andsaw for the Lathe

by Dennis Horler
BASICALLY A BANDSAW is a flexible saw blade of working. The bearing points were stiffened up
arranged to move downwards in a vertical plane. each side by welding 1/2 in. thick mild steel discs
This is restrained by side and rear thrust devices or bosses. The two members are held together by
and held in tension by an adjustable tension wheel. a 1/4 in. thick plate at each side and bolted through.
It is essential that the blade runs true and does The top member is extended at the front by
not wander when the work is applied. This is welding a bracket on the front edge to take the
accomplished by an angular setting device incor- saw guide assembly.
porated on the shaft of the free running wheel. Two pieces of 1-1/2 in. x 2 in. angle were welded
For economy and space considerations the to the lower frame member to form a clamping
machine was built to operate on the bed of an bracket to fit on the lathe shears. After cutting to
M.L.7 lathe and was also provided with a choice shape, all rough edges should be cleaned up and the
of speeds. It is worthwhile to slip two pieces of holes drilled as required. It is best to drill in the
cardboard between the base of the bandsaw and lathe with the frame bolted to an angle plate on the
the lathe shears; this will prevent any damage to cross-slide, thus ensuring that all holes are square
their surface. to the frame face. Before drilling the rivet holes
in the angles at the base and the locating cross
The frame member, make sure the frame is at right angles to
It is sound engineering practice to make all the lathe bed.
frames as heavy as possible, so that all or most
vibration is absorbed. The frame was made of Main shafts and bearing bush
3/8 in. thick mild steel plate cut to shape as in Having completed the frame, the shafts are the
Fig. I. It was made in two pieces for convenience next logical step. Fig. 2 shows all details. The

Below, left: The Bandsaw ready for use.

Below: The machine with the guards removed.

MODEL ENGINEER 6 September 1968 857

 FIG. I G.A. OF FRAME
BMS
15”

FlG 5

Slots milled to suit

silver steel bar

Brass washer adjusting screw

I _, X check on assy
2-1/2"x 1/4"D silver FREE RUNNING BAND
steel bar WHEEL SHAFT BMS
Turn lubrication groove

Retaining plates
securing to frame
b y 2 BA s c r e w s

DRIVE BEARING SHAFT ADJUSTING

BRASS SCREW BMS
UPPER WHEEL ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT
FIG 2 FIG 3 BRASS FIG. 4 WHEEL
- -

858 MODEL ENGINEER 6 September 1968

 4,
_,’ 3
c-_; ’
4

i’, ?
’ ,

NSION ADJUJSTING SCREW

BMS

DETAILS OF THE BANDSAW

plywood. 2off

C u r v e d Section
plastic t y r e
(Table edging)

-
BOSS FOR DRIVE WHEEL
WHEEL D E T A I L S BMS

MODEL ENGINEER 6 September 1968

 adjustment. This provides angular movement of
the top band wheel in relation to the vertical plane
of the blade. This ensures that the blade will run
on the top of the curved surface of the wheel and
remain there. The shaft is supported by the support
bar which is a length of silver steel; it is held in
milled recesses and kept in position by retaining
plates and screws.
The band wheels, Fig. 4, are made up by gluing
thicknesses of plywood together, making up a total
thickness of I in., and turning to 7-1/2 in. dia. The
centre is drilled to take the bushes which are made
of mild steel for the drive wheel, and phosphor-
bronze for the free running wheel at the top. The
details of the bushes are clearly indicated in the
main shaft consists of a shouldered length-of mild drawing and an oil hole should be drilled at an
steel with a hole drilled on the diameter at the angle from the outside face; when completed an
large end for a split pin to secure the bandsaw oil groove should be scored across the inside of
wheel. This should be drilled after marking off the bore. The bushes are held in position by
through the wheel boss to ensure sufficient end three nuts and bolts spaced at 120 deg.; note that
play for free rotation. The main drive bearing is the clamping shoulders are dimensioned so that the
turned from phosphor-bronze, the outside being a plates make contact with the bushes before the
press fit into the hole on the frame. The bore wood in order to prevent movement. The mild
should be reamed 7/16 in. dia. to fit the drive shaft. steel bush for the driving wheel is extended, thus
It is likely that the hole will close up after the allowing for a split pin to secure the wheel to the
bush is pressed into the frame; this can easily be shaft.
corrected by reaming again. The edges of the band wheels are completed with
The upper or free running shaft is also detailed plastic trim, this is of curved section one side and
in Fig. 2 and should present no difficulty. The flat the other and is sold for table edging. This
exploded view Fig. 3 shows the purpose ‘of the is a “ must,” the machine will not work with flat
edges nor will it work if the wood edges are turned
to a curved shape due to lack of resilience. The
Above left: plastic trim should be cut at an angle where the
A close-up overlap occurs and stuck down without overlap
view of the with Evostik.
drive
mechanism.
Blade tensioning device
This is a free-running tyred wheel made from
plywood or fibre with a tyre of plastic trim. The
wheel is fitted on an adjustable bracket tensioned
by a screw as detailed in Fig. 5. Since this wheel
revolves at high speed, it is fitted with a brass
bush press fitted into the bore.

Main drive assembly

The details are given in Fig. 6; the drive is
taken from the lathe chuck via a length of mild
steel to one side of a flexible coupling. If a
coupling is not available a piece of heavy duty
hose-pipe about 2 in. long can be used. This is
attached to the stub shaft that fits in the chuck
and held with a Jubilee clip.
Left: A view The other end is attached to the conduit and
of the thrust
rollers. again held by a Jubilee clip. The purpose of the
flexible coupling is to relieve the lathe chuck of any
axial or radial thrusts which may be imposed if
the shaft centres are not in dead alignment.

860 MODEL ENGINEER 6 September 1968

-

The various parts are machined as in Fig. 6; Table support and lower blade guides
the main drive shaft should either be screw cut The table support serves two purposes, to support
or tapped using the die in the tailstock holder. the table and also to hold the lower blade guides.
Similarly the hole in the frame should be threaded Fig. 8 gives full details. The vertical member is
by using the tap in the chuck. This ensures that welded to a length of angle; this angle is drilled to
the shaft, when screwed up tight, will be square receive the table. Below this is a steel rod
with the face of the frame. shouldered at one end which carries a small length
The bushed pulley fits on the shaft and is of angle mounted in a position behind the saw
secured by the 2 BA bolt and brass washer. The blade. This is located and fixed and the holes for
conduit fitting (this was only used because it was the side thrust roller shafts are marked off with
available and saved machining from stock) was the saw blade in position. The saw blade should
then bolted to the pulley with two 1/4 in. bolts. be tensioned so that the band wheels grip the
The pulley boss should be turned off and the face blade. Insert the piece of shim alongside the saw
cleaned up to receive the dome cover which was blade and place the rollers in position, either get
also machined. It may be necessary to put spacer someone to hold them or clamp up with a hand
washers on the bolts between the pulley and the vice. Now turn up a piece of steel so that it just
dome cover to give a little extra play. Before fits the roller bore, turn the end to a point and
pressing the bush into the pulley, two flats should use as a centre punch to mark the hole centres
be filed or milled to give clearance for the fixing for the roller shafts. The holes can now be drilled,
bolts. the shafts made and fitted in position. Note that
A conduit nipple is screwed into the dome cover the thickness of the rollers are less than the width
and locked with a nut, the short length of conduit of the saw, and when in position the rollers are
is then screwed on and tightened. Next the shaft clear of the saw teeth. Since it is difficult at such
is turned to a tight fit into the conduit and fixed a small diameter to drill oil holes in the shafts, an
with a split pin. The other end of this shaft oil groove is made inside the roller bore to retain
carries the flexible coupling or hose-pipe. and distribute the oil.
In order to keep the belt tight, which is of The back roller is mounted on a shaft with a
circular leather with a “ U ” fastener, a bushed larger end than the roller bore, and bolted up to a
jockey pulley of any convenient size is fitted to a shoulder which allows free rotation and a little
bracket which is bolted to the frame. This is end play. A lubrication hole is drilled through at
tightened up at a suitable angle so that the pressure an angle. This is bolted to a threaded bar, allowing
is applied to the belt and keeps it taut. movement to line up with the rear of the saw
blade. It should be fitted so that the roller just
touches the blade when the upper roller also
Upper blade guide
touches : the working thrust is then shared between
Guides are required above and below the saw
both thrust rollers and gives the necessary support
table to offset the back and side thrusts produced
at the working position of the blade.
when work is fed into the saw. This is shown
It should be noted that the fixing holes on the
as an exploded view in Fig. 7. The main support
vertical member for fixing to the main frame are
is turned from 3/4 in. square steel bar to 1/2 in. dia.
elongated on one hole. This is to allow for any
as shown; this fits into the holder welded to the
discrepancy in the centre markings for the band
frame. It is made adjustable to allow for height
wheels, and will also enable the table to be corrected
variations over the work being sawn. A piece of
if necessary to ensure vertical cuts.
7/8in. x1/8 in. b.m.s. is bent as shown and fixed to
the main support by two lengths of 1/4 in. BSF
studding to allow alignment with the blade in the Table and guard
vertical plane. The table is simply a piece of 1/8 in. thick steel
Take care when drilling the fixing holes for the plate 8 in. square with a slot cut in the centre to
brass guide bars, these should be clamped up on receive the saw blade. This slot is connected to
the bench with a short length of blade in position, the side edge by a saw cut cleaned up with a
together with a piece of 1/32 in. shim. The holes warding file, alternatively cut with two hacksaw
can then be drilled in this position; when the shim blades, it will give the necessary width to allow
is removed the correct gap between the guides is the band saw blade to be “ threaded.” The table
obtained. The back thrust is taken by a brass is fixed to the angle support by means of two
roller carried on a shaft fitted on the lower extension countersunk 1/4 in. dia. Whitworth nuts and bolts.
which is twisted at right angles to the bent flat The guard is a piece of plywood fitted with bolts
steel holder. The shaft is threaded at each end tapped into the machine, This could, however, be
and held in position by shake-proof nuts. Continued on page 852

MODEL ENGINEER 6 September 1968 861

boiler on each side of the tug. a very dangerous method though quick acting.
Boilers and tubes were of iron and generally The tow rope was a menace; many skippers were
lasted as long as the tug; the vessel might get a knocked overboard or suffered broken legs.
secondhand pair, but never a new set. Coal Finally, the steering position was taken to the
consumption was heavy and owners often remarked centre of the bridge plank over the casings; this
that “ all the profits go up the funnel.” was inconvenient when the very high spring tides
Boiler pressures varied between 5 and 25 p.s.i. prevented the tug from passing under the Swing
The simple lever and weight safety-valve could Bridge at Newcastle. The funnels were cut for
easily be tampered with and this was quite lowering but the primitive bridge screens to
frequent for short periods. When a little more shelter the skipper were above the cut in the
steam was required a shackle (always handy) was funnel; this meant waiting for the tide to fall.
placed on the lever. The first wooden tugs combined towing sailing
The old boilers rarely exploded but “ blows ” ships with ferrying, but the latter stopped in 1862
were frequent in shell and tubes. Temporary when the regular ferry service was started by the
patches were often applied to tide things over; Tyne General Ferry Co. By this time industry
these were known as “ one-eyed patches ” con- was in full swing and all its raw materials, coal
sisting of a nut, bolt and washer, liberally smeared and coke were carried by wooden wherries; they
with red lead and tar. also carried the finished products to the regular
I remember the case of an old tug steaming to weekly boats established at the Newcastle Quay.
the breaker’s yard with two dozen “ one-eyed There was abundant work until the First World
patches ” on each boiler. War after which this heavy traffic went on to the
The wooden paddle tugs were essentially the roads; tugs and wherries gradually died out.
same, closely resembling each other; they varied One thing about paddle tugs eludes me: I cannot
in size only. The largest were the “ Seekers ” but state positively why they were so popular on the
even the small ones also went over the bar to Tyne; they existed in large numbers when all
look for a sailing ship when they had nothing else other rivers had discarded paddle tugs. No doubt
to do. the private owners of the single-engined, wooden
Clipper stems, with or without bowsprits, were paddle tugs lacked capital and the discards from
common to the very oldest tugs, then a very other rivers were to be had at reasonable prices, but
inclined straight stem superseded them. Gradually that did not apply to the company boats; these
the inclination became less and less but they never were iron tugs with twin, disconnecting side-lever
became vertical. engines. The fleets of these large vessels were
Tugs were steered by tiller at first, but later a predominantly paddle tugs.
steering wheel was placed forward of the engine Screw tugs trickled here very slowly and most
house on deck; this alternative was generally used of them were secondhand; I cannot account for
for long straight runs. In confined waters such as this very slow change over and probably never
docks, the tiller was more convenient, but it was shall be able to do so. q

BANDSAW on the wheels. Now put the lathe on higher speed

Continued from page 861 and make a test cut on 1/2 in. thick wood. If the
blade tends to sag, increase the tension; if thicker
elaborated by making a hinged guard of plywood wood, say up to 2 in. thick is to be cut, the tension
to open as and when required. may require to be increased more, but this thickness
should not be difficult to cut. It should, of course,
Putting to work be appreciated that sharp curves cannot be cut in
First of all, fit the blade over the wheels and “ one go ” as they tend to twist the blade, but toy
line up between the guides. Next adjust the wheels 2 or 3 in. dia. should present no difficulty.
tension wheel until the driving wheel will turn
the blade without slipping. Make sure the machine Materials
is lubricated, and with the lathe in back gear do a test All materials used are easily obtainable. The
run. Carefully watch the blade to see if it tracks saw blade was obtained already as a loop 5 ft. 3-3/4 in.
correctly, if it runs to one side of the upper or lower long, 1/4in. wide and with seven teeth per inch, but
wheel, correct by making a small adjustment to the lengths can be obtained brazed up to suit individual
upper shaft. Having corrected the tracking, the blade requirements. The blade used was obtained from
should run smoothly and without side movement Burgess Products. q
852 MODEL ENGINEER 6 September 1968