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My first post!

Back in September 2011, I bought plans for a 16" bandsaw from Matthias Wandel of woodgears.ca. It took me a little over 9 months to complete this bandsaw, but it was well worth the wait. The frame of this saw is laminated spruce, which, while being very cost effective and lightweight, is still plenty strong for a bandsaw. I have a really big 1 hp 3450 rpm pool pump motor powering the saw, which is more than powerful enough for resawing through 10" of hard maple. The saw also uses a passive dust collection system so I don't need to worry about hooking up my dust collector. The top of the stand is open, which allows the sawdust that gets pulled into the bottom enclosure to fall into the top drawer of the stand, where I can use the dust for cleaning glue squeeze-out etc. This saw was originally designed to have a 16" throat depth, but I made modifications to the original plans (hinged enclosure) which caused about 3/4" of depth to be lost.

Specs:

38cm / 15" throat depth

105" blade length

Resaw capacity: 27 cm / 10.6"

Table tilts to 45 degrees with a positive stop at zero

1 hp 3450 rpm motor w/ 2900 fpm blade speed.

More on this saw (Not my site): http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/homemade.html

Overall I'm really happy with this saw and it should serve me well for years to come.

Thanks for looking,

Jack

Gallery

Comments

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Jack
I love it. How much does it cost to make?
Arlin
 

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this is some great work jack

excellent

congratulations !

and welcome to LJ's
 

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That is a great accomplishment! This project is sure to be instrumental in many more future projects.

Ditto on Arlin's question, $$$.
 

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841 Posts
Outstanding! You can be very proud of your accomplishment and I'm sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.
 

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Arlin: It cost me around $350 to build the entire thing. (although I began to lose track over the 9 months) That figure doesn't mean much though, because you could probably make the entire thing for free if you really hunted for parts and got lucky. On the other end, If you bought everything at retail (motor especially), it could cost upwards of $500. For materials, check Criagslist, Habitat Restore, or try curb picking. Personally, I bought the majority of my lumber and about half of my hardware new, but I saved a lot by getting the motor on Craigslist ($15). It really comes down to how you source your materials.
 

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139 Posts
Kudos Jack! That is some nice work :) A good bandsaw opens up so many avenues of woodworking. I love Mat's site as well, so many interesting things to watch and read.
 

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Great job. One of those has been on my to-do list for a long time.
 

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So cool! I hope you have many, many hours of enjoyment with it.
 

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Love it, I saw these plans a while back and thought to myself, "that would be really fun to make!" Glad you did it, encourages me to want to try.
 

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681 Posts
Jack,

Great job on the saw. You've got a tool you can be proud of. Keep up the good work.
 

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Jack, I'm a 53 year old insurance agent and I have a customer and friend named "Warren". He IS the proverbial rocket scientist and was once in charge of an important aspect of the building the Pershing Missile System rockets for the Department of Defense for this country. As a young man around 13, he was given a huge grant by General Electric to 'design things'. He was like you…curious and had the wheels turning in his head (no pun intended :) ) and he would envision things and say, I can build that. Today, he is retired and does not sweat the light bill…I have lunch with him as often as I can and he always teaches me words I've never heard before and I have 2 college degrees. Keep your juices flowing and do not stifle the ideas in your head…let them come out. Be careful though who you share with, there are many 'naysayers' out there that do not have your vision for things and if you'd told them you were going to build a band saw (for example), they would have thrown cold water on your excitement. Many of us on this site are like what was said on The Lion King…."You are more than you have become" and it is an unavoidable part of life that one day you will reach 40 or 50 and say I wish I'd accomplished more here or there but you are at a good place in life. Grab two handfuls and hang on. If you can dream it, build it! Many of us have had really great ideas but never put them into action. Learn from us - our successes as well as the mistakes and you find your niche and make a mark that blazes a trail that others will follow. We're behind you!!! When we're old and crusty we'll say, "I knew that kid would go places!!"
Tim
 

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vary nice , good good work and like tim sad let no one stand in your way they like to do that or say why make it when you can buy it .
My band saw it part hand made I have had to have friend make parts for me that did not stand up to the test of time take care have fun life to short.
Nimkee
 

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WOW! What an accomplishment for somone so young! Nice work A+.
I can't wait to see more of your work. Happy to see your here on LJ's!
 

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Fantastic work, you should be proud. Keep up the woodworking and have fun. KUDOS to you.
 

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imagination is a wonderful thing, keep up the good work
 

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Jack,
Wow, outstanding work! I admire your drive and perseverance to tackle a project of this size and see it through. If you are a true example of today's youth… I humbly withdraw my tag line.
 

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Wow amzing and great job! As others have mentioned, when building projects the cost is always a factor, I say go for it !!!! Not many can say I built my own band saw… Keep it up, your making the next generation proud!!!
 

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Now, That is an ambitious project! Very well done.
 
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