7X12 swivel cutting bandsaw

[Janger]

vs. my saw jaws

So I took a page off some body on the Internet and made an out feed shelf on the drop side of the blade. It's about 1/8" away from the blade and I can clamp small parts to it. Sometimes it works better than trying to fool around with extending the jaws with extra stock.

The vise inside the vise is a good idea though - I'll have to try it.

 

[CalgaryPT]

So I took a page off some body on the Internet and made an out feed shelf on the drop side of the blade. It's about 1/8" away from the blade and I can clamp small parts to it. Sometimes it works better than trying to fool around with extending the jaws with extra stock.

The vise inside the vise is a good idea though - I'll have to try it.

Thanks for the pic. Yet another great idea. It approaches the vise slippage issue from another angle: support the stock from underneath. Almost too simple. I love it. Thanks so much.

 

[CalgaryPT]

Hey John, the Emmerson saw has a fix for needing to mess with the downfeed valve to position the blade... It could make a great machining project if you want one.

On the down feed cylinder, there is the normal down feed rate needle valve, but an additional bypass that lets the fluid flow due to greater downward pressure...
- So to position the blade for the next piece, you raise the blade, then force the blade down until it just about touches the work without touching the down feed rate.

I'm rebuilding mine right now, but in a month or so, you could come down and see how it works!

Any update on your rebuild of the downfeed Dabbler? I love my new King 7x12, but see the value in your rebuild suggestion. I wonder if such a cylinder is available commercially??

 

[Dabbler]

I don't know, but to put a pressure based bypass is just plumbing, eh?

Since I last posted, this mill became available, and I stopped working on the Emmerson. Please bear with me, I'm swamped getting my shop ready to have John over to look at my old mill, and getting the new mill going...

 

[CalgaryPT]

I don't know, but to put a pressure based bypass is just plumbing, eh?

Since I last posted, this mill became available, and I stopped working on the Emmerson. Please bear with me, I'm swamped getting my shop ready to have John over to look at my old mill, and getting the new mill going...

No worries. Thanks.

 

[Janger]

No worries. Thanks.

Since we were last discussing this I started gently pushing down on the arm to make it move faster. Leave the valve alone since I have it set. Is that a bad idea?

 

[PeterT]

If you are talking about the hydraulic cylinder/valve loop, hard to say without knowing the internals. But I'm guessing it may not be great for the seals to have the valve set for slow drop & then applying extra external pressure to make it move faster. Its probably best to open the valve to the right drop speed & let it go naturally as its (ideally) sized pressure wise around the head weight. My valve has these numbers around the perimeter. I don't think they mean anything other than say 1=slower 5=faster feed. After some experimentation you might find you can just go to that number; 1=steel, 5=aluminum etc. Usually when I put stock in I extend the saw a bit more & eyeball its drop (because I also don't think its very linear). But in all honesty I'm lazy. Its set to cut steel without too much drama & I also just cut aluminum on same setting. If time was money & lots of parts to do, I'd have to smarten up with SFPM & speed etc.

I've come to the conclusion I've really underutilized my saw over the years. Especially in stand-up mode. The other day I had some parts that required notches & profiles on the milling machine. I made sure I had sufficient number of accurate surfaces to set up in mill, outlined the profile on the part & band sawed the excess to within 0.050". Way faster than hogging all that excess with end mills. And now you have some bits & pieces to utilize instead of swarf

 

[Dabbler]

My friend Bert has been pushing down on *his* Chinese 7X12 Horiz bandsaw these 30 years, and never needed a replacement cylinder... That said, I agree with Peter that you can get used to the downfeed rates, and make do. Once the mill is up and running Janger, why not come over and look at the bandsaw and the bypass I was referring to?

Bert always taught me to bandsaw everything possible before going to the mill - his rationale is that bandsaw blades are a *lot* cheaper than cutters.

 

[kylemp]

In my experience I would say push as hard as you like on your saws. The ideal situation is the weight of the saw is enough to dampen the kick from the teeth cutting but until you hit HEAVY saws the spring is one of the largest issues causing broken teeth, etc.
As none (probably) of us have saws that are true pneumatic or hydraulic powered, the next best thing is to put extra weight on the saw to stop kick back and adjust the downfeed accordingly, personally I wouldn't worry about the seals in the cylinders (were really not talking aboput a lot of force).
This should do two thing, one give enough force to stop the kick and two allow for a better cut quality and speed. Again until you hit true industrial saws you don't get the function of hydraulics or pneumatics and the cylinders you find on non 15,000 dollar saws have check valves, so they are more than willing to let the saw go back up.
The only real concern is putting too much weight and the saw beginning to twist or bend, which will be reflected in the cut.. in all honesty, if your stupid enough to put enough weight to permanently damage your saw be bending, you should be playing with 3d printers, plexiglass and hot glue and not machine tools.