Hi,
I'm not encouraging novices to follow what I do but just for a bit of interest I like to rebuild or make machinery from scratch. Quite a while ago I downsized many of my machines including selling my Startrite combination woodworker; I then needed a sawbench so I designed and made my own saw bench; I seldom do angled cuts but if stuck I have a Skilsaw and bandsaw so I just wanted a rise and fall saw bench. I don't like underpowered machines so chose to make this 4hp single phase double belt drive.
Construction is from readily available steel sections and I bought a new heavy duty motor with a matched DOL starter. An arc welder was used to weld where needed. The motor and starter cost around £150 and were the most expensive items.
Kind regards, Colin.
The new motor and starter under test before installation; the motor has an extended body and was a very good buy through eBay as was the DOL starter. When buying a starter the motor details will need to be known; these are always on the motor nameplate such as volts and amps.
Initial aligning with a temporary pulley slid on.
The bench stand welded and the motor mounting being set up here seen sitting on a pedal bin with wooden packing for fine adjustment; this needs to be perfect.
An old very heavy duty saw spindle and bearings I've had for years it being ideal for this project; new SKF bearings were installed.
The fine rise and fall with crank and trunnion. I have an engineering lathe so turned metal components aren't a problem I can turn them to my specifications.
Workshop space is limited so the saw is mounted on a pair of wheels and a lever type pair of handles fitted to raise and wheel the saw; a simple enough design but works well; the handles are automatic in that when lifted they reach a pair of stops then further lifting of the handles lift the front of the saw; the handles drop out of the way when not in use; it took a bit of thought to sort these out but they work. The height of the table top matches the height of the bench in the middle of the workshop so the bench allows support of the timber as it's fed through the saw.
The completed saw with auxiliary wooden fence attached to the very heavy duty rip fence; the fence locking lever ensures the fence won't move once locked; the 1/8" thick steel top I had kicking around. The saw has a 4" cut depth which can be doubled by flipping the timber being cut; it's highly unlikely I'll need to rip anything at 8" thick but if pushed a larger diameter blade could be installed. The saw is powerful with no indication of bogging down but it needs to be used with caution because it won't take prisoners.
This saw was designed to fit into my workshop and it's a joy to use; a permanent riving knife is installed; this riving knife designed and made by me allowing rebating without having to remove the riving knife. I enjoyed making this saw and it's built to a high standard and is very robust.
I'm not encouraging novices to follow what I do but just for a bit of interest I like to rebuild or make machinery from scratch. Quite a while ago I downsized many of my machines including selling my Startrite combination woodworker; I then needed a sawbench so I designed and made my own saw bench; I seldom do angled cuts but if stuck I have a Skilsaw and bandsaw so I just wanted a rise and fall saw bench. I don't like underpowered machines so chose to make this 4hp single phase double belt drive.
Construction is from readily available steel sections and I bought a new heavy duty motor with a matched DOL starter. An arc welder was used to weld where needed. The motor and starter cost around £150 and were the most expensive items.
Kind regards, Colin.
The new motor and starter under test before installation; the motor has an extended body and was a very good buy through eBay as was the DOL starter. When buying a starter the motor details will need to be known; these are always on the motor nameplate such as volts and amps.
Initial aligning with a temporary pulley slid on.
The bench stand welded and the motor mounting being set up here seen sitting on a pedal bin with wooden packing for fine adjustment; this needs to be perfect.
An old very heavy duty saw spindle and bearings I've had for years it being ideal for this project; new SKF bearings were installed.
The fine rise and fall with crank and trunnion. I have an engineering lathe so turned metal components aren't a problem I can turn them to my specifications.
Workshop space is limited so the saw is mounted on a pair of wheels and a lever type pair of handles fitted to raise and wheel the saw; a simple enough design but works well; the handles are automatic in that when lifted they reach a pair of stops then further lifting of the handles lift the front of the saw; the handles drop out of the way when not in use; it took a bit of thought to sort these out but they work. The height of the table top matches the height of the bench in the middle of the workshop so the bench allows support of the timber as it's fed through the saw.
The completed saw with auxiliary wooden fence attached to the very heavy duty rip fence; the fence locking lever ensures the fence won't move once locked; the 1/8" thick steel top I had kicking around. The saw has a 4" cut depth which can be doubled by flipping the timber being cut; it's highly unlikely I'll need to rip anything at 8" thick but if pushed a larger diameter blade could be installed. The saw is powerful with no indication of bogging down but it needs to be used with caution because it won't take prisoners.
This saw was designed to fit into my workshop and it's a joy to use; a permanent riving knife is installed; this riving knife designed and made by me allowing rebating without having to remove the riving knife. I enjoyed making this saw and it's built to a high standard and is very robust.
I never seem to use all my offcuts they just get smaller.
