03-23-2012, 12:38 AM
Most of you are familiar with the HF Portable Bandsaw. It is what it is. An inexpensive tool that with judicious use it might just do what it is designed for. It sure beats a hack saw and doesn't rattle everything off the bench like a reciprocating saw.
If you are like me (I think most of you are) you just can't leave well enough alone. So, I turned it into a portable/miter/vertical saw. It's completely convertible. Three thumb screws remove the unit from the stand. One nut removes the saw from the base. Two screws mount the table for vertical cutting. It actually cuts fairly true.
I bolted the torsion arm from my X2 clone to the saw and used 1" ID square tube for the pivot. This was then welded to the base of 1/8" hot roll sheet reinforced with 3/8" bar stock. The vise is a cheap HF drill press vise that is bolted and index pinned to another piece of 1/8' hot roll sheet which was then bolted to the base. The base was then slotted to allow the vice to pivot from 90 deg to 45 deg. Using my favorite 3d plotter (carboard boxes) I went through several designs before I found the shape I needed for the spring loaded lift stop arm. A third piece of 1/8" hot roll was welded to the work stop that came with the saw for use as a table when in the vertical position and two rubber grommets in the pivot support hold the allen wrench. All this rests on six feet made from 3/4" lengths of 5/16"-18tpi coupler nuts with rubber chair leg caps. Three of which have holes punched in them the facilitate mounting the unit to a stand.
This is the project I used the stamps on that I asked about in the "alpha/numeric stamps" post. You can't see in the photos but the base is stamped for graduations form 90 to 45 deg. and I am still debating whether I will mount a stop switch on it.
Alan
If you are like me (I think most of you are) you just can't leave well enough alone. So, I turned it into a portable/miter/vertical saw. It's completely convertible. Three thumb screws remove the unit from the stand. One nut removes the saw from the base. Two screws mount the table for vertical cutting. It actually cuts fairly true.
I bolted the torsion arm from my X2 clone to the saw and used 1" ID square tube for the pivot. This was then welded to the base of 1/8" hot roll sheet reinforced with 3/8" bar stock. The vise is a cheap HF drill press vise that is bolted and index pinned to another piece of 1/8' hot roll sheet which was then bolted to the base. The base was then slotted to allow the vice to pivot from 90 deg to 45 deg. Using my favorite 3d plotter (carboard boxes) I went through several designs before I found the shape I needed for the spring loaded lift stop arm. A third piece of 1/8" hot roll was welded to the work stop that came with the saw for use as a table when in the vertical position and two rubber grommets in the pivot support hold the allen wrench. All this rests on six feet made from 3/4" lengths of 5/16"-18tpi coupler nuts with rubber chair leg caps. Three of which have holes punched in them the facilitate mounting the unit to a stand.
This is the project I used the stamps on that I asked about in the "alpha/numeric stamps" post. You can't see in the photos but the base is stamped for graduations form 90 to 45 deg. and I am still debating whether I will mount a stop switch on it.
Alan