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Re: Wampus Cat
Shop Improvements
I've been doing all of my metal cutting for patches or fabrication with just a hand held grinder and cutoff discs. I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a metal cutting bandsaw for doing some of this work; the cuts would be more accurate and it would make less of a dusty mess than the grinder cutoff wheel. Metal bandsaws are pretty expensive for my limited use, but I started seeing online examples where handheld portable bandsaws were adapted to mount on a small stand with a table.
I found a much-used Dewalt bandsaw locally, took it apart, cleaned it up, and added new drive "tires" and a new blade to get it working well. Then I looked at about a dozen designs for stands on YouTube and picked the features that I liked the best. The stand that I made mounts the saw hanging it from its primary handle, and secures it in place with a single pin that also depresses the saw trigger. Pulling this single pin allows the saw to be removed from the stand and used in a conventional manner when needed.
The first picture below shows the frame in process. The parts on the floor next to the stand are the 1/4" thick scrap aluminum plate that I used for the table, and the electrical components that I mounted to provide an on/off switched receptacle. The frame is made of steel angle from old bed frames that I picked up on garbage/recycle days in the neighborhood.
The second and third picture shows the frame after I added a couple of 45 degree braces to resolve some torsional flex in the vertical part of the frame. Then some sand blasting and primer.
The fourth and fifth picture show the final assembly. The Dewalt saw itself weighs 17 lbs. Mounted on the frame, the total weight is probably between 25 and 30 lbs so it is easy to move to a workbench, or the floor, or a storage shelf.
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