HF Bandsaw Mod - miter base (1 Viewer)

[Jetboy]

Simple miter base for the HF bandsaw. Easy to make. Fits on any miter saw stand now. I put in on an old saw stand I had from years ago. Probably want to upgrade to something better at some point for a stand. Anyway thought it might be easy to show folks how you can make the little saw more useful.

 

[Jetboy]

Also FWIW - if you have a pattern torch, you can make a great stand with just two pattern cuts and finger press. Maybe I should draw up a cad version. After building this I thought it would be super easy to build just a bit differently.

 

[e9999]

and the point is...?

 

[Jetboy]

and the point is...?

It's much easier to cut angles. Same reason miter saws pivot. It's s pita to cut 20' pieces by trying to move the base.
And this:

 

[firestopper]

It's much easier to cut angles. Same reason miter saws pivot. It's s pita to cut 20' pieces by trying to move the base.
And this:

Your cut station/material stays in the same location regardless of angled cuts. Good upgrade jetboy.

 

[Jetboy]

I used to work at a shop that had three of these Marvel 8 band saws. They stay vertical and feed horizontally. I think it's arguably the handiest option I've ever seen, but the cheapest old used ones are still very expensive and way too big for me. If such a thing existed but was sized like the footprint of a table saw... maybe I could find room for it.

Northern Tool used to sell a swivel base version of the saw, but not any more. Only Baleigh sells one that I know of, and it's $1k. Probably a nice tool though. But for that price I'd start looking at a nice used Baleigh or similar cold saw.

 

[e9999]

I have all of my machines including a horizontal/vertical bandsaw on custom HD shelved and wheeled carts so they are easy to move around, I can store stuff underneath, and they take much less space in the shop when packed together. And easy to swivel around too for that matter.

 

[firestopper]

For many years the only bandsaw I owned was was a Milwaukee portaband to compliment the 14" makita chop saw in a 1200 sf rented converted horse stall. Thats probably why most of my equipment is on castors today. Each one of us does what we have to do to make thing easier/better.

jetboy, your modification is an upgrade and should save you time in the long run when cutting angles on long lengths of material.

The Marvel saw you posted is not something for general purpose but has its place in mass production.
As always, a pleasure to talk shop.

 

[Jetboy]

I've realized after using it that the other swivel options have a fixed clamp. That's one part that is really poorly designed on the HF saw. The fence and clamp are OK if they're locked down in one spot, but they are not very good at being adjustable. A fixed clamp that doesn't move with the saw rotation would make life a lot better. Not sure how I can solve that problem easily though.