It's not a HD machine so I reckon even one key would be OK, 2 if you want to be able to hand it onto your grandies. :)
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It's not a HD machine so I reckon even one key would be OK, 2 if you want to be able to hand it onto your grandies. :)
I’m thinking I need to focus a little more in the garage. I have too many projects and don’t seem to progress any of them. So with that in mind the bandsaw is priority number 1 and will be the sole focus to get it up and running.
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As you can see it’s been completely stripped. The doors are off and I’m going to buy some silicon bronze filler rod to see if I can have a go at TIG brazing a repair. I’ve also completely stripped all the moving parts in a couple of electric motors and the wheel bearings in preparation for fresh assembly.
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I bought a blind bearing and also a 6” 3 jaw puller, wow does that make life easier. SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THEM YEARS AGO!
The plan is to organise a new control box for the saw, including an emergency shut off switch, potentiometer and forward switch for the VFD.
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Then I will strip and prepare everything for a fresh paint job. I’ve bought some Aluminium coloured machine grey and plan to paint all my tools in that at some stage (mill and lathe too).
Some things worked today, some things didn’t.
I bought a few bits to complete the bandsaw control box, unfortunately Jaycar didn’t have the rotation switch I wanted, so I’ll have the grab that off the internet.
Box is all done pending the arrival of the switch.
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I’ve done a few of these now (Mill and Lathe):
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What didn’t work?
I tried to silicon bronze braze the top door where it was cracked. Tried to DCEN TIG it but couldn’t get the filler to flow. I suspected it was the cast Alu that was the problem, but to test this theory I also tried to repair one of the wheels which has a huge piece missing:
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As you can see from the silicone bronze already in the broken hole... it worked a treat. It’s an odd material to braze in with the TIG. It’s gummy and flows very easily, too easily and it’s easy to have it run. But I was able to readily repair the crack:
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I’ll wait my rotary table parts before grinding it back as I think I’ll try and mill it flush on my new toy.
Need to find someone with an AC/DC TIG or proper brazing equipment to repair the door.
I got given a rusty as hell 1.5kw motor with the bandsaw. The plan was to not use it as the saw came with a motor already (0.75kw) but unfortunately it is only 415v. I plan on trying to pull out the star point but the 1.5kw motor is destined for the bandsaw.
Today I hit the motor with wire wheels to clear out the bulk of the rust. It’s been apart for a while which made it easy, wire wheeling the end caps and also using a wire brush in between the fins too. It worked really well plus I have also bought brand new bearings for all the motors and saw give they’re all apart.
Fresh bearings installed and I hit the motor (and my welding cart) with some etch primer. The plan was to lay down some colour today, but I’ve bought the wrong one. I wanted Machinery Grey (or battleship grey) and I bought Aluminium instead as it looked lighter. However it’s metallic and it will look to shiny, so I’ll replace the paint with the machinery grey and paint it later.
The bandsaw will also get painted in the same too, so this is my dry run.
It lays really nicely from my paint gun. So much easier than using cans or brushes.
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In the background you can see the monster 3kw motor that is destined for my 2x72 grinder project (told you I have too many!).
Motor has been finished for a while so today I set about finishing my control panel and testing the VFD setup.
I still need to fix the fan cover to the motor but it works perfectly.
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Now will find some cat5 cable and wire up the remote controls.
All done.
Control works perfectly too.
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Attached the control box. Made some spacers from SS (as it was all I had). Drilling them was easy but parting off wasn’t fun. Had to run the lathe pretty quick otherwise the part would grab and spit off the flat belt.
Made the spacer 0.6mm longer at the back to accomodate the angled box.
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I think I’ve also decided against painting it. The machinery grey I did my welding cart in is nice but a bit flat. I like the patina of this machine so will just get it working mechanically and leave it as is.
I’ll need a fix for the top door frame though where it’s cracked.
The bolt to attach the top wheel was not useable as the threads were all chewed up. I went I my local bolt store but unfortunately they didn’t have the 5/16” BSF, so I thought I’d have a crack at making the bolt myself on the lathe. Not only could I test my threading skills but I could also use my new collet blocks to make the head too :)
I have to remake the bandsaw bolt as I didn’t use the right method and didn’t create nice clean threads. The bolt works but I’m keen to have another go.
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Because I was in the mood and also because I was changing gears on my Hercus and a bolt has bugged me on it, I decided to make a bolt for the lathe too. I’m not sure what this bolt is supposed to look like but it looks like it had a shoulder at one point to run against the casting. So I set about recreating the bolt with this shoulder and a square head:
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This one worked perfectly as I also had my technique set from the first run. Annoyingly I chipped my threading insert but was able to get it working again by grinding it to get me through.
I also think it’s a 55 degree thread, so I’m on the hunt for a couple of fish gauges (60 and 55 degree) as well as an insert tool where I can buy different angle inserts.
Popped new bearings in the top wheel and found a problem. The top shaft wouldn’t accept the bearing and I suspect this is why the old ones were damaged as it had been smashed on.
Popped the shaft in the 4 jaw and dialed it in to 0.01mm and took finishing cuts until the bearings were very tight. Then I took the balance down with wet and dry with oil.
Installed beautifully but bearings were tight as I tightened the bolt. Realised there was no bushing as I took the wheel apart. So back to the lathe and made a 15.5mm wide with 15mm internal hole bushing.
Bolted up again and it now is rock solid with a super free spin.
One step closer.
I have most of the bandsaw together for test fitting. Still have to make the motor mount, create the jack shaft reduction gear and repair the top cover crack.
Today I installed the old saw blade to see how it all goes together. Without tyres I was able to get it spinning nicely, the top wheel was on backwards which meant the top and bottom wheels were misaligned, but flipping made the difference.
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Once I had the top and bottom wheels aligned and the saw blade running with the gullet in the centre of the wheel I ran in to a problem.
The alignment of the blade in the top guide is offset to one side and I can’t find a way to adjust it. Can anyone help?
Looks ok in the hole:
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But too far to the left in the top guide:
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Could it be the fact the tyres are missing and it will adjust once fitted?
Tyres will be about 4-5mm at a guess, so I’d say yes - that will sort it out.
Steve
Getting the saw back together and today finished the VFD mounting, the junction box to run a cutoff switch to the VFD, plus wired up the motor and mounted it backwards.
I’ve ditched the 0.75KW motor for a 1.5KW as the 0.75KW was 415v only (I have since converted it to dual voltage but yet to test it).
The motor was reversed on the mount as I’ll be running a jack shaft and so will power the opposite side of the jack shaft with the motor and then running the second set of pulleys out the back to the saw axle.
To mount the bigger motor I had to massage the motor mount. My mill clamps were a bit dodgy and made me realise I need one of this clamp kits, but gentle moving down with a 10mm roughing bit yielded the perfect result:
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Motor was a pain to load in on my own but it’s all in there now and has the OEM adjuster for belt tension with a lock nut.
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The VFD is mounted in the lower stand along with all the concealed wiring.
So here’s how it stands right now with the lower wheel guard on.
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Still loads to do before it cuts anything but I’m confident the plan will work. The jack shaft arrangement will be a tight fit but I think it’s going to work out fine.
Will try and find someone to weld or braze up the rear cover this week too.
I’ve ordered the tyres. Not cheap but went with a highly reputable option out of the US made of urethane, also come in a pretty blue [emoji4]
After finishing my girls BMX project I’ve made a decision... I need to finish the projects I’ve started.
First on the list is the bandsaw because it has so many uses in the garage and will allow me to get rid of my cheap GMC chop saw, then I’ll be back on my 1960’s McIntosh Preamp and then... date I say it, I may have to get stuck back in to the CB400F.
There’s always a need to have another project as the big ones do stall occasionally due to funds etc, so I’ll allow myself smaller side ones, but I really need to bring some discipline back to my shed.