Assembling a homemade band sawmill of plywood

Wood is a material in demand in construction: houses and outbuildings are erected from a bar, floors are made of boards, walls are finished with them. For sawing lumber in the domestic environment often use band saws. Factory equipment models are not available to all due to the relatively high cost. But you can save money by making a band saw with your own hands. Depending on the size and the installed cutting blade, it will also be possible to work with different metals and their alloys, stone, synthetic materials, for example, polypropylene.

Band Saw Design

Household inventors have proposed various designs of machine tools with band saws. For self-assembly model is suitable sawmill with vertical cutting bladeconsisting of the following main components and parts:

• frame (frame);
• cutting tables;
• drive;
• pulleys;
• saws.

These structural elements of the machine and smaller parts with basic dimensions are schematically shown in the drawing below.

As a drive, electric motors operating from 220 V mains are often used.In this case, the more massively you plan to cut the workpiece, the more powerful it is recommended to install the engine. Three phase motors (designed for 380 V) is also used. But for stationary networks, this option is associated with some additional problems: it will be necessary to adapt the electric motor to the 220 V network by installing phase-shifting and starting capacitors for this. Instead of electric, it is quite possible to use petrol (diesel) internal combustion engines.

The continuous cutting cloth is fixed on pulleys. Sawing blanks occurs due to its movement along a closed oval or circular path.

Can do small table machine. The model of jigsaw is shown in the photo below. Focusing on it, to assemble the device will not cause any problems, even without a detailed description of the whole process.

Important! In general, the size of the created equipment depends on the upcoming tasks that are planned to be solved with its help. To dissolve logs on a timber or board, a large unit will be required. For owners of apartments with balconies, only a desktop mini-machine will do.

Preparatory activities

Before proceeding to the assembly activities, focusing on the drawing, you should prepare the necessary materials and tools. This will allow, first of all, to find out whether there is everything you need for work (you need to buy the rest), and also not to be distracted during the process on trifles.

Required materials and tools

To make a band saw, you will need the following materials and details:

• boards or sheet of plywood (or chipboard), from which the frame, table, pulleys will be made;
• sheet steel (for saws);
• a channel used to create a support frame, or metal corners, or wooden bars and slats;
• bearings;
• steel bar - for the manufacture of pulley axles;
• electric motor;
• screws, bolts with nuts and washers;
• polyurethane adhesive;
• rubber from the bicycle chamber;
• textolite;
• bushings;
• V-belt;
• varnish or paint.

The recommended board thickness is 20 mm. It is better to give preference to sawn timber from solid and hard wood.

For work will require such instruments:

• screwdriver (with drills);
• hammer;
• wrenches (the size of a bolt);
• screwdrivers;
• pliers;
• Sander;
• Bulgarian;
• grinder;
• jigsaw.

Power tools can be replaced and their hand analogues. But in this case, the assembly will require more time and labor costs. When using metal corners or channels instead of wooden bars, you will also need a welding machine and electrodes. The use of bolted joints creates additional problems with tight fitting parts.

Recommendations for the choice of ribbon canvas

Making your own cutting blade is quite difficult. For these purposes, we need tool steel grades U8 or U10. The saw must be flexible. Its thickness for relatively soft wood is from 0.2 to 0.4 mm, and for hard woods - from 0.4 to 0.8 mm. The length of the blade in the assembled version of the machine will be about 1.7 m. It will be necessary to independently cut the teeth, properly dilute and sharpen them. To solder the tape in a solid ring (butt-and-butt) you will need to use a gas torch and solder. The joint must be sanded afterwards.

It is much easier and more convenient to purchase ready-made cutting cloth of good quality in the store, so as not to waste time on its manufacture. Width of products ranges from 18 to 88 mm. It is necessary to focus on the material to be cut. Manufacturers offer these types of saws for this criterion:

• bimetallicdesigned to perform works on metal (stainless steel and relatively durable alloys);
• diamond, with which you can cut marble, quartz, granite and other solid materials;
• carbide, allowing to process high-strength alloys;
• from the bands tool steelused for sawing wood.

The latter kind of quite often equip machines, collected in the living conditions. This is due to its affordability and practicality. But if you have to work with hard materials, then it is better to get a stronger, more durable and expensive saw in order to minimize the possibility of the tape breaking.

If planned with a band saw do figure cut, then you need to select the width of the web, taking into account the radius of curvature. Some of the ratios between these values ​​are shown in the following photo.

When choosing a saw for wood, you also need to consider pitch of her teeth (distance between their centers). Hardness of wood which can be sawn depends on it. The following are the most common tooth profiles, their labeling and scope.

It is necessary to pay attention to tooth sharpening quality. The cutting edge must be sharp and level.You should also ask the seller-consultant about the possibility of sharpening it again and how many times it can be done. For your own safety, it is recommended to give preference to higher quality canvases.

Important! For installation on the machine it is better to choose universal saws, suitable for processing wood of different hardness. This will allow much less often to change such canvases when replacing the processed material.

The steps of making a homemade band saw

To make it easier to assemble the machine according to the drawing at home, the whole process can be divided into separate stages:

• frame assembly (frame or bed);
• pulley manufacturing;
• installation of the cutting blade;
• performance check created by the machine.

Before the start of assembly work, it is necessary to decide on the installation site of the band saw being created, in order to avoid problems with its placement and power supply. To do this, you may even need a shed or a special room.

Assembling the frame, tabletops and rods

Assembling the C-shaped frame includes the manufacture of a tabletop with a rod under the pulleys, a section with an electric motor.Details of the design are made according to the dimensions shown in the drawing above. The sequence of actions is as follows:

• the boards are made into a frame in the form of a drawer (pedestal) measuring 42x72x50 cm;
• inside install electric motor;

• bar is made of a bar of at least 8 by 8 cm;
• at the top and at the bottom they are attached to the support for pulleys made of plywood, placing them at such a distance from each other, so that you can comfortably saw pieces of various sizes;

 

• connect the cabinet with the frame;
• in the lower support, a hole is made under the pulley (approximately in the center) into which a sleeve with two bearings is then inserted;
• on top is placed a 20 mm thick plywood table top (with textolite glued to its working surface and a slot under the cutting blade);
• sheathe sidewalls so that then it was easy to clean sawdust (waste) and clean the saw.

A hole in the bottom bearing with bearings is necessary to connect the pulleys from the engine and from the cutting belt. They will be fixed on a single shaft of steel bar. To adjust the height of the machine on their own growth, make a stand additionally increasing the stability of the created structure.Using welding, you can make a frame of metal

Manufacture and installation of pulleys

The pulleys are cut out of plywood in the form of circles, which are then glued together to make a part 3 cm thick. In total, they need three: one for a belt drive (with a groove), and two for a belt cloth. The latter are made with a convex edge at an angle of 5 to 10 degrees (as in the photo below), so that cloth self-centering when working equipment.

A pulley with a belt drive is placed inside the drawer.

Its diameter is selected depending on the number of revolutions of the engine being installed: it must provide a saw movement of 30 m / s.

One of the pulleys, which set the saw in motion, is set below, and the other - at the top. In the center of the latter make a hole. Insert the bearing into the sleeve. Using glue and wooden slats, it is fixed in the prepared seat.

Further, this pulley tight bike camera. It is selected with a smaller diameter than the part. This is done so that the web does not slide off during the operation of the machine.

The upper pulley is fixed movably so that you can pull the cutting tape. The simplest lifting mechanism is presented further in the photo. Its main structural elements are spring with lever, which in the right positions at different levels is fixed with bolts.

The lower pulleys are fixed on one shaft. On the lead (transmits the movement of the saw from the engine) wear a belt.

After mounting the pulleys, align them so that they are in the same vertical plane. For these purposes use washers. The entire setup process is schematically depicted in the photo below.

It should be borne in mind that the larger the diameter of the pulleys that drive the cutting blade, the longer it will last, the better the saw will work. For these parts with a diameter of 40 cm, a tape with a thickness of 4-6 mm is suitable.

Installation of the cutting blade and guides

The cutting tape is fixed on the pulleys. For smooth sawing lumber homemade machine equip guiding mechanism. It is mounted along the side of the blade without teeth. Due to the guide tape will not be bent by the bar. The easiest way to make this knot is of three roller type bearings: one is placed on the blunt side of the saw, and the other two are located on either side of it. The design of the mechanism is presented in detail in the photo below.

Important! Guide rails should be almost perfectly aligned in place of fixation to the support.If this is not done, even a small deviation will lead from the opposite side to a fairly significant displacement of the tape.

To improve the assembly, it is possible to attach stoppers made of wooden slats instead of bearings, and also to mount guides under the table top. The result is a mechanism similar to the one shown in the photo below.

It is better to place the guides closest to the sawn billet, the ideal distance is about 4 cm. If parts of different sizes are to be processed, then guide position adjustment mechanismwhich will allow to change their height from the table top.

Finishing, commissioning and testing of the machine

The upper pulley at the end of the assembly of the machine follows cover up. On the one hand, it will improve the appearance of the created equipment, and on the other hand, it will increase the safety of its maintenance (it will delay the web during sliding).

An electric motor with pulleys and a belt drive also needs to be protected from dust and sawdust with a casing. But previously it is connected to the network through a start button, located in a convenient place.It is useful for personal safety to also power up the equipment from a separate differential automaton or install it in an electrical circuit. residual current device (RCD).

It is recommended to make a separate under the table top. container under sawdust. It must be installed so that you can quickly and easily get to clean up waste.

After assembly, the vertical band saw needs adjustment and performance testing. These activities are performed in this sequence.

1. Stretch the tape to the maximum using the upper (driven) pulley.
2. Check that the canvas is located at an angle of 90 degrees to the tabletop.
3. Remove the guides.
4. Perform a test start of the unit and a test cut, with virtually no load on the tape. In this case, the pulleys should rotate smoothly, without any jerks.

After checking the guides are mounted in place - this will allow you to work with the load on the canvas. Then the equipment needs to be covered. antiseptic composition and varnish. Such an operation will protect materials from rotting and prolong the life of the band saw.

For convenience, sawing blanks to the tabletop is recommended to adapt guide rail or metal corner. This should be done in such a way that it is easy to change its position when processing materials of different sizes.

It should be borne in mind that misaligned tape can cause serious injury, and not only interfere with the normal operation of the equipment.

Self-made band saw with proper assembly and configuration will provide an acceptable quality of work, increase their productivity. Also, its use allows you to save: it is more profitable to cut sawn timber into blanks of the required size on your own than to buy finished products. If the rooms are heated with firewood, then thanks to the use of the unit it will not be difficult to prepare them. When working with self-made equipment, you must always follow safety precautions.