• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.

Delta 14" conversion to metal cutting

R

RAMoynihan

Member
I've been planning to convert my Delta 14" bandsaw to metalworking duty for some time now. With Peavey going out of business I was able to get a bunch of pulleys/belts/hubs for 1/2 price, so now is the time!
 
Here's the machine in question. I've done some mods in the past:
- Mount stand on casters
- Enclose stand
- Add magnetic starter
- Replace thumbscrews with adjustable handles
- Replace tension knob with better crank handle
- Create integrated storage spot for fence extension bars (shown in pic on right)

Bandsaw_original.JPG
bandsaw_fence_storage.JPG
 
My plan is to have a 2-stage speed reduction that should get the speed down to 250fps, which is in the range of what I'm looking for. Below are the calcs plus a drawing of what the revised drive system will look like. This plan requires me to use 2" pulleys, which are a little small in my opinion, but we'll see how it goes.

Calculations.jpg


Drive design 2-stage.jpg
 
I hardly use the saw anymore because my woodworking tasks have greatly diminished (house is fully furnished now) and I've moved on to more metalworking now. Having a metal bandsaw will be much more useful. Nonetheless, this design allows it to be quickly switched back and forth with a fairly easy belt swap.

Wish me luck :)
 
Last edited:
I went the planetary gear from a starter motor route. Seems to work well, if you haven't looked into that method. Of course the belt method would be better is you want to quickly change speeds.
 
I've already got the parts I need, so I'll keep pressing on, but the starter motor gearbox is a clever idea. What gear ratio does it provide? Are there pictures on this site?
 
My only concern is that the Delta has rubber on the crowned wheels. The upper wheel is tilted to keep the blade centered on the wheel.

My 7" metal saw has metal wheels and a shoulder to support the back side of the blade. I'm not sure a wood oriented band saw will work well as a metal cutting band saw. Especially if you add any sort of cutting lubricant.
 
Good question. The delta wood/metal saws uses similar components as my wood saw. I looked up the parts list for the Delta 28-348 (wood/metal) and it uses the same upper wheel/tire as my 28-245 wood saw, and at the lower end it uses the same tire but a different wheel. The wheel may have a different offset because of the gearbox, or something like that, but the basic setup looks the same. At any rate, l’m not looking for a perfect solution, like a Do-All bandsaw, just something that gives basic duty and doesn’t burn up blades when I try to cut metal on it.
 
Have you considered a variable speed motor? That would allow you do use it for a variety or wood and metal types and hardness. Treadmill motors are essentially free and should have plenty of power - no need for a VFD & 3 phase motor.
 
I think the gear ratio I had was 3/1 which is still a too fast for cutting steel, with a VFD I cut at about 35Hz. I found a starter motor from a box truck so it was a bit bigger than your normal car. Here is a youtube video on it.
 
I was looking at doing something similar to my 12" Delta, I wanted to convert for cutting sheet metal which the horizontal saw just cannot do in its normal configuration, but just a few days ago I decided that it would be easier to get a fine pitch blade and use my horizontal saw in a vertical way, and add a table to it.
Good luck with your conversion, I'll be watching as I may still want to follow through one day.
 
Not a lot of progress yesterday. But I was able to get the motor bracket made and convert one of the x-hubs into a 2" pulley. With any luck, I'll be able to get the whole thing working, at least for testing purposes, by cocktail time tonight ;)

Progress1.JPG
 
So far so good. Got the drive system assembled and temporarily mounted to the bandsaw stand. Gave it a test and it seems to run just fine. Tomorrow I'll be able to mount it in a permanent fashion, and add the extra, larger pulley on the motor shaft to allow me to switch it back to wood speed when desired. I do have to get a new metal blade, as the one I have has been abused terribly by running it at 3000 fpm in the past: it's quite dull. Nonetheless, I was able to make some cuts in stainless sheet and 1/8 flat bar, so I'm optimistic about how it will perform with a sharp blade.

Test Install.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top