Thursday, November 19, 2020

Shop Saw Update

Several months ago I stumbled on a Craigslist ad for a small metal cutting band saw. I had been kinda looking for one but they were always well out of my price range. This one caught my eye because it was listed for $50. I brief look at the pictures revealed that not only was it the kind of saw I was looking for, but it was also a Grizzly brand which is a brand I quite respect. I called to see if someone scooped it up and found it was still there so away I went. 
I showed up to a small fabrication shop and they walked me back to where it was. I was a little rougher in person than the pictures showed and it was missing a blade, some guards and a manual. Still, they plugged it in and it turned on so we I loaded it up. 
I did some searching on Google and came up with a PDF of the manual and discovered Grizzly still sold blades for it. Woohoo! 
I ordered the blades and set them aside with the manual for when I would have a chance to tinker with it. 
That was last year...
Well, tonight I dragged it out and started fiddling with it. I figured out how to install the blade, rigged up a larger table face so I could use it as an upright saw, hunted around for some srock i wanted to cut for split crosses amd started cutting. I experimented with different blade speeds. I discovered a loose lock bolt for the blade tension wheel after the blade came zinging off during a cut. 
All in all, it worked really good.  I'm super happy with that $50 chance. I look forward to being more productive in the future.