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heres my faithfull chineese import 4"x6" bandsaw, one of the most used pieces of machinery in the workshop, its used to cut all types of none ferrous and ferrous steels and has been known to cut the odd piece of timber, i bought this bandsaw from machine mart and carries the brand name of Clarke, it has gone through quite a few modifications to get it how i want it, and it performs very well, the modifications are:- coolant tray and mobile stand, spring blade tension adjustment, coolant system, downfeed hydraulic unit, and the fitting of quality blades.
coolant system
the bandsaw in action, cutting a piece of hollow round section steel, note the coolant flow is before the cut also after the cut, this system is usually employed on industrial bandsaws, this after cut coolant flow washes the swarf off the blade stopping the swarf getting trapped between the blade and drive/guide wheels, if the swarf is let to build up there is a possibility that the trapped swarf will eventually stretch the blade which may force the blade to jump off the drive/guides, a couple of holes have been drilled into the frame the pipes are secured in place by nylon cable ties,
note: the rear cut copper coolant flow pipe has been soft soldered into the main coolant line.
i made the coolant system from a 12volt caravan water pump(wahle)wired upto a 12volt transformer, 4 litre plastic food container and lid for the sump, garden hose pipe for feed and draining, copper pipe, 2 way gas valve for turning off or regulating the flow, filter encloses pump entirely and secured with cable ties, powerfull magnets (out of a computer hard drive) wraped in a plastic bag to trap swarf in the sump, i fabricated the suds tray which the bandsaw base bolts onto, six posts were threaded to secure the base of the saw to the suds tray then the posts were welded to the tray, the tray is a piece of 1mm thick steel sheet larger than the full length and width of the base and then turned up at the sides and weld sealed the corners, if you dont have access to a welder than the sealing can be done with bath/window waterproof sealer, the bottom frame is made from 1"x1" steel box section and welded to accommodate the bottom shelf to hold the suds sump, a set of wheels/castors were fitted to make the saw mobile.
hydraulic downfeed
the hydraulic downfeed is a very useful modification to add to your saw, its is only used for thin walled, hollow box section, and angle iron, this paticular hydraulic unit was purchased at a car boot sale for £3.00, i had to buy the hydraulic pipe and control valve seperatly which took the shine off my bargain at a cost of around £30. the spring downfeed unit can be disengaged quickly, and swopped to the hydraulic downfeed unit by simply insering the hydraulic ram push/pull rod into the fixed downfeed arm, the hydraulic ram stays attached to the base permanantly. it would be pointless to show how i attached the ram unit to the saw base as all ram units differ in size shape ect.
spring blade tension modification
either modify the original handle or make a new handle(recommended) to modify the original handle just drill through the plastic so a threaded bar can pass through the handle, be carefull not to drill the original thread out the bolt which is moulded central inside the plastic handle,
use a heavy duty cylinder head valve spring, fit a thrust washer either side of spring
i made my shaft from mild steel, 180mm long and same diam as old bar threaded with a M8 thread at both ends, before you decide on the shaft length place your piece of new bar with the spring and handle not forgeting the extra length for the bottom thread into the cross head so as to get an approx length as all springs are of different size, when you get to this stage you'll get the idea!, use locktite to secure threaded end into cross head, there is fitted an internal spring on shaft, re-fit this spring.
dont modifiy the cross head in any way, the new threaded shaft you have made threads into this cross head, use a threadlocking solution so this shaft cannot turn, once all the modification has been done the blade will ride on spring tension which is more forgiving on your saw blades.
this is an easy mod to do, i see no reason why a length of M8 threaded bar and nut cant be used to replace the original shaft, if you dont like this mod it can be easily reverted back to its original state as long as you havent modified the handle,
no job to big, 1.5 inches thick x 1 foot square mild steel plate, this is been cut for a job on the lathe.
