Convert 6" bandsaw to 9" depth of cut

[Anonymous]

Hi all

It's Bean's fault really.

He was expressing love and admiratione for my bandsaw (well, he said he liked it) and asked if there were any problems.

Well, yes, the resaw height is ONLY 6" which is annoying :evil: says I.

Two engineers faced with a problem!!! After a brief discussion and a bit of measuring, work started and now my bandsaw will resaw a FULL 9" depth!!!!

I originally thought that I might have to reinforce the section around the aluminium extrusion (already decided how) that holds the bearings but this has proved not to be the case as the sheet steel that the case is made from is quite thick and the door locks tight providing additional support. The defection in the ali extrusion when I push against it by hand is the same afer the mod as it was before

Bandsaw is Charnwood W720 155mm. Standard chinese job which is sold under many brand names

Here's what I did

Before (note ruler at 155mm depth of cut)

I removed the blade and top wheel first. Now I modified the aluminium section that holds the blade guides first by shortening it slightly and cutting a little shoulder at the top. Also had to remove some material from the slot (see picture where wheel runs through ali) to allow the top wheel to run through the ali.

Next, I got the angle grinder out and cut a profile in the rear to accept the bearing assembly when fully raised

I also made a small cutout in the side and redrilled the holes to mount the internal channel that guides the ali extrusion when lowering and raising the bearings. Also re-drilled the clamp bolt hole a little higher and slightly modified the steel that sits at the other end of the bolt by cutting 12mm from the bottom of it

I had to file a coutersink along the slot that originally held the caphead bolts that secured the bearing guides to the end of the extrusion. I fitted 6mm countersunk bolts in it.

Here you can see the 9" depth of cut and I have placed the same ruler from the first picture in shot too for reference

First resaw operation was 7 1/2" Beech. Lovely

OK. Pretty easy and the result is 50% more depth of cut. Used a hacksaw, angle grinder and file + battery drill.

Total time for the job was 4 hours.

 

[johnelliott]

Nice work, Tony, and a good reminder to us all not to accept limitations at face value
John

 

[Anonymous]

hi
great idea
do u think the motor will hold up to the extra work.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks John

Bobby, the motor seems to work fine and did not slow down during the resaw operation, never mind stalling. Also, I will not be resawing very often and so I don't see it being an issue

Possibly the ease of cut is due to my use of Dure Edge blades which cut the very hard beech like the proverbial hot knife.

If need be, I have a second, slower speed on the bandsaw which will provide more torque

 

[DaveL]

Tony,

Nicely done, good bit of lateral thinking. 8) My Elektra BAS315 looks very similar, I will remember this if I get stuck on a large board. :shock:

 

[Bean]

Tony Hey smart


Bean

 

[Shadowfax]

Tony
Nice work. How long did you think about it before the actual cutting and grinding started?

SF

 

[Anonymous]

Tony
Nice work. How long did you think about it before the actual cutting and grinding started?

SF

To be honest about 1/2 hour hard thought and measuring + chatted with Bean before that.
I have been a design and maintenance engineer for over 20 years and so I was pretty confident from the off.

 

[Midnight]

an here was me thinking "riser block"....

nice bit o metal bashin there Tony....

 

[Chris Knight]

Tony,

Good job! I shall now have a look at my similarly restricted Kity 613 and see if a bit of judicious work with the angle grinder would help..

 

[devonwoody]

Good to see someone with the same cost outlook as my own..

Somewhere in the last few days there has also been a tip to round off the back edge of a bandsaw blade this could also take some pressure off the motor perhaps if needed.

If this has not been seen by yourself let me know and I will do a search for the article.

 

[Anonymous]

Mike

If only it were that simple on chiese bandsaws :?

DW. Thanks, I did see the article and forgot about it - might try it out as nothing to lose :lol:

 

[Alf]

Somewhere in the last few days there has also been a tip to round off the back edge of a bandsaw blade this could also take some pressure off the motor perhaps if needed.

The Dure-Edge blades come ready done IIRC, although I'm not sure how it'd help the motor? I thought it was to minimise wear on the guides. :?

Clever fix, Tony. Like Midnight, I was thinking riser block and wondering how the heck you'd made it work. Funny, I've often thought the way the top guide assembly on bandsaws takes up space was a bit wasteful, but never thought it might be fixed. Very cunning.

Cheers, Alf

 

[devonwoody]

To Alf.

I think that if the blade causes less wear on the guides no energy is being lost to that point. :?: [/quote]

 

[Alf]

I think that if the blade causes less wear on the guides no energy is being lost to that point. :?:

DW, well I dunno. I sort of had it in my head it was more to do with losing the sharp corner on the back of the blade which can cut into the guides, particularly on tight curves. As usual I'm hopelessly failing to visualise if that'd also effect the amount of friction from the blade in a straight line re-sawing operation, but I suppose it might make a difference. Enough to notice though? Sigh. If only someone had told me physics might actually be useful beyond the examination hall... :roll: No matter; it's a win-win situation anyway isn't it?

Cheers, Alf

 

[devonwoody]

Depends how hard you push

 

[Alf]

LOL! :lol: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

but never thought it might be fixed. Very cunning.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Shadowfax]

Tony
Looks like you might have started a trend here. I've got visions of members up and down the country taking tools to their bandsaws to make them ever bigger and better than before!
Cunning plan on your part, though. Bloody good one, in fact!

SF

 

[Anonymous]

Cunning plan on your part, though. Bloody good one, in fact!

SF

Aww shucks

Thanks SF