Bandsaw Modifications

Bandsaw Modifications FARM SHOP Miscellaneous Stan McDonald Foxboro Ont : As a metal working professional who sells DC speed controls featured in FARM SHOW’s Vol 26 No 4 I’ve had readers ask if they can use a wood-cutting bandsaw to cut steel My answer is that you can’t unless you modify the saw so you can run it at different speeds The reason is that to cut wood you need to be running much faster at about 3 000 fpm feet per minute while for steel you should be running at just 150 fpm “I converted a 14-in Ridgid bandsaw for a friend by making a box to hold two driveshafts so you can switch from one set of belts and pulleys to another depending on whether you are cutting steel or wood You also need to change the blade to match what you’re cutting “Another way to vary the speed is to install a 3-phase AC motor and install a Variable Frequency Drive that can be run on single phase This gets a little more complicated but I have written an article on how to do it You can email me if you’re interested in more details smcdonal@kos net ”

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