, will need two belts to get it down to metal/ally working speeds.
small drive to large and then small to large again to get lowest speed for ferrous metal,may have to check/move the pulleys to get belts aligned
That one long one on the large drive pulley is high speed wood.
Then you will be happy,nice machine.

rick9345 wrote:If you ran the step pulley set up on steel,instant dull blade.
Appears to have Jack shaft set up for reduced speed, will need two belts to get it down to metal/ally working speeds.
small drive to large and then small to large again to get lowest speed for ferrous metal,may have to check/move the pulleys to get belts aligned
That one long one on the large drive pulley is high speed wood.
Then you will be happy,nice machine.

Rick...yep, I ran it set up just as it is. Noob enthusiasm...

Thanks for the advice regarding speeds. I'll get myself a selection of belts, gear it down slower, put a new band saw tyre on the lower roller, buy a couple new blades...and I should be just about ready to go!


Kym

Spend some time on setting the squareness and alignment of the blade guides and get a stick of cutting lube.

That's a nice unit.

Really appreciate the tips and advice you guys have offered.

I've finally found a local seller who has urethane band saw tyres in the right size. That's my first priority, after which I will be buying belts to set the correct gearing for cutting aluminium.

Was hoping to jump straight in and start cutting with this machine, but I have decided to take it slow, give it lots of TLC and a thorough refurbishment. This saw has been around way longer than I have, and I'd like to think that if I treat it right it will be able to give another 50 years of service.


Kym

That thing is old enough it probably has (REPLACEABLE) bearings. Not just crappy pressed in junk

Okay, phase one of the refurbishment of my archaic band saw is done. Finally got my hands on some new urethane tyres. Removed the old rubber tyres - which, as the photo shows, were utterly shot - then cleaned the wheels and fitted up the newies.

Runs quieter, and having corrected the uneven, sloping surface the old tyres had, runs truer, too.

The saw has replaceable bearings, but they are fine for now. Next job is to set up some sort of brush system to stop metal swarf getting to the new tyres and wrecking them. After that, some work setting up the gearing, and then to buy/build a cutting fence. Oh, and add some braked castors so that I can actually move the thing around the shed without needing two helpers...


Kym

Didnt think metal saws had tyres on them for that very reason?
My horizontal bs doesnt have any... but my upright wood one does:)

Harry72 wrote:Didnt think metal saws had tyres on them for that very reason?
My horizontal bs doesnt have any... but my upright wood one does:)

I honestly don't know for sure, Harry. But can't imagine this one running well on the bare alloy wheels...they're pretty shagged. New to the world of band saws, still have much to learn.


Kym

Porta band saws have tires and there used primarily on metal.

Poland308 wrote:Porta band saws have tires and there used primarily on metal.

I was about to point out the same thing. I just got done replacing a set of tires on my used new-to-me Milwaukee portaband, mostly just as part of preventative maintenance on unknown condition hardware.

I will say, the old tires were thoroughly embeded with rusty metal chips, which I can't imagine did anything good to the blades or the machine overall, and depending on what you are cutting could be an issue there as well.