Thread: Not one to gloat ,but!

Gotta give that 11 out of 10 for ingenuity.

All I have to ask is where is the steering wheel?

Finally, a bandsaw with real tyres. Amazing.

Cheers,
Joe

C'mon you lot he's waiting for some bloke to say something about the timber.

The timber looks fantastic and sweat slabs at 3" but that blade without something to slow it down should it come off makes my blood run cold. Great looking bit of gear all the same.

My little band saw has an hydraulic pressure control and operates at 2000 PSI on the gauge. When a blade breaks I wouldn't want to one of the objects it connects with. You really need as much cover over and around the blades as is possible ASAP.

I couldn't see how you tension your blade. Do you just use the amount of air in the tyres.

John

That's an innovative bit of gear your mates got there Vern.
What size blade does it run ? ( width and TPI mainly )

No fires while cutting that one up ?

Now vern, that's just not cricket to show so much DF in one photo.

Where the hell did you get a log that size?

I was hoping the blade and drive belt guards had been removed for clarity.

No?

Ingenious device though would like to know more. Also what is the timber?

Regards
Paul

Great machine and I second the comments on a blade guard. The guard doesn't have to be excessive as its function is to catch and stop the blade as it comes away from the wheels. Just stops a loose end flapping around. Another improvement your mate might try is to run a thin stream of water onto the blade. The water acts as a cutting lubricant, coolant and dust reducing agent.
PS. great piece of timber.

Ive seen alot of homemade bandsaws like this and they work well. The boys are right though, some kind of wheel house guard is a great idea so that when a blade breaks it stays in house. Ive have never had one fly out of my woodmizer and would dread it if it ever did. Even with guards on i never let anyone stand side on to the machine. The principle of blade tensioning on these types of machines is with the tyre pressure itself in most cases. And with the tyre being slightly curved in shape the blade will self track and find its place. Someone also said something about blade lubrication, this too is a good idea for 2 reasons. It stops sap buildup on the teeth therefore maintaining correct tension and blade set. The other is so that the blade maintains a consistant blade temperature on the front of the blade to the back, maintaining consistant tension and slowing down the biuldup of small fractures in the gullets of your teeth. Nice lookin timber by the way

Hey Vern, Any chance of some of your beautiful Qld Acacia,s cut to 3/4 inch thick,would be great for jewelery boxes.
Great machine , I don't think I would stand within 50ft of it when its operating. regards John.

My favourite timber , great use of someone else's gear

3" thick is also a good size for pepper grinders Those ones with those nasty cracks/hollows would come up a treat with some pearlex resin as WW pepper grinder blanks

Thanks for the interest guy's . The blade tension is sorted with an adjustment screw that pulls the non-drive wheel outwards - works really well.
Next step is to take the wheels and get them balanced to minimize vibration. John had at the tyres with an angle grinder to remove the rubber that was pushing on the teeth and messing with the set of the teeth.

Originally Posted by Ironwood

That's an innovative bit of gear your mates got there Vern.
What size blade does it run ? ( width and TPI mainly )

No fires while cutting that one up ?

He's using bi-metal 1.25" / 1 TPI or maybe less and the lucky bugger scored a little used sharpening jig from an old miller somewhere - for nothing!!! He's already cut a heap of Gidgee and Dead-Finish on the one blade but is ordering a pack of 6 more from the US at present.

Originally Posted by artme

Now vern, that's just not cricket to show so much DF in one photo.

Where the hell did you get a log that size?

That's actually the baby - I cut it because I thought it would have more figure than the stuff the other blokes were loading on the trailer - 5 logs around 400mm diameter x 3 metres long

Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Great machine and I second the comments on a blade guard. The guard doesn't have to be excessive as its function is to catch and stop the blade as it comes away from the wheels. Just stops a loose end flapping around. Another improvement your mate might try is to run a thin stream of water onto the blade. The water acts as a cutting lubricant, coolant and dust reducing agent.
PS. great piece of timber.

The guard is coming but the machine is still very much in prototype so the guards will come last. You can't see it in that pic but there is a water container on top of the frame with a line feeding down to the blade and a tap just beside the operator. John is talking about changing to an 'occasional spray' type system using a lubricant he has read about but I reckon the water is doing the trick..

I thought i saw a little hose in the picture. Wizz bang lubricants arent overly necessary. When i cut Tuart and Wandoo i just add dishwashing liquid to the water and it works a treat