Dave Tenney's bandsaw

Dave Tenney writes:

Just finished up the bandsaw tonight, and I couldn't be more pleased.

I built it out of 100 percent scrounged lumber. I ended up painting the main laminated section because it was a rainbow of different woods. I resawed some old redwood 4x4's for some of the layers. Treated wood, white pine, and yellow pine made up the rest of it. The other parts I made from Oak, Walnut, Birch, Black Locust and Cotton Wood. Many pallets were sacrificed to build this. I also was able to purchase a dozen pre-painted plywood panels from our Habitat for Humanity store. It is a very high grade plywood, and I used it for the table and cabinet.

The wheels are made out of some used CDX plywood, and like you I had to remove a lot of material from one side of them to get them in balance.

I used a 1 1/2 HP motor from my old contractors saw. It is a 3450 RPM motor. When I first fired it up I had a three inch pulley on the motor which was way too fast. The tires were almost flying off because of centrifugal force. I reread the notes and put a 2" pulley on it and all was well.

I have a lot of time in building this, but only spent about $80 in new parts and a few blades. As others have said, it is a wonderful design. I have re-sawed 6" oak and it didn't even wince.

I have not made drawers for the stand yet, but will once my screw advance box joint jig is built.

Thanks again,

Dave Tenney

Dave Tenney made a video reviewing the homemade machines he built based on woodgears.ca plans. The embedded vido at left is qued to where he talks about the bandsaw.

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