waggie Senior Member

Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Upland, ca Posts: 305

4x6 bandsaw modification (double throat width)



Background: I got an Ellis 1600 bandsaw to replace my 4x6 hori/vert bandsaw. Everybody's got a 4x6, right? Since the Ellis got here, the 4x6 just kind of sat around and collect dust. The only reason I kept it around so I could set it up to cut different angle without having to set and reset the Ellis. But then I saw



The gist of it is this. In order to function both as a vertical and a horizontal bandsaw, the designers of the 4x6 twisted the blade 45 degrees. This is achieved by a "twist" in the bearing cluster holder (pics to follow)... So, once i got rid of the twist (by making a new bearing cluster holder), the blade will always run flat, without twist. Best part --- by untwisting the blade, you doubled the perpendicular distance between the blade and the body of the saw... anyway, here's a bunch of pictures to show you what i mean.

--------------------------------

Here's the before picture. You can see the blade coming out from the bottom of the picture,

it's twisted by the two roller bearings in the bearing cluster, then goes on up where it is held

by another bearing cluster (not in the pic).



Here's a shot of the stock bearing cluster



--------------------------------

If you ever taken your 4x6 apart or adjusted it, here a shot of the stock cluster holders and the

ones I made to replace them (please excuse the clutter on the welding table). The two on the

right are the stock ones, I thought about cutting and welding them but I might want to be able

to use it as a horizontal one day. Besides, I'm not Castweld, and this is part is made of cheap

cast iron, so I figure I best leave cast welding to the experts, and make my own.





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here it is installed into the saw



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both top and bottom



--------------------------------

here's the platen, made out of some scrap 3/16. Top one is the one that came with the

saw. another compromise due to the saw being used both as a vertical and horizontal

saw.



-----------------------------

plate installed



----------------------------

here's the result:



here's the before again, just for reference:



---------------------------



As you can see, before was ~2.75 and the after is ~5.75. Time well spent. This is not ever going to replace the need for a "real" vertical $5000 Do-All bandsaw that weights a ton, but it will buy lots of time for me before I REALLY need a real vertical bandsaw. a cross post from another site... since many folks have the popular 4x6 vertical/horizontal bandsaw, I think a cross post is justifiedBackground: I got an Ellis 1600 bandsaw to replace my 4x6 hori/vert bandsaw. Everybody's got a 4x6, right? Since the Ellis got here, the 4x6 just kind of sat around and collect dust. The only reason I kept it around so I could set it up to cut different angle without having to set and reset the Ellis. But then I saw this thread by Montgoc3 where made his 4x6 into a permanent vertical bandsaw. Now, I've used my 4x6 in the vertical mode lots of times, but wasn't happy with the throat depth, so I never got around to make the same modification that Montgoc3 did... until I figured out how to double the throat width.The gist of it is this. In order to function both as a vertical and a horizontal bandsaw, the designers of the 4x6 twisted the blade 45 degrees. This is achieved by a "twist" in the bearing cluster holder (pics to follow)... So, once i got rid of the twist (by making a new bearing cluster holder), the blade will always run flat, without twist. Best part --- by untwisting the blade, you doubled the perpendicular distance between the blade and the body of the saw... anyway, here's a bunch of pictures to show you what i mean.--------------------------------Here's the before picture. You can see the blade coming out from the bottom of the picture,it's twisted by the two roller bearings in the bearing cluster, then goes on up where it is heldby another bearing cluster (not in the pic). --------------------------------Here's a shot of the stock bearing cluster--------------------------------If you ever taken your 4x6 apart or adjusted it, here a shot of the stock cluster holders and theones I made to replace them (please excuse the clutter on the welding table). The two on theright are the stock ones, I thought about cutting and welding them but I might want to be ableto use it as a horizontal one day. Besides, I'm not Castweld, and this is part is made of cheapcast iron, so I figure I best leave cast welding to the experts, and make my own.-----------------------------here it is installed into the saw-----------------------------both top and bottom--------------------------------here's the platen, made out of some scrap 3/16. Top one is the one that came with thesaw. another compromise due to the saw being used both as a vertical and horizontalsaw.-----------------------------plate installed----------------------------here's the result:here's the before again, just for reference:---------------------------As you can see, before was ~2.75 and the after is ~5.75. Time well spent. This is not ever going to replace the need for a "real" vertical $5000 Do-All bandsaw that weights a ton, but it will buy lots of time for me before I REALLY need a real vertical bandsaw.