I've been cutting metal with a converted Taiwan wood bandsaw for decades. Worked fine for aluminum and mild steel, but even with an intermediate reduction pulley in the belt train, blade speed was high enough to make cutting 4130 an iffy proposition. It wasn't a big deal back when blades were cheap, but a decent one is up to $50 now. Something had to give.
So, first thing was to reduce blade speed by a bunch. I added a second reducer in the belt train and fitted a larger wheel to the final drive.
While apart, the second upgrade was a better belt guide. Cheap saws like this one tend to have carbide blocks and maybe one bearing. Here the carbide was about gone, so the guide assembly was replaced with this three-bearing setup, similar to larger saws. Simple design; it's nothing more than a section of 2" mild steel angle with an axle welded in place for the back bearing. The pinch bearings are on 10mm bolts, with machined spacers.
So, first thing was to reduce blade speed by a bunch. I added a second reducer in the belt train and fitted a larger wheel to the final drive.
While apart, the second upgrade was a better belt guide. Cheap saws like this one tend to have carbide blocks and maybe one bearing. Here the carbide was about gone, so the guide assembly was replaced with this three-bearing setup, similar to larger saws. Simple design; it's nothing more than a section of 2" mild steel angle with an axle welded in place for the back bearing. The pinch bearings are on 10mm bolts, with machined spacers.
