Howdy,? Sorry for the late reply.
I bought this band saw for $20 so I'm tickled that it just works.? ?I finally got out in the shop today and started to look a little more at the vise area.? ?The vise and table has surface corrosion and is basically pretty grubby.? ?I took the jaws off, and tried to flatten the machined vise area.? I don't have a milling machine, so I grabbed the flattest object I own and started to sand the exposed metal area.? I initially measured the exposed metal area around the vise and it was not the flattest.? ?I was measuring over 0.005" by using feeler gages and a parallel.? ?I sanded the area until I said I have enough and it's much better, but still not perfect.
I also messed around with the blade guides so that the bearings that limit the up/down movement of the blades were *just* in contact with the blade.? Then I cut my 1" sample and now I have the following:
I just read the article listed above, "Buying a used 4x6 Bandsaw",? and find it very helpful.? ?I actually have a new file so I filed the vise area until it is within 0.002" of flat.? the vises work so much better when that area is flat.? I had a bow in on my saw and I think I took over .003" off with the file on the entire area- which took a bit.? I sanded the area and it polished up OK, but this was more for my ability to determine when the low spots were being filed out.
I'm right in the process for adjusting the blade guides.? ?I'm getting close, but I would like to have a little better.? ?I have hit 0.000 inch delta on the East West dimension and the North-South Dimension, but not at the same time.? ?I'm fiddling with this more.
The article had a great idea for indicating the vise from the pivot bar.? ?That is so much better than trying to run a square from the blade to the vise.
I have been reading about all of the modifications people are doing with this saw.? ?My vise has virtually no play in it now that the table is reasonably flat so I won't have to put a bushing in the pivot point.? I would like to do the following mods:
*? I will probably add a stop when the vise is perpendicular to the blade.
*? I will also turn some bolts for the vises which have knurled handles so I won't have to use a wrench to move and secure them.???
*? I will add a screw to the movable vise jaw so I can cut short pieces
*? I am looking into adding a hydraulic down feed cylinder.? ?I don't think I will make the cylinder.? I want one that will work for years.? I think you can purchase a cylinder from Parker for $50-$60 that is fully tested and works.
*? I have a three shelf metal cart with descent casters.? I was thinking of mounting the saw to the top of the cart and using the other two shelves for my metal storage.
I have seen where people add an extension on the front of their saw so they can clamp small pieces from the front.? ?I don't have a milling machine.? Can someone add a picture of how they made this shelf?
I'll write more later this week after I've had some more time to fiddle with the settings on the blade guides.? ?I am thinking it will be challenging to get the 0.002" E-W and N-S differences.
Thanks for your help.
