Band Saw
A band saw allows you to remove large amounts of metal before mill or lathe work. I chose this Jet model (HVBS-463) because of its low cost, the large ½ hp UL motor, the quality of the design (heat-treated steel worm & bronze drive gears; ball bearings on the shafts & guides) plus the availability of any replacement parts that may be needed in the future. The unit performs very well. Bi-metal blades, though more costly, last much longer than carbon steel types. It uses a ½" x 0.025" x 64½" (5' 4½") blade. LS Starrett blades are excellent.
To re-coil a band saw blade into a smaller, more storable size, perform the following steps. Wear the appropriate clothing, gloves & eye protection, after all, it is spring steel, under tension & has sharp teeth. With the teeth pointed outward, step on the blade to hold it down on the floor. Grasp the top of the blade then simultaneously rotate & lower your hand (CW or CCW) towards your foot (which is holding down the blade). As the blade is rotated to over ¾'s of a turn, it will form into 3 coils. Secure with ties in three places.
Sawing 3" steel for a new
compound pivot.
Though Jet does not make a miter-type guide for this unit, one from Sears fits the saws' table groove, perfectly.
Replaced the OEM stamped band saw table with a 12" x 12" x ½" aluminum table held to the saw through counter-bored holes, using 2, ¼-20, cap-head screws. Used an F drill & ⅜" end mill to achieve close-tolerance, counter-bored holes. A steel plate would be better to resist scratching.
Milled both the miter surfaces & raised scale. The miter is painted cast aluminum.
Milling the raised lettering made it much easier to read.
Also milled (fly cut) the face making it smoother, flatter & perpendicular to the table's surface.
The miter originally pivoted on an aluminum peg that quickly broke when it was dropped.
Replaced it with a ¼-20, flat-head screw & large brass spacers. Used a lock nut to maintain proper tension.
The ⅛" slot was milled to accept a ¾" wide by ¼" thick cover plate. It is held in the T-slot by 2, 10-32 thumb screws with thick brass washers. The cover's nose was marked with a ⅜" radius gage & then ground by hand until it fit. The cover was then clamped into the plate & milled flush when the entire edge was squared. The slot cover plate was pushed into the running blade to create a zero-clearance slot. Corners have since been rounded for safety.
The fence uses a toe-clamp on each end to hold it to the table.
A roll pin (in the body) keeps the clamp (with a clearance hole) from turning.
10-32 knobs with brass washers are used. The new table changes the entire functionality of the saw.
The handle that is used to move the unit around, passed through thin metal. The metal around the handle distorted. Additionally, even when the unit was lifted relatively high, the metal feet still rubbed against the floor because the original wheel bracket flexed too much & was too far from the floor. To improve the handle mount, both sides of the area were reinforced with ⅛" thick aluminum, trapezoid-shaped plates.
The original wheels were poorly designed; had to lift too high & too much flex. The latest Jet model has updated the stand to now sit on two hard-plastic wheels (pneumatic tires would flex too much) & two, height-adjustable machine mounts. I copied that design using a few parts (steel axle & axle guides) from an old hand truck. The hard rubber tires are from Harbor Freight. It now has a very sturdy handle & a small lift allows safe, easy movement of the 125 lbs. unit. The feet are similar to the mill & lathe machine mounts.
