Makita BandSaw mounted on DIY Table.

[gus]

After 4 weeks of procrastination and deliberation,I came up with DIY table,Cheap,good and nasty. Custom cut plywood cost me S$20. Assembly was a breeze with Bosch Cordless Screw Driver and Makita Drill. Took an hour to out together with wood screws.
From today ,building engines from bar stock will be quick and easy w/o leaving a near 70 young man wheezing away.The Eclipse Hacksaw now retired.

Makita Aftersales Dept was not very helpfu when I ask for literature on Bandsaw Tablel.But they delivered Bandsaw a day after after phone order.

Need dos and don'ts on the operation of bandsaw.This will be useful for members who plan to buy and use BandSaws.

 

[rodw]

Gus,

Maybe this will help. Certainly a novel approach!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH43dshkY_U"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH43dshkY_U[/ame]

For my saw, I have found teeth selection is important. I can get 6,14 and 18 TPI blades for mine. The coarse blade can make the difference between a 20 second cut or a 2 minute cut with plastic and is also the best one for aluminium. I think I use the 14 TPI for steel and also for the odd cut on ally when I am too lazy to change the blade.

 

[gus]

Gus,

Maybe this will help. Certainly a novel approach!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH43dshkY_U

For my saw, I have found teeth selection is important. I can get 6,14 and 18 TPI blades for mine. The coarse blade can make the difference between a 20 second cut or a 2 minute cut with plastic and is also the best one for aluminium. I think I use the 14 TPI for steel and also for the odd cut on ally when I am too lazy to change the blade.

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the video.Very educational. I am stuck with 18 tpi.Makita,Singapore has only 18 tpi. Is it a must to use lubricant? Makita has their Wax bar. Don't really cut plenty of metal. Just some aluminium,brass and M.Steel.Manual sawing was murder but I have seen my maestros cutting thru 4" Bright Mild Bar so easily.1 1/2" square leaves my panting away.
I am putting in a table top too.Will be just like yours.
Any changes in Brisbane since I last visited in 1990. We drove down from Coolum after a week of brain bashing/management course.Your shopping malls are great except my wife bought too much.

 

[gus]

Cutting table done,using bandsaw . Will make improvement to table as we go along. Hack Saw retired.
Saw Blade guard is a must.
I have added on a saw blade guard(DIY Guard is made of Brass Angle) to prevent potentia laccidents and none cuttingportion is left naked. In I did lightly touched it while cutting table.
Balcony machineshop now have a new addition--------Makita Portable now made stationary.
New project--------cut up some aluminium squares/flat bars to use a poor man's cheap & nasty parallel bar.

 

[rodw]

Looks, very much at home on our balcony Gus. I don't always use cutting fluid, it does not seem to make that much difference. Sometimes, I add a drop or two of cutting oil even if it on every second cut. On the upright saw, I saw a video where the guy used a laboratory squeeze bottle and conventional water based fluid. The squeeze bottle let him squirt it on to the blade.

 

[starnovice]

Gus,
Don't you get monsoons? How do you protect your machines from the rain?

Pat

 

[gus]

Gus,
Don't you get monsoons? How do you protect your machines from the rain?

Pat

Hi Pat.

We live in a built up area.The rain from the monsoons or squalls blocked off. The balcony roof stretch is quite big so no rain comes in.The lathe is located inside a three sided booth and well protected. To prevent excessive rust I spray WD40 once a while. The mill------------bandsaw is well covered so no problem.The machine tools have no electronic stuff so no problem.Lathe and mill are both vee belt driven so no inverter headaches.
A stand fan keeps me cool n happy.
Hobby time is 9 or 10 am till the boss rings the lunch bell. If Gus is not lazy,
then its 4pm-----6pm. Every morning is another great day.
Have a great day. See you. Mate.(spent too much time in Oz!!)

 

[starnovice]

Thank you Gus for the explanation I am sorry if it hijacks the thread but I am sure others have wondered the same thing. You do some really good work.

 

[gus]

Found plenty of work to keep Bandsaw occupied .Perhaps I was wrong not having one from day one..A Bandsaw is a must when you build engines from bar stock. Cut some square bars to use as packers(poor man's parallel bars. At 1.5 of 5 speed selector knob gives best optimun speed to cut mild steel bars and brass bars.At same speed with 18tpi saw,aluminium does not cut well.
While cutting a wider piece,my finger was about to touch returning portion of saw blade.W/o brass angle my finger would be cut. See foto. BandSaw housing now serves as tool rack. Starrett Scribers,steel ruler,dividers,square,vee blocks etc will be easy to get and no longer have to turn over tool box to find them. Basis I put them back in same place,life be easy for young man Gus now getting forgetful.

 

[gus]

The BandSaw with it's fine teeth is as dangerous as the circular saw with coarse teeth and I learnt last week the hard way. My left thumb was nicked when I tried removing a waste w/o stopping the bandsaw.No bad damage and just a bloody thumb.

 

[Cogsy]

Lucky it was only a nick Gus - those things can chop fingers off in a heartbeat. Glad you're OK.

 

[SmithDoor]

Nice shopth_wav
May need to make brake for saw

Dave

 

[gus]

Lucky it was only a nick Gus - those things can chop fingers off in a heartbeat. Glad you're OK.

Hi Cogsy,
Was very lucky,I reacted very fast. Must be due to the boxing done in school and in later life Chinese Martial Art. Got too carried away with the near completion of drawer compartments for end mills etc. Was rushing to complete job as the following day its early morning flight to Japan.

Must been careless again while slicing a Japanses Persimmon for Nellie,nicked my second index finger with a very good Japanese Fillet knife sharpened by Gus to razor sharpness and leather stropped to extreme sharpness. Happened in the hotel room here in Fukuoka,Japan.:hDe::rant:
Japanese Angus Beef Steak very good not expensive here in Hakata District,Fukuoka City.

Will be back home soon and itching to start and run the Nemett-Lynx Engine.

Take care.

 

[gus]

The nick on the thumb healed fast. Here is the close-up. You can hardly see the healed nick.Fellow HMEM Forum members please treat all machine tools with deep respect.
Just a wee bitty slower my thumb would have gone. Plan to DIY a mini circular saw to make mini boxes for some measuring instruments that came with no box. Mini carpentry is my next craze.

 

[gus]

Nearly gave up making stops when cutting narrow pieces of wood. Also been wrecking my brains to come up with a jig to cut bevel ends to save my fingers while cutting so near the saw blade.Whatever I thought off was too complicated. Went for long walks and the ideas came. Stops and jigs don't have to be complicated.
So its K.I.S.S. aka Keep It Simple,Stupid !!!! The current Bevel Cutting Jig need further improvement for finger safety. The stops also need some improvement to make it fool proof.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Gus--I will give you a little hint. When pushing stock thru the saw, NEVER have your thumb directly in line with the blade. Have a thumb on either side of the blade. When a bandsaw blade breaks through whatever is being pushed into it, the piece being cut ALWAYS jumps foreward because of the pressure required to keep it cutting. It is not humanly possible to take the pressure off the piece being cut just as the blade breaks thru the metal. If your thumb is there, it will be cut off.--and never, ever, cut drill rod.

 

[gus]

Hi Brian ,

Thanks for the safety tips. Gus wants to be buried with all ten fingers intact. I keep fingers faraway for the band saw blade. Fortunately I don't use the saw every day.

Take Care. The weather at your end worries me. Here its a bad rainy month with some breaks. Fishing was bad and will be bad till I get a good stretch of window.

 

[gus]

Buried procrastination and made a simple cutting guide that can be locked and squared up with the saw blade.
The first job was cutting blank aluminium labels.