Horizontal Band Saw

This is one of those ubuquitous inexpensive Chinese horozontal bandsaws.  They have the reputation of being a pretty useful tool even if the quality is low.  Theyrespond well to a little attention ritght out of the box.

First, the blade that coomes with the saw is useless.  A good quality blade is a must.  It is also pretty common to add a hydraulic damper to the saw to control the descent of the arm.  Is this really necessary or that much of an improvement?  I don't know, but it is an enjoyable project.  The cylinder here is surplus, and was about the right size, but I had to make a little biit of linkage to get it to work.  Most people use a "Parker" valve that is basically an a valve that has adjustable flow in one direction, and free flow in the other.  The two sides of the double acting valve are connected together through the valve so that raissing the arm is unrestricted, but it lowers at an adjustable speed.

Since the volume of the cylinder on the two sides of the piston is different, due to the ram on one side, some provision has to be made for the excess hydraulic fluid when the arm is down.  There is a little vented reservoir on the return circuit.

Email comments to: elhollin1@yahoo.com