Band Saw, Abrasive Cutoff Saw & Raw Materials
Last updated on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 05:19:10 AM Mountain US Time Zone

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Band Saw, Blades, Saw Tables & Miter,
Table Fence, Auxiliary Vise, Handles,
Wheels & Machine Mounts, Abrasive Cutoff Saw,
Raw Materials, Cutting Acrylic Sheet

Always wear safety glasses,
breathing protection & gloves.

Band Saw

Jet HVBS-463 Band Saw manual   Band saw blade types
A band saw allows you to remove large amounts of
soft metal before mill or lathe work. I chose this Jet model
(HVBS-463) because of its low cost, the large 1/2 HP UL
motor, the quality of the design (heat-treated steel worm &
bronze drive gears; ball bearings on the shafts & guides)
plus the availability of any replacement parts that may
be needed in the future. The unit performs very well.
Bi-metal blades, though more costly, last much longer
than the carbon steel types. It uses a
1/2" x 0.025" x 64-1/2" (5' 4-1/2") blade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Blades

To re-coil a band saw blade into a smaller,
more storable size, perform the following steps.
Wear the appropriate clothing, gloves & eye protection,
after all, it is spring steel, under tension & has sharp teeth.
With the teeth pointed outward, step on the blade to
hold it down on the floor. Grasp the top of the blade then
simultaneously rotate & lower your hand (CW or CCW)
towards your foot (which is holding down the blade).
As the blade is rotated to over 3/4 of a turn, it will
form into 3 coils. Secure with ties in three places.

Protective cover swung open to show inner mechanism.
The two red guides are removed for blade changes.

Upper blade wheel.

Note the blade wheel flange.

Two (upper & lower) sets of three
bearings capture & guide the blade.

Blade tension (upper knob). Blade wheel tilt
mechanism (center). Blade guide (lower knob).

Blade guide adjustment animation. 

Three-speed pulley arrangement
producing 65, 120, & 200 SFPM.

WARNINGS  
Gearbox filled with heavy oil.
See manual for oil changing instructions.

Check & adjust alignment before use.

Sawing 3" steel for a new compound pivot.

Saw Tables & Miter

Though Jet does not make a miter-type guide for
this unit, one from Sears fits the saws' table groove.

Replaced the OEM stamped band saw table with a
12" x 12" x 1/2" aluminum table held to the saw
through counterbored holes, using 2, 1/4-20,
cap-head screws. Used an F drill bit & 3/8" end mill
to achieve close-tolerance, counterbored holes.
A steel plate would resist scratching, better.

Milled both the miter surfaces & raised scale. The miter
is painted cast aluminum. Milling the raised lettering
made it much easier to read. Also milled (fly cut) the
face making it smoother, flatter & perpendicular to the
table's surface. The miter originally pivoted on an
aluminum peg that quickly broke when it was dropped.
Replaced it with a 1/4-20, flat-head screw & large brass
spacers. Used a lock nut to maintain proper tension.

The cover plate is 3/4" wide by 1/4" thick. A 3/16" slot
is for the locking bolts. It is held in the T-slot by 2,
10-32 thumb screws with thick brass washers. The
cover's nose was marked with a 3/8" radius gauge &
then ground by hand until it fit. The cover was then
clamped into the plate & milled flush when the entire
edge was squared. The slot cover plate was pushed
into the running blade to create a clearance slot.

Table Fence

The fence uses a toe-clamp on each end to hold it to
the table. A roll pin (in the body) keeps the clamp
(with a clearance hole) from turning. 10-32
knobs with brass washers are used. The new
table enhances the entire functionality of the saw.

Auxiliary Vise

To clamp hard to hold parts, an auxiliary
vise can be clamped into the saw vise.
Shown is a screwless 2-inch wide vise
with threaded holes on the bottom.
 A 1/4" thick x 2-1/8" W x 5.526" L aluminum
tooling plate is used to allow good clamping.

1", 2", 3" & larger vise jaw widths, available.
Select linked thumbnails to view different sizes.
Note that 1" screwless vises differ &
may or may not have built-in parallels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Click on select linked thumbnails
for different sizes & types of vises #ad

Handles

Adapted a spare aluminum
RF-25 handle to the band saw.

The handle that is used to move the unit around, passed
through thin metal. The metal around the handle
distorted. Additionally, even when the unit was lifted
relatively high, the metal feet still rubbed against the floor
because the original wheel bracket flexed too much &
was too far from the floor. Not a safe condition. To improve
the handle mount, both sides of the area were reinforced
with 1/8" thick aluminum, trapezoid-shaped plates.

Wheels & Machine Mounts

The original wheels were poorly designed; had to lift
too high & too much flex. The latest Jet model has
updated the stand to now sit on two hard-plastic
wheels (pneumatic tires would flex too much) & two,
height-adjustable machine mounts. I copied that design
using a few parts (steel axle & axle guides) from an
old hand truck. It now has a very sturdy handle & a
small lift allows safe, easy movement of the 125 lb unit.

The adjustable feet are similar to
the mill & lathe machine mounts.

 
Click on linked thumbnails

Abrasive Cutoff Saw

For hard metal stock I use a 14" abrasive cutoff machine.
Cast iron base with adjustable miter
fence, D-handle shape, 3900 RPM, 15A motor
cuts 5" pipe & 2" bar stock. 51 lb (23 kg).
WARNING: Cutting metal generates a shower of
sparks thrown many feet that can ignite a fire.
Use appropriate personal protection.
Abrasive Cutoff Machine CM14500 Manual & Parts List

No tools needed for the
adjustable +/-45 deg miter fence.

The saw has a quick set clamping
feature using a flip over half-nut.

The spring-loaded dark gray motor shaft
lock is used when changing disks. Push it
to the right & turn the disk until it engages.
Unplug the machine during disk changes.

Changed from a 14" to a 12" metal-cutoff disk
for smaller parts. The smaller disk does
not wobble nearly as much so it makes a
cleaner more narrow cut through the material.

Guard lifted showing an 11/16" bolt & keyed
outer flange. This disk is 1/8" (3 mm) thick.
Maximum abrasive disk thickness is 3/16".
The arbor is 1" (25.4 mm) in diameter.

A short steel chain holds the saw
closed for storage & transport.

Click on linked thumbnails #ad
 

High-speed steel (HSS) rod in metric sizes.
Diameter accuracy +/-0.008mm (0.0003").
Length 100mm (3.93").

mm	inches
1.1	0.04331
1.3	0.05118
1.4	0.05512
3.1	0.12205
3.2	0.12598
3.3	0.12992
3.4	0.13386
3.5	0.13780
4.2	0.16535
4.6	0.18110
4.7	0.18504

Key Stock - steel, standard tolerances
Thicknesses: 3/16", 1/8", 1/4", 1
Widths: 3/16", 1/4", 3/8"
Lengths: 12" or 36"

Assorted brass shim packs

 
Square or round, weldable, hot-rolled steel plate.
Size: 3", 4", 6", 8", 10", 12", 14", 16", 18", 20", 22", 24".
Thickness: 1/4", 3/8", 1/2". With or without holes.

Plastic

Click on linked thumbnails #ad

Cutting Acrylic Sheet

For thin acrylic sheet. Measure then score
the line multiple times with a sharp scribe. 

Precisely align the score, on top,
along a square-cornered table edge.

Firmly hold against the table top near the edge & press
the other side firmly/quickly to snap along the score.
Leave the protective plastic on, if possible.
For an example, see the Auto-focus Calibrator project.
CAUTION: Wear eye protection, gloves, & long sleeves.
Errors may cause shattering of sharp pieces.

Band Saw, Blades, Saw Tables & Miter,
Table Fence, Auxiliary Vise, Handles,
Wheels & Machine Mounts, Abrasive Cutoff Saw,
Raw Materials, Cutting Acrylic Sheet

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