Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Just starting into another project (belt grinder) and hit my first detour project..... Something I've wanted to build for a while, but now that I "need" it, it was go time.
The saw. A standard import 7x12.
I didn't want to commit a lot of time to this, and make some over complicated table that does 1000 things and takes all day to build. I wanted simple, quick to build and easy on, easy off. I started off with a thought of a weldment being clamped in the vise, and resting on the bed. Figured I could hack together some tubes out of stuff laying around, weld it all together and be cutting within the hour.....
Something like that would have worked fine. Then I got looking around the shop and thought about where would I store this monstrosity......It's pretty tight in here, and honestly, it's ugly. It's a hack job, and I made the call to commit a bit more time to coming up with something better.....
A bit of head scratching. Scrap bin diving, and more head scratching....I found a chunk of angle, and what looked like a suitable mounting place for something....
The hinge for the front cover mounts there, so there are already 2 1/4" tapped holes, and enough room for a couple more. The two angles welded together will form a nice square socket for the table to pop in and out. Some quick measuring of the existing hole pitch, and a rough sketch and it was off to the mill to drill some holes, and mill a 0.04" recess (the thickness of the hinge).
Test fit on the saw went well, so I popped the other two tapped holes I needed in the saw frame.
I called an audible (there were many on this project.....) on welding the other angle on there to form the socket and just cut off a chunk of 2x2x1/4 wall instead. But first I had to mill a pocket for the clamping nut on a 45. I then tacked that tube into the angle mounted on the saw (forgot to take picture of this step...)
After going through all my flat material, and coming up with a bunch of different plans for different pieces I finally settled on this piece of 3/8" flat for the table. Would have liked something a bit bigger, but this 6x8" will do. I can always bolt something bigger to this later if needed. Some quick eyeball engineering, and more head scratching on how to mount it, and the order of operations. I had to cut a slot in it for the blade first though. Sure would be nice to have a vertical bandsaw here......
Worked great actually. Project done, that's the table.......
Next came a bit fiddly part. The square socket is NOT square with the blade. I didn't take any care to make it so (it's pretty close though), figuring as long as the mounting was repeatable, I could weld the table to the tube, and my accuracy would come from that repeatable mounting point.
I made up another angle support to weld under the table, and that served as a clamping point to the tube so I could get some tacks on it to tap it around and twist it into square in both planes before tacking it all up solid. Worked well, I only had to cut my tacks and redo it three times.....
Here it is, all welded up. No need to fully weld it, I was worried about warpage, and it's not really needed. Just a bunch of fat tacks. That brace piece isn't needed either, but I saw it in the offcut bucket early on in the project when I was going to use bigger pieces of thinner material for the table, and it seemed like a good idea at the time so I tossed it on at the end, instead of tossing it back in the bucket. It's flared to clear the guide bearings.
And here's it is mounted.
A nice three hour detour, and now I can go cut the material I originally needed for my other project. It's easy on, easy off, and will store nicely under the saw when not in use. The bracket doesn't interfere with the saw in normal operation either. Took a bit longer than I was originally hoping to build, but pretty happy now with how it works and fits, so it was all worth it.
The saw. A standard import 7x12.
I didn't want to commit a lot of time to this, and make some over complicated table that does 1000 things and takes all day to build. I wanted simple, quick to build and easy on, easy off. I started off with a thought of a weldment being clamped in the vise, and resting on the bed. Figured I could hack together some tubes out of stuff laying around, weld it all together and be cutting within the hour.....
Something like that would have worked fine. Then I got looking around the shop and thought about where would I store this monstrosity......It's pretty tight in here, and honestly, it's ugly. It's a hack job, and I made the call to commit a bit more time to coming up with something better.....
A bit of head scratching. Scrap bin diving, and more head scratching....I found a chunk of angle, and what looked like a suitable mounting place for something....
The hinge for the front cover mounts there, so there are already 2 1/4" tapped holes, and enough room for a couple more. The two angles welded together will form a nice square socket for the table to pop in and out. Some quick measuring of the existing hole pitch, and a rough sketch and it was off to the mill to drill some holes, and mill a 0.04" recess (the thickness of the hinge).
Test fit on the saw went well, so I popped the other two tapped holes I needed in the saw frame.
I called an audible (there were many on this project.....) on welding the other angle on there to form the socket and just cut off a chunk of 2x2x1/4 wall instead. But first I had to mill a pocket for the clamping nut on a 45. I then tacked that tube into the angle mounted on the saw (forgot to take picture of this step...)
After going through all my flat material, and coming up with a bunch of different plans for different pieces I finally settled on this piece of 3/8" flat for the table. Would have liked something a bit bigger, but this 6x8" will do. I can always bolt something bigger to this later if needed. Some quick eyeball engineering, and more head scratching on how to mount it, and the order of operations. I had to cut a slot in it for the blade first though. Sure would be nice to have a vertical bandsaw here......
Worked great actually. Project done, that's the table.......
Next came a bit fiddly part. The square socket is NOT square with the blade. I didn't take any care to make it so (it's pretty close though), figuring as long as the mounting was repeatable, I could weld the table to the tube, and my accuracy would come from that repeatable mounting point.
I made up another angle support to weld under the table, and that served as a clamping point to the tube so I could get some tacks on it to tap it around and twist it into square in both planes before tacking it all up solid. Worked well, I only had to cut my tacks and redo it three times.....
Here it is, all welded up. No need to fully weld it, I was worried about warpage, and it's not really needed. Just a bunch of fat tacks. That brace piece isn't needed either, but I saw it in the offcut bucket early on in the project when I was going to use bigger pieces of thinner material for the table, and it seemed like a good idea at the time so I tossed it on at the end, instead of tossing it back in the bucket. It's flared to clear the guide bearings.
And here's it is mounted.
A nice three hour detour, and now I can go cut the material I originally needed for my other project. It's easy on, easy off, and will store nicely under the saw when not in use. The bracket doesn't interfere with the saw in normal operation either. Took a bit longer than I was originally hoping to build, but pretty happy now with how it works and fits, so it was all worth it.
