Thread: Age of Hyco Bandsaw

Yes, I'm leaning towards polishing the brass.

The gearbox is like a back gear, providing a significantly slower speed range for metal cutting. The fine adjustment is done by the stepped pulley. Interestingly, the motor pulley has a single groove, the motor slides on it's pivoting rod to keep the belt aligned with whatever driven pulley groove is selected.
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Graham.

I have a question about the stepped pulley that I hope someone can answer for me.

The saw came to me on a relatively wide cast iron stand with the motor mounted off to the left of the machine on a very basic pivoting plate. The motor has a single Vee belt pulley and there is a four stepped pulley on the gearbox input shaft. The pivoting plate had enough clearance either side on it's pivot bolt to allow the motor to be slid fore and aft so that the belt could align with each step in the gearbox pulley.

To keep the machine's footprint to a minimum, and to lower the machine to a better working height I will not be using the original stand, instead making a lower welded or bolted steel stand. I'll mount the motor directly underneath the saw on a platform inside the new stand - pretty much a standard configuration. The belt will run vertically down to the motor, and the belt will be longer than it was originally.

My question is; without a stepped pulley on the motor do I need to make provision for sliding the motor to keep dead true belt alignment? Was it common to just have one stepped pulley on this kind of machine and put up with some misalignment in some speed settings?

Possibly my machine is missing a stepped pulley on the motor?

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Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Graham.

I think your missing a stepped pulley on the motor. But that is just my opinion.

Hi
I have got the same band saw and that one has a 4 step pulley on the motorDSCN0992.jpgDSCN0993.jpg

Thanks guys, I guess it looks like I need to find a stepped pulley for the motor.

Graham.

I got my Hyco 12" bandsaw finished last weekend. I had the colour under the large Hyco badges matched at Bunnings and went with that colour in epoxy enamel applied with a fine nap roller. The colour is a darkish olive green, which didn't appear very attractive in the tin, but as it's my best approximation of the original I decided to go with it. Now the saw is all painted and assembled I think the colour looks fine, and when dry is a very good match for the original under the badges, confirming the accuracy of Bunnings' matching system.

Everything went back to bare metal, spray primed then two top coats of rolled enamel to leave some texture over the cast iron, both wheels were re-crowned (they just fit in my lathe), all 4 bearings were replaced, the brass blade guides were re-faced in a 4 jaw chuck in the lathe, the motor was completely stripped, painted, and re-built with a new capacitor, and a new magnetic switch added with all new wiring. I decided to go with a welded 40 x 40 RHS steel stand with a solid 10mm steel top, and incorporated the pivoting motor mount. The whole machine is now very solid - and too heavy to move by hand!

Following advice here I located a 4 stepped motor pulley with a small 1.5" or so small pulley which with the 10:1 gearbox engaged gives me about 110 fpm slowest blade speed. I got a nice new Lennox bi-metal blade from Henry Bros. The saw cuts metals very nicely and is almost vibration free at slow speed - very nice to use.

I have still to make the front blade guard, which I can see from Micheal's original picture in this thread is a simple right angle folded sheet steel piece.

All in all I'm very glad I got this machine and spent the time restoring it. In total I've sunk a few hundred (well, probably closer to $400 or $500) into getting it finished, but I've ended up with something so much nicer than a Chinese import that would have cost many times that amount. I purchased it originally because it matched the styling of my 20 inch Speedax (see the pic below of the two), but I've ended up with a lovely machine in its own right.

Graham.

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Well that looks hot.I think anyone would love it parked in the shed.Makes me think I will have to paint my 2 now to keep up.
I had the same thought for the stand and will fabricate some similar with the motor down underneath.
I bought some Richmond casters to go under it for mobility.

Well you have two very nice looking saws there.

Thanks guys. The Speedax, with a selection of new blades also from Henry Bros, is now used solely for wood, and the Hyco will be left permanently on slow speed for metal. It's so nice having a dedicated machine sitting there ready for metal cutting. It has already proved it's usefulness.

Micheal, let me know if you want a sketch of the stand. And I have the code for the olive green if you need it.

Graham.

Hi
Looking at the pic's I noticed you are using what I think is a gas lift for a boot or bonnet. Can you give more info on it, as I'm using bundy strap
Nice restoration
Cheers

Yes, that's a gas strut that I got from McNaughtans Pty Ltd in Sydney. They have a huge range of different strokes and pressures and end fittings.

I originally thought I'd need more than just the weight of the motor for adequate belt tension, so I added the strut, but the weight of the motor alone seemed fine so I drilled a small hole in the base of the strut to let the gas out, leaving it installed and the oil inside to provide some damping. It also acts a down stop for if I remove the belt. These pivoting motor mounts suffer from motor bouncing and the damping from the strut helps.

Graham.

Originally Posted by Oldbikerider

Micheal, let me know if you want a sketch of the stand.
Graham.

Hi Graham, I will take you up on the offer of a sketch for the stand. Save me working it all out.
What table height did you end up with for the bandsaw?

Micheal,

I'll dig out the sketch at the weekend, and add the table height and other details.

Graham.

Micheal,

Here's a rough sketch of the stand. I used a table height of 1050, 41 1/2", which is a little lower than the Speedax, but I like a slightly lower table for pushing metal parts through the blade. I guessed at the angle to cut on the ends of the RHS, mocked it up, and it looked OK, but didn't record the angle. The dimensions in the sketch are of the finished stand. The four legs have a compound angle cut in them because they splay out in two directions. All cuts were done on a cheap horizontal bandsaw with one mitre setting. I raised the free ends of the legs to give me the compound angle.

With the 10mm steel top and 3mm wall on most of the base parts it's heavy, but that is a good thing! I wanted to keep the footprint small because space is getting limited in my workshop, but the heft of the frame and saw means I can push quite hard while cutting and the machine stays rock solid.

The pivoting motor base is made from two 50x50 steel angle pieces joined by a piece of 75mm flat bar, making an inverted channel.

Hope this helps.

Graham.

PS. I really like this Hyco machine. It's vibration free, and with the gearbox engaged it is very quiet. At 110 fpm on the bi-metal Lennox blade it cuts mild steel like chalk. It's a lovely machine and one of those that you look forward to using.

Hyco saw stand.pdf