Thanks a lot bud. I've used the bigger bandsaws in the past but just was Givin a little 4x6 and for the life of me have had a heck of a time just getting it to track. Idk it was free. It's a MSC. Anyways thanks for the video. Take care now
Watching your videos on the HF bandsaw was very interesting and informative, I think you improved the overall performance of your saw considerably. Keep up the good work
Hi Greg, thanks again for making these videos. I watched this video last year but at the time I did not have a metal band saw. Today I bought a similar saw off Craigslist. The guy wanted $150.00 and it was made in 1994, so I offered him $100 and he accepted. Now that scared me, so I listened to it run for a couple of minutes and took it home. It's in remarkably good condition, so hopefully I wont have any major issues. Thanks to your videos I was able to check and set the band tension and alignment. Tomorrow I will make my first cut. The wife went with me to pick up the saw. On the way home I asked, well what do you think. She just laughed and said "boys and their toys" but she did help me unload it when we got home. She did confess later, that she thought I was going to pick up another lathe and was wondering where I was going to put it. Great lady and I love her dearly.
Great video. My vice now has a jack screw but I just use a set screw instead of using threaded rod. Works a little faster. What would be nice is a clamp like used on a pipe clamps What ever after seeing your setup I can't believe for years I have been looking for a block that was the right size to work. Thanks Much!
Really appreciate you're attention to detail and the way you solve problems. I intend to make some adjustments and upgrades to both of my band saws. I have a jet similar to yours and an old Rockwell 14 inch. Thanks again. I really like your videos compared to some of the others. Also, I have a new (to me) 1946 Southbend 9A. I was going to just clean it and use it. But having watched your video on the quick change gear box restoration, I'lm going to take that on too. Well done sir!
Truing up wheel(s) was a good starting point. Vise mods , new knobs, chip tray, etc made it more functional too. Your method of blade truing was mostly acceptable for the everyday handyman. But if you're ready for the next level of accuracy obtainable from a grossly under-engineered Harbor Freight piece of Chinese junk......continue reading. A tip for you.....For better visual accuracy when using machinist square to check the side of blade squareness to table.....make a long straight edge clamp of 2 ea 6mm x 6mm metal bars about 8" long with 6-32 pinch screws near each end. (Verify the selected bars are truly straight....3/16" or 1/4" bars might work also) Use .025" spacers between bars then clamp to blade so as to be extending upward parallel to the tongue of the square. Do not clamp on blade teeth. Any slight gap of light between 8" bar length and tongue of square indicates adjustment direction to correct blade orientation, the vertical angle related to vise table. Blade adjustment has many facets and parameters to fine tune, ....first you must accurately measure and determine the amount and direction in which blade needs to be adjusted. Now while square tongue is extended upward, raise saw arm and note the blade swing path. As reference, 1 deg is .01745" per inch. EX: If you gently butt the tongue of a 6" machinist square against side of the blade teeth and then raise blade arm 6" to top of square. Lock the arm and use feeler gauges to measure any gap at 6" height. A typical gap of .052" divided by 6 =.0086" per inch = 0.5 deg out of square. A temporary shim under left end of work piece might help, but permanent fix is the installation of adjustable pivot bearings for the arm. Usually the pivot rod clearance is loose within the pivot bosses, allowing arm to lean outward away from table vise. See comment by B Powell. Another great use of the individual 6mm straight edge bars is in comparing and adjusting upper and lower blade guide heads to be co-planar......just clamp a bar to each.....(probably across the bearing side faces) With arm vertically positioned, just eyeballing it down across both bars is ok to see direction of correction required to adjust coplanar. After this adjustment is correct, measuring again with machinist square as in first paragraph will verify. Largest problem with trying to tweak saw adjustments is the poor design of guide blocks, having a single bolt affecting many parameters. It is so hard to get it all correct and locked into place......virtually impossible, actually. It's trial/error and frustration. Most folks will just settle for a happy medium, further effort not worth the results. But with intelligent observation and measurements it can be done........you have to simply identify all its faults and remedy one by one as best you can with resources on hand. Many report their blade tracks improperly and derails from the band wheels. Many factors have bearing upon this common problem, including worn guide bearings, improper blade tension, and upper wheel tilt adjustment. If all else fails to remedy the situation, I suggest shimming under 1 or both guide blocks to adjust guide bearings slightly out of parallel to blade edge. Don't shim in wrong direction or problem is intensified. Blade will want to follow the bearing plane, so tilt trailing edge of upper bearings inward toward blade spine. If lower block requires shimming also, put shim on opposite end than top block was shimmed. Both blocks will now lead blade inward against bandwheels and makes it track more reliably , allowing increased blade tension and accuracy. Adjust bearing to blade gap at .001" for greatest accuracy and keep well lubricated for smoothest cut finish surface. But beware that swarf can lodge in this small gap and lock blade down. I caution against unattended cuts unless you have funds for a new motor. Being able to stop guide bearing rotation as in video does NOT apply to metal bandsaws, .......only for woodworking bandsaws. Lateral weakness in the saw arm contributes to inaccuracy........jaw angle adjustment will be the only correction option. There isn't much room to beef up the arm with angle iron, etc and will add weight needing counterbalanced by more spring tension. Hydraulic downfeed is a highly recommended mod, especially for cuts to pipe and tubing. Thicker blades in .035" are available if you routinely do rough cutting which quickly destroys blade teeth. Select blade pitch that has a minimum of 3 teeth in contact with workpiece. More teeth increases surface smoothness, but too many teeth can slow cut time, bog the motor or produce too much heat on the blade which also destroys teeth. Moral of the story is: If you highly desire cut accuracy....Do NOT purchase a HF or other Chinese copy cat knock-off excuse of a saw. I am presently modding a $2600 Baileigh BS-210M horizontal bandsaw for precision of .007" maximum. I am sure it also is Chinese in origin, but is vastly superior quality than the small 4x6 HF, etc. For the ultimate in accuracy check out the $4500 EV 97 Semi-automatic Precision KAMA Bandsaw . www.kooltools.com/kama_bandsaws.html
If your saw doesn't have head tilt adjustment (left side shaft arm) I would cut a new shaft with an eccentric end to allow for vertical cut adjustment, that is a heavily copied Wilton knock off, if they stayed true to the Wilton design, the left shaft arm will have 3 Allen screws and slotted holes that control parallel and vertical adjustments. In the absence of that, I would cut a new shaft as mentioned above. Edit: I just found some other you-tubes showing this adjustment, no set screws, but 2 allen bolts are there on slotted holes for head tilt, this should get your saw cutting vertically.
As always, very informative and interesting. Not a criticism, but a suggestion: When you put the smaller jaw in the vise it might have been more rigid to place a block of metal (or wood or hard plastic) between the ribs to clamp the jaw in. It doesn't matter that it is not a machined surface since the other side is clamped against the vice jaw. Enjoyed the video very much.
I have an identical saw to this, except for the paint colour, but I don't have any of the problems you have with that one. You also did the exact vice jaw mod that I have planned for mine. I wasn't thinking of the chip control features you added, but I am now ... lol Thanks :)
I had one of the bearing that hold the blade fell apart. I tried to buy a replacement from HF without success. I found the replacement bearing at McMaster-Carr for $5/each. The bearings they supplied were made in Portugal and fit perfectly. This was a great source for bearings.
Need a little cutting fluid to keep your drill bit cooler. I am surprised as you normally use it. Put a 123 block in the jaw to grip it in the vise. Ahh here comes the oil. Lay a piece of 1/4" across the top of the nut rather than drilling through and weld it. I have had one of those welders for 25 years (among many) and it has earned its bread. Get some .035 flux core and you will be making good welds in no time. It is golden for taking wherever you have 120v service. I like the screw jack on the vise. That would be very helpful. I think it might have worked better with a radius on the moveable jaw plate and it could have been mounted back on the jaw since you have it mounted in the full forward position. By mounting in the retracted position you have travel to move the jaw and insert forward until it just clears the blade guide. Great idea though I am sure you will fine tune it. Now I will have to go to work on mine. ( As soon as I finish my shop addition.) Have a great day and thanks for the video. Enjoy your saw. That welder is a keeper. You can get a ten pound spool adapter for it (much cheaper than the small spools) and a gas kit if you should want it. I use mine in flux and wouldn't be without it although I have another that is set up with gas and another with a spool gun for aluminum. Doug
Stumbled on to this channel. Love it, keep the content comin. And maybe some welding courses lol. Pretty bad your a good machinist though. I’m restoring a south bend heavy 10 almost finished looking forward to firing it up. Bye.
Post 1 of 2 First off, great set of video's on bandsaw improvements. One thing you did not touch on was the adjustable pressure via spring for the bandsaw. On mind, what I did to achieve a very accurate 90 degree's cut, was tighten / increase so the saw has only about a couple of pounds (2 to maybe 5 lbs) of downward pressure. DO NOT PUT SOMETHING OF SIZEABLE WEIGHT TO INCREASE THE SPEED OF CUT, because this will result in a angle cut of easily discernment.
Greg thanks for the series. I see you did it about 3 years ago. Well, I purchased this saw from HF today. Man I think King Kong was used for the transport from maker to HF. The new design now has better wheels, however the pulleys where machined off and had a noticeable wobble. The tab the holds the tension spring for lowering the saw saw broken off in the box. Well took the upper saw back and traded it for the prior design, and retained the base. Now I'll use your tips and upgrade mine. Oh ya two of the plastic knobs were also broken. Thanks again for your work. You going to the Summer Bash 2016?
it's not a great saw, but for the price - really serviceable, saves tons of time, does a lot of work. my only real complaint is the sheet metal base, totally flimsy. i threw it in the scrap bin (the actual scrap bin, not the "save for later" junk bin) and cut a 2x8 a couple inches longer than the saw base and nailed the base to the 2x8, bent the nails over. it isn't perfect, but it is an improvement, i can use it on the bench, horizontal and vertical, the handwheel has plenty of room. much more ergonomic, takes up less space (not tripping over it on the floor) and it adds a little bit of mass, which it is sorely lacking sometimes. a steel baseplate addition would be nicer, but that requires making something with the same horizontal holes that the base has, or drilling through the base to make vertical holes. there's no real practical or easy way to mount the base to steel without lots of finicky measuring or blowing holes.
Nice work, well done, nice result and nicely presented. albeitr, just a tad of over kill, but with that neat lathe in yor shop, why not!! Well presented as well. Well, your MIG welding is far ahead of mine. I think I'll retrogress to oxy. i do acceptable work there, although my master fabroicator and machinist son thnks it is pitiful, But, in making the mount for the jackstand an motpr for my old Atlas, i welded a chunk of 1/4 steel and then ground it. No seam visible. I sold off the stick welder before i wnt blind. New helmet would've fixed that risk.
While I was watching your modifications , this tought came to me. If the plate screwed to the fixed jaw of the vice (the one on the motor side) was too long and was cut after being installed, its length would indicate where will be the kerf for the pieces you will have to cut . But your machine has the same problem that mine: It does'nt cut perfectly vertical ...making the trick not as efficient as it could be,,,,
Instead of using a square in the vise to true up the angle bracket you was drilling. Use parrallels and flip it over? That was a pretty wonky set up there buddy.
Yeah that part of it spells disaster for me, I limp enough as it is ... lol ... I thought early in the videos that you were going to lean it towards the other side which probably would have been better? ... As long as it works I guess.
You should be able to do some very good welds with that welder. Lincoln makes very good welders. I don't see a bottle of shielding gas on your welding cart. Are you using flux core wire? If not, that is why your welds look so bad. It also looks like you need to turn up the heat and slow down the wire speed. I think mig is very easy to learn. I have my small miller welder set up to use CO2 for shielding gas and it does great welds.
+Halligan142 So, how's that welding coming along? With flux you really need to stir that puddle. I had a heavy weight piece of angle iron scrap, so I opted for the movable jaw change on my 4x6 saw. I also made a speed jackscrew for my saw too. I just got done making a new mini vertical table for my saw. I have not even tried it out yet. I used to just cut everything on that little plate that came on the saw. That was a balancing act. On another Utube channel I saw a guy that put a clamp lip on the cut off side of his saw, I'm still working on mine here. It looked handy the way he demoed it.
+Paul Frederick I've never actually used it in its vertical position. Just never seemed ok to me. Still making things stick together with weld. Ugly as ever, but I rarely need to do it.
***** I use my saw in its vertical position a lot. It is the only band saw I have in my shop. Here's how I did my movable vise jaw on my 4x6 band saw www.instructables.com/id/4x6-Bandsaw-Vise-Jackscrew/ I don't have a picture of my new vertical table yet. The batteries are dead in my camera.
Thanks a lot bud. I've used the bigger bandsaws in the past but just was Givin a little 4x6 and for the life of me have had a heck of a time just getting it to track. Idk it was free. It's a MSC. Anyways thanks for the video. Take care now
Watching your videos on the HF bandsaw was very interesting and informative, I think you improved the overall performance of your saw considerably. Keep up the good work
Hi Greg, thanks again for making these videos. I watched this video last year but at the time I did not have a metal band saw. Today I bought a similar saw off Craigslist. The guy wanted $150.00 and it was made in 1994, so I offered him $100 and he accepted. Now that scared me, so I listened to it run for a couple of minutes and took it home. It's in remarkably good condition, so hopefully I wont have any major issues. Thanks to your videos I was able to check and set the band tension and alignment. Tomorrow I will make my first cut. The wife went with me to pick up the saw. On the way home I asked, well what do you think. She just laughed and said "boys and their toys" but she did help me unload it when we got home. She did confess later, that she thought I was going to pick up another lathe and was wondering where I was going to put it. Great lady and I love her dearly.
I get evil looks when bring home new toys or hint I might :-) These little saws, while not perfect, beat a hacksaw any day.
Great video. My vice now has a jack screw but I just use a set screw instead of using threaded rod. Works a little faster. What would be nice is a clamp like used on a pipe clamps What ever after seeing your setup I can't believe for years I have been looking for a block that was the right size to work. Thanks Much!
Really appreciate you're attention to detail and the way you solve problems. I intend to make some adjustments and upgrades to both of my band saws. I have a jet similar to yours and an old Rockwell 14 inch. Thanks again. I really like your videos compared to some of the others. Also, I have a new (to me) 1946 Southbend 9A. I was going to just clean it and use it. But having watched your video on the quick change gear box restoration, I'lm going to take that on too. Well done sir!
Good luck with getting that gearbox all cleaned up !
Truing up wheel(s) was a good starting point. Vise mods , new knobs, chip tray, etc made it more functional too. Your method of blade truing was mostly acceptable for the everyday handyman. But if you're ready for the next level of accuracy obtainable from a grossly under-engineered Harbor Freight piece of Chinese junk......continue reading.
A tip for you.....For better visual accuracy when using machinist square to check the side of blade squareness to table.....make a long straight edge clamp of 2 ea
6mm x 6mm metal bars about 8" long with 6-32 pinch screws near each end. (Verify the selected bars are truly straight....3/16" or 1/4" bars might work also) Use .025" spacers between bars then clamp to blade so as to be extending upward parallel to the tongue of the square. Do not clamp on blade teeth. Any slight gap of light between 8" bar length and tongue of square indicates adjustment direction to correct blade orientation, the vertical angle related to vise table.
Blade adjustment has many facets and parameters to fine tune, ....first you must accurately measure and determine the amount and direction in which blade needs to be adjusted. Now while square tongue is extended upward, raise saw arm and note the blade swing path. As reference, 1 deg is .01745" per inch. EX: If you gently butt the tongue of a 6" machinist square against side of the blade teeth and then raise blade arm 6" to top of square. Lock the arm and use feeler gauges to measure any gap at 6" height. A typical gap of .052" divided by 6 =.0086" per inch = 0.5 deg out of square. A temporary shim under left end of work piece might help, but permanent fix is the installation of adjustable pivot bearings for the arm. Usually the pivot rod clearance is loose within the pivot bosses, allowing arm to lean outward away from table vise. See comment by B Powell.
Another great use of the individual 6mm straight edge bars is in comparing and adjusting upper and lower blade guide heads to be co-planar......just clamp a bar to each.....(probably across the bearing side faces) With arm vertically positioned, just eyeballing it down across both bars is ok to see direction of correction required to adjust coplanar. After this adjustment is correct, measuring again with machinist square as in first paragraph will verify.
Largest problem with trying to tweak saw adjustments is the poor design of guide blocks, having a single bolt affecting many parameters. It is so hard to get it all correct and locked into place......virtually impossible, actually. It's trial/error and frustration. Most folks will just settle for a happy medium, further effort not worth the results. But with intelligent observation and measurements it can be done........you have to simply identify all its faults and remedy one by one as best you can with resources on hand.
Many report their blade tracks improperly and derails from the band wheels. Many factors have bearing upon this common problem, including worn guide bearings, improper blade tension, and upper wheel tilt adjustment. If all else fails to remedy the situation, I suggest shimming under 1 or both guide blocks to adjust guide bearings slightly out of parallel to blade edge. Don't shim in wrong direction or problem is intensified. Blade will want to follow the bearing plane, so tilt trailing edge of upper bearings inward toward blade spine. If lower block requires shimming also, put shim on opposite end than top block was shimmed. Both blocks will now lead blade inward against bandwheels and makes it track more reliably , allowing increased blade tension and accuracy.
Adjust bearing to blade gap at .001" for greatest accuracy and keep well lubricated for smoothest cut finish surface. But beware that swarf can lodge in this small gap and lock blade down. I caution against unattended cuts unless you have funds for a new motor. Being able to stop guide bearing rotation as in video does NOT apply to metal bandsaws, .......only for woodworking bandsaws.
Lateral weakness in the saw arm contributes to inaccuracy........jaw angle adjustment will be the only correction option. There isn't much room to beef up the arm with angle iron, etc and will add weight needing counterbalanced by more spring tension. Hydraulic downfeed is a highly recommended mod, especially for cuts to pipe and tubing. Thicker blades in .035" are available if you routinely do rough cutting which quickly destroys blade teeth. Select blade pitch that has a minimum of 3 teeth in contact with workpiece. More teeth increases surface smoothness, but too many teeth can slow cut time, bog the motor or produce too much heat on the blade which also destroys teeth.
Moral of the story is: If you highly desire cut accuracy....Do NOT purchase a HF or other Chinese copy cat knock-off excuse of a saw. I am presently modding a $2600 Baileigh BS-210M horizontal bandsaw for precision of .007" maximum. I am sure it also is Chinese in origin, but is vastly superior quality than the small 4x6 HF, etc.
For the ultimate in accuracy check out the $4500 EV 97 Semi-automatic Precision KAMA Bandsaw . www.kooltools.com/kama_bandsaws.html
You helped me a lot!
If your saw doesn't have head tilt adjustment (left side shaft arm) I would cut a new shaft with an eccentric end to allow for vertical cut adjustment, that is a heavily copied Wilton knock off, if they stayed true to the Wilton design, the left shaft arm will have 3 Allen screws and slotted holes that control parallel and vertical adjustments. In the absence of that, I would cut a new shaft as mentioned above.
Edit: I just found some other you-tubes showing this adjustment, no set screws, but 2 allen bolts are there on slotted holes for head tilt, this should get your saw cutting vertically.
Thanks for the tip. I'll have to check it out once I get the new shop up and running.
As always, very informative and interesting. Not a criticism, but a suggestion: When you put the smaller jaw in the vise it might have been more rigid to place a block of metal (or wood or hard plastic) between the ribs to clamp the jaw in. It doesn't matter that it is not a machined surface since the other side is clamped against the vice jaw. Enjoyed the video very much.
I have an identical saw to this, except for the paint colour, but I don't have any of the problems you have with that one. You also did the exact vice jaw mod that I have planned for mine. I wasn't thinking of the chip control features you added, but I am now ... lol
Thanks :)
I had one of the bearing that hold the blade fell apart. I tried to buy a replacement from HF without success. I found the replacement bearing at McMaster-Carr for $5/each. The bearings they supplied were made in Portugal and fit perfectly. This was a great source for bearings.
Need a little cutting fluid to keep your drill bit cooler. I am surprised as you normally use it. Put a 123 block in the jaw to grip it in the vise. Ahh here comes the oil. Lay a piece of 1/4" across the top of the nut rather than drilling through and weld it. I have had one of those welders for 25 years (among many) and it has earned its bread. Get some .035 flux core and you will be making good welds in no time. It is golden for taking wherever you have 120v service. I like the screw jack on the vise. That would be very helpful. I think it might have worked better with a radius on the moveable jaw plate and it could have been mounted back on the jaw since you have it mounted in the full forward position. By mounting in the retracted position you have travel to move the jaw and insert forward until it just clears the blade guide. Great idea though I am sure you will fine tune it. Now I will have to go to work on mine. ( As soon as I finish my shop addition.) Have a great day and thanks for the video. Enjoy your saw. That welder is a keeper. You can get a ten pound spool adapter for it (much cheaper than the small spools) and a gas kit if you should want it. I use mine in flux and wouldn't be without it although I have another that is set up with gas and another with a spool gun for aluminum. Doug
Stumbled on to this channel. Love it, keep the content comin. And maybe some welding courses lol. Pretty bad your a good machinist though. I’m restoring a south bend heavy 10 almost finished looking forward to firing it up. Bye.
Watched all 7 videos. Time to go tune up the $40 Enco saw I bought a couple weeks ago :)
I have the same welder. Add some mig gas to it and you'll be able to sign your name on some steel with very little practice. Keep up the great videos.
Great step by step, I was wondering if you could tell me the diameter and length of the tension spring for that band saw. Thanks a lot
I just did some alignment on my identical saw and that made a big difference.
good job making the saw more accuriate and better to use in the shop!
Post 1 of 2
First off, great set of video's on bandsaw improvements. One thing you did not touch on was the adjustable pressure via spring for the bandsaw. On mind, what I did to achieve a very accurate 90 degree's cut, was tighten / increase so the saw has only about a couple of pounds (2 to maybe 5 lbs) of downward pressure. DO NOT PUT SOMETHING OF SIZEABLE WEIGHT TO INCREASE THE SPEED OF CUT, because this will result in a angle cut of easily discernment.
Great videos, but your really need to work on how to properly hold things in a vise for drilling. Keep the videos coming Thanks............
Greg thanks for the series. I see you did it about 3 years ago. Well, I purchased this saw from HF today. Man I think King Kong was used for the transport from maker to HF. The new design now has better wheels, however the pulleys where machined off and had a noticeable wobble. The tab the holds the tension spring for lowering the saw saw broken off in the box. Well took the upper saw back and traded it for the prior design, and retained the base. Now I'll use your tips and upgrade mine. Oh ya two of the plastic knobs were also broken. Thanks again for your work. You going to the Summer Bash 2016?
I want to but my wedding is next week. the bash is in June so not enough time for my bank account to recover :-). I'm planning on next year.
+Halligan142 I understand. Congratulations in advance. Since I retired, I know all about the bank account thing. Later Terry
Thank you for the series.....very informative.
it's not a great saw, but for the price - really serviceable, saves tons of time, does a lot of work.
my only real complaint is the sheet metal base, totally flimsy. i threw it in the scrap bin (the actual scrap bin, not the "save for later" junk bin) and cut a 2x8 a couple inches longer than the saw base and nailed the base to the 2x8, bent the nails over. it isn't perfect, but it is an improvement, i can use it on the bench, horizontal and vertical, the handwheel has plenty of room. much more ergonomic, takes up less space (not tripping over it on the floor) and it adds a little bit of mass, which it is sorely lacking sometimes.
a steel baseplate addition would be nicer, but that requires making something with the same horizontal holes that the base has, or drilling through the base to make vertical holes. there's no real practical or easy way to mount the base to steel without lots of finicky measuring or blowing holes.
Nice work, well done, nice result and nicely presented. albeitr, just a tad of over kill, but with that neat lathe in yor shop, why not!!
Well presented as well.
Well, your MIG welding is far ahead of mine. I think I'll retrogress to oxy. i do acceptable work there, although my master fabroicator and machinist son thnks it is pitiful,
But, in making the mount for the jackstand an motpr for my old Atlas, i welded a chunk of 1/4 steel and then ground it. No seam visible.
I sold off the stick welder before i wnt blind. New helmet would've fixed that risk.
I have the same saw. I hate the base! Building a stable base is going to be a project of mine pretty soon.
this type of saw is notorious for walking, I suggest you check the blade as worn out blade is a major cause of off axis cut
While I was watching your modifications , this tought came to me.
If the plate screwed to the fixed jaw of the vice (the one on the motor side) was too long and was cut after being installed, its length would indicate where will be the kerf for the pieces you will have to cut .
But your machine has the same problem that mine: It does'nt cut perfectly vertical ...making the trick not as efficient as it could be,,,,
Sweet! Great work. Thanks for sharing.
LMAO ... seems we got two of the saws from the same production run... my saw also has 1/32 runout when blade is raised four inches.
what is your lathe brand ? its cool
Post 2 of 2
If cutting Stainless material, it takes a long time. So get use to it. Go get a cup of coffee & enjoy.
nice improvements you made good job sir
you must use more volt for welding
Instead of using a square in the vise to true up the angle bracket you was drilling. Use parrallels and flip it over? That was a pretty wonky set up there buddy.
Or just use a scrap block inside the braces to take up the space & tighten up, simple!
Yeah that part of it spells disaster for me, I limp enough as it is ... lol ... I thought early in the videos that you were going to lean it towards the other side which probably would have been better? ... As long as it works I guess.
You should be able to do some very good welds with that welder. Lincoln makes very good welders. I don't see a bottle of shielding gas on your welding cart. Are you using flux core wire? If not, that is why your welds look so bad. It also looks like you need to turn up the heat and slow down the wire speed. I think mig is very easy to learn. I have my small miller welder set up to use CO2 for shielding gas and it does great welds.
It is flux core. I just haven't invested the time yet running beads and learning the settings. It's on the list.
+Halligan142 So, how's that welding coming along? With flux you really need to stir that puddle. I had a heavy weight piece of angle iron scrap, so I opted for the movable jaw change on my 4x6 saw. I also made a speed jackscrew for my saw too. I just got done making a new mini vertical table for my saw. I have not even tried it out yet. I used to just cut everything on that little plate that came on the saw. That was a balancing act. On another Utube channel I saw a guy that put a clamp lip on the cut off side of his saw, I'm still working on mine here. It looked handy the way he demoed it.
+Paul Frederick I've never actually used it in its vertical position. Just never seemed ok to me. Still making things stick together with weld. Ugly as ever, but I rarely need to do it.
*****
I use my saw in its vertical position a lot. It is the only band saw I have in my shop. Here's how I did my movable vise jaw on my 4x6 band saw www.instructables.com/id/4x6-Bandsaw-Vise-Jackscrew/ I don't have a picture of my new vertical table yet. The batteries are dead in my camera.
After seeing this I know why its called Horrible Freight.