Horizontal Band Saw Base and Infeed Table

Graham08 · #1 06-29-2019, 11:41 AM

I have been doing a fair amount of side work for a client using 3/4" and 1" round and square tube. It's gotten to the point that I'm tired of fighting with my two roller stands while trying to cut pieces off of full 24' lengths of tube, so I decided to do something about it and build a conveyor infeed setup. Ellis and others make them that are dedicated to their particular saw...since I don't have one of those saws, I'm making my own...

First part of this project was making a new base for my saw that allows it to be leveled. When I did my saw restoration, I made a base with casters that has worked pretty well, but in order to work with the conveyor, I need to be able to level the saw. Also, I'm taking the opportunity to raise it roughly 4" so I'm not bending over quite so much.

After doing some sketches to determine the layout, I started by making the legs for the four corners of the base. As usual, I probably put too much effort into making it look nice, but I figure I'm going to be looking at it for a long time. First step was to use the Hossfeld to bend some radiused caps for the top corners of the legs:

I then welded the caps to 1-1/2" square tube that I had radiused:

I had some 1-1/4" x 5/8" flat stock that I drilled and tapped for leveling feet, and cut into 1-1/4" squares that got welded to the bottom of the legs:

After a little polishing:

Graham08 · #2 06-29-2019, 11:47 AM

Next, the legs got welded onto a pair of crossmembers that are 1-1/2" x 3" rectangular tube. I sized these to fit my pallet jack between the legs and allow moving the saw more easily down the road.

My saw has three legs, so I needed to do something to bolt the third foot to the base. I came up with this, which is a short piece of 1-1/2" x 3" with the end radiused and capped. I welded a 1/2"-13 plain nut in the top of the tube to allow securing the leg.

Finally, the two crossmembers were joined with a pair of 1-1/2" x 3" rails, oriented flat, with nuts welded in place for the other two legs of the saw.

At this point, I'm just lacking paint to have this part finished...

Graham08 · #3 06-29-2019, 12:12 PM

On to what set this whole project in motion...the infeed table.

After doing some research, I found Amazon had about the best deal on 12" wide by 5' long sections of gravity conveyor. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The rollers are on 6" centers, which seems like a good compromise on keeping stuff from falling in between the rollers. I figure a 10' conveyor will support half of a normal length of tube, and I can always use one of my roller stands beyond that point. I got two 5' lengths because shipping was most economical going that route.

Part of the plan is to include storage in the base of the infeed table. Roughly half a length of tube will fit under it. Here's what I came up with for a leg design. The legs are 1-1/2" square, and I'm using 1-1/4" square for the storage rungs. Going one size smaller is still plenty strong, but makes a nice fillet joint to weld instead of having to fill the gap where the end of the tube meets the radius on the corners.

I set up some stops on my table to fixture things since I was making three sets. Here is what the mostly finished product looks like:

This is after getting half the table tacked together and checking the fit of a conveyor section on it:

I decided to overhang the ends 6" to allow getting the last roller a bit closer to the saw. I used 1-1/4" round to join the legs together, there is one in the center of the top, and one on each side of the bottom. I still have to get the other end on it to make the full 10' length, and get the brackets sorted out to attach the conveyor. After standing beside it, I like the height and I'm looking forward to actually using it!

alwaysFlOoReD · #4 06-29-2019, 11:42 PM

Nice job.

Bray D · #5 07-01-2019, 10:16 AM

This is awesome. I've recently started stocking full length material in my shop, and I absolutely feel your pain. It's tough to keep those longer lengths centered up and rolling straight on my single roller stands.

Great work. I'm excited to see it all come together!

R.DesJardin · #6 07-02-2019, 09:28 AM

Looks really clean, I bought a roller table from McMaster-Carr about the same length and it is a solid unit. I don't have the storage underneath which is a great idea for shorter pieces.

TS3g · #7 07-02-2019, 11:28 AM

Awesomely overkill! Great job as always

Graham08 · #8 07-02-2019, 05:24 PM

Ha! Thanks guys! I haven't seen you all in a while. I hope to be posting the finished product pretty soon.

stock93 · #9 07-06-2019, 02:11 PM

Great job. You'll love having that. I have a section similar that we added to our shops bandsaw last year. It has been great to have. We cut material in 8 to 10 ft long lengths frequently. I'm thinking about adding another one on the outfeed.

Graham08 · #10 07-08-2019, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stock93

Great job. You'll love having that. I have a section similar that we added to our shops bandsaw last year. It has been great to have. We cut material in 8 to 10 ft long lengths frequently. I'm thinking about adding another one on the outfeed.

I'm planning to build an outfeed eventually as well. I managed to get the frame completely together yesterday, now I just need to add some brackets to secure the conveyor sections.

stock93 · #11 07-11-2019, 11:51 PM

I left mine free floating from the saw. It hasn't been a problem at all. I even clamp stuff to them to use as a stop for repeated pieces.

Graham08 · #12 07-23-2019, 05:10 PM

Finished everything and got it set up over the weekend!

I did a coat of Rustoleum on the parts I made. Came out so-so using their Farm & Implement enamel with added hardener from Tractor Supply, shooting through a HF HVLP gun. I hate buying stuff from Harbor Freight, but their HVLP spray gun is exactly the right thing for this application.

Anyway, here is the saw on the base:

And a view from the conveyor end:

I took my time to get everything squared and leveled. For now, both the saw and the infeed are just sitting on the floor. I marked the floor with a Sharpie around each of the leveling feet so I can tell if it's moved.

One more shot from the saw end:

I did get to use it a bit and have come to the conclusion I should have done this a long time ago. There is much less to go wrong while trying to make square cuts because the stock is well supported and doesn't sag. Now I need to move some of my shorter stock off the rack and into the base of this thing...

Bray D · #13 07-23-2019, 05:16 PM

Well done. That's an excellent addition for the saw.

Speaking of material handling, how do you get material off of your wall racks? I have a similar arrangement and I curse myself for building it every time I have to dig a full length stick out of the bottom of the pile. I've been brainstorming material storage for the new shop - it's a delicate balance between using space wisely and ease of material access.

Graham08 · #14 07-24-2019, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bray D

Well done. That's an excellent addition for the saw.

Speaking of material handling, how do you get material off of your wall racks? I have a similar arrangement and I curse myself for building it every time I have to dig a full length stick out of the bottom of the pile. I've been brainstorming material storage for the new shop - it's a delicate balance between using space wisely and ease of material access.

Thanks! I'm in pretty much the same boat with the wall racks. Lots of cursing when it comes to getting something off the bottom. I built these years ago and moved them with us from Ohio to NC.

While we were building our current place, we rented a house with a small shop. The owner left some wall racks that had the arms parallel to the ground instead of angled. I didn't realize it at that point, but I actually like them a lot better because things sit where you leave them instead of having gravity pull everything down into a pile. I'm seriously thinking about building a different set...but getting the partial lengths into the saw infeed will be a big improvement for now.

stock93 · #15 07-24-2019, 09:30 PM

That turned out really nice.

My material racks shelves are at a 15 degree angle. Its not to bad. I've thought about just welding some pieces of flat stock vertical on the runners as dividers. Seems like the piece I need is always on the bottom.

Benton Speed & Fab · #16 08-07-2019, 09:21 PM

Nice work!! I long for the days when I can build a bigger shop and do this same thing to my bandsaw. I have a 4x6 and never imagined I would use it as much as I do. A taller mobile base and some infeed/outfeed supports would be awesome. I will be bookmarking this for future upgrades!

Graham08 · #17 08-08-2019, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benton Speed & Fab

Nice work!! I long for the days when I can build a bigger shop and do this same thing to my bandsaw. I have a 4x6 and never imagined I would use it as much as I do. A taller mobile base and some infeed/outfeed supports would be awesome. I will be bookmarking this for future upgrades!

Thanks! I'm not in a huge shop, either. I realized that I use the saw so much that I needed to leave the space free for stock to pass through all the time, so I might as well have the infeed table to make life easier for something I do pretty much every time I'm working on something.