06-18-2017, 09:37 PM
I know this is an old thread, but figured you guys might appreciate another approach to doing this:
A while back I saw on Craigslist an old 14" Milwaukee-Delta bandsaw, no stand, motor, etc. Went and had a look, and it seemed in really good shape, just in need of a good cleaning. So I handed over 100 bucks for it. This is a nice solid cast iron saw that according to the serial number is of early 1950's vintage.
I mounted the saw on what used to be a stand for an aquarium (picked from someone's trash...) and added some heavy angle iron feet to it for some added ballast to keep it from being too top-heavy and a create somewhat wider stance for stability.
I had right angle motor/gearbox from a prior project. This was a 1HP DC motor with a 10:1 reduction worm drive gearbox. The controller that I use with this is a KB unit (another salvage and repair item) that has the ability to utilize tachometer feedback. I had a small 24Vdc motor scrounged from somewhere else that looked like it would make a fine 7V/1000RPM tach generator so I modified the gearbox to drive the tach generator directly from the motor shaft. This gives it speed feedback to the controller such that if the motor begins to slow under load, the controller will up the power to the motor to compensate. At full speed, this provides ~180 RPM at the gearbox output and can vary the speed over about a 50:1 ratio with little to no torque loss.
I have a 2:1 speed increase from the gearbox to the saw, so this gives me 360 RPM or about 1300 FPM blade speed with the motor at full speed, adequate if not optimal for wood and soft metals. At a turn of the speed control knob, I can get as low as 70FPM blade speed and anything in between, and with the tach feedback, it cuts without stalling or any perceptible bogging or slowing down. It's quite impressive, really.
Using the blade that it happened to come with (which is too fine for this at 18TPI) I easily cut through some 1/4" steel and a bunch of other stuff I had laying around.
After some new urethane tires, new blades, and a good clean and lube, this is one of thee handiest machined I have. I use it all the time. A few photos:
![[Image: IMG_5961_zpslcc5pca0.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/alanganes/bandsaw/IMG_5961_zpslcc5pca0.jpg)
![[Image: IMG_5960_zpsjptyxcpl.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/alanganes/bandsaw/IMG_5960_zpsjptyxcpl.jpg)
![[Image: IMG_5963_zpsxq3yyz90.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/alanganes/bandsaw/IMG_5963_zpsxq3yyz90.jpg)
![[Image: IMG_5962_zps1qabl4xe.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/alanganes/bandsaw/IMG_5962_zps1qabl4xe.jpg)
A while back I saw on Craigslist an old 14" Milwaukee-Delta bandsaw, no stand, motor, etc. Went and had a look, and it seemed in really good shape, just in need of a good cleaning. So I handed over 100 bucks for it. This is a nice solid cast iron saw that according to the serial number is of early 1950's vintage.
I mounted the saw on what used to be a stand for an aquarium (picked from someone's trash...) and added some heavy angle iron feet to it for some added ballast to keep it from being too top-heavy and a create somewhat wider stance for stability.
I had right angle motor/gearbox from a prior project. This was a 1HP DC motor with a 10:1 reduction worm drive gearbox. The controller that I use with this is a KB unit (another salvage and repair item) that has the ability to utilize tachometer feedback. I had a small 24Vdc motor scrounged from somewhere else that looked like it would make a fine 7V/1000RPM tach generator so I modified the gearbox to drive the tach generator directly from the motor shaft. This gives it speed feedback to the controller such that if the motor begins to slow under load, the controller will up the power to the motor to compensate. At full speed, this provides ~180 RPM at the gearbox output and can vary the speed over about a 50:1 ratio with little to no torque loss.
I have a 2:1 speed increase from the gearbox to the saw, so this gives me 360 RPM or about 1300 FPM blade speed with the motor at full speed, adequate if not optimal for wood and soft metals. At a turn of the speed control knob, I can get as low as 70FPM blade speed and anything in between, and with the tach feedback, it cuts without stalling or any perceptible bogging or slowing down. It's quite impressive, really.
Using the blade that it happened to come with (which is too fine for this at 18TPI) I easily cut through some 1/4" steel and a bunch of other stuff I had laying around.
After some new urethane tires, new blades, and a good clean and lube, this is one of thee handiest machined I have. I use it all the time. A few photos: