Band Saw Stand

[Iplayfarmer]

I took an afternoon yesterday and got back to my creative roots... Woodworking. I picked up an old school Shopmaster band saw last fall, and I've needed to build a stand to mount it. I built the stand out of scrap 2X2's from the porch railing and some plywood type stuff that comes on the top of pallets of paper. No money out of pocket.

There are some pictures of it below. I still have all the clamps on in the first picture. The second picture is the stand almost done. I still need to add a hinged plate under the motor to help tension the belt.

For those who want to know the build details and some things I learned along the way read on...

The first design failed miserably. I had designed the stand with a different pitch on the sides than the ends. It was just too complex for me to execute. I re-designed it with a 6 degree angle all around and then used the compound miter calculator from the Woodworker's Guild of Georgia website to cut the skirting that is under the shelf. To get the angles on the legs, I drew the whole thing up in sketchup and measured the angles at the tops of the legs. I cut the compound miters on my tablesaw. I drilled the holes in the plywood for the screws with my drill press and a countersink bit. I really think the countersink improves the look. I used glue at every joint that I screwed, and the stand is VERY sturdy. I think having the little bit of an angle to the legs significantly improves the structrual strength of the design.

The stand is only 21" high, but the end result is that the band saw table is the same height as my table saw... 35".

 

[k0ua]

I can understand having trouble making angled fit-ups. Good job and looks great. Should serve you well for a long time.

James K0UA

 

[digger2]

Nice job on the stand.Boy ,that saws an oldie.Probably outlast some of the new saws out now.I like the old stuff.
And the best thing about it is it does'nt say"MADE IN CHINA" on it

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...And the best thing about it is it does'nt say"MADE IN CHINA" on it

Amen to that.

The only concern I have about its age is the safety of the belt and pulley system. It would be nice to have some kind of a guard over it.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I spent $10 on the stand today. I bought some hardware and I splurged for a shallow electrical box to mount a switch. Another splurge was that I bought tee nuts for mounting the saw to the top of the stand. I'm hoping to store a few things on the part of the shelf that is not occupied by the motor. Not having nuts/bolts on the underside of the top will be nice.

Crazy that in my 20 pounds or so of miscellaneous bolts I didn't have a matched set of 4 bolts that were the right size to mount the motor to the hinged base.

 

[Army grunt]

Great looking stand, I really like the fact you went the extra little bit an tipped the legs in slightly.
Army Grunt

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Great looking stand, I really like the fact you went the extra little bit an tipped the legs in slightly.
Army Grunt

Thanks.

I did it once before just for looks and I was amazed at how much sturdier it makes a structure. It doesn't take much of an angle to significantly improve the rigidity of the structure.

 

[beppington]

... The first design failed miserably. I had designed the stand with a different pitch on the sides than the ends. It was just too complex for me to execute. I re-designed it with a 6 degree angle all around and then used the compound miter calculator from the Woodworker's Guild of Georgia website to cut the skirting that is under the shelf. To get the angles on the legs, I drew the whole thing up in sketchup and measured the angles at the tops of the legs. I cut the compound miters on my tablesaw. ...

Don't feel bad. I helped my parents build their house with a 6/12 hip roof, & my own house with its 8/12 hip roof, including installing all of the hip rafter pieces, with all those crazy @ss angles, & I'm still not good at it

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'm done now. I put my $10 worth of hardware and switch box onto the stand and it works.

The first picture is the stand all finished. Sorry about the blurry pictures. I realized after I had already taken them that there is a big, fat, greasy fingerprint on the camera lense.

The second picture is of the motor wiring. Do I have this right? Is there a place on this motor for a ground? I looked on the motor housing for some indication how to wire it, but I didn't find the answer. I'm pretty sure of the black wire because there was a little chunk of black wire there when I got the motor. There was another wire on the terminal that the white wire is on now, but I couldn't make out what color it was. I don't see a good place to connect a ground. For now the metal clad cable is functioning as the ground since the switch and box are grounded.

The third picture is a piece of scrap plywood that I cut to test how the band saw works. It could probably use a new blade, but it's functional. All I have left to do is even up the legs (there is a bit of a wobble in the stand).

 

[mjncad]

I wonder if the motor is so old that it never had a ground.