As the channel name implies, [Workshop From Scratch] is building a growing list of tools and machines from scratch. His latest edition is a heavy-duty metal band saw.
As with all his tools, the frame consists of thick welded steel components. The blade runs on a pair of modified belt pulleys and is driven by a motor with a worm gearbox. The blade tension is adjustable, and so are the pair of blade guides. To slowly lower the blade while cutting, [Workshop From Scratch] added a hydraulic piston with an adjustable valve to limit the lowering speed. When it reaches the bottom, a limit switch turns off the motor. The saw is mounted on a heavy steel table and can rotate at the base to cut at different angles. A heavy-duty vise, also built from scratch holds the workpieces securely in place.
Judging by the amount of steel he cuts for his projects, we imagine this saw will be a welcome addition to the shop. It’s impressive what he is able to build with just a drill, angle grinder, and welder. Many of the other tools used in the video, like the magnetic drill press and hydraulic vise are also his handiwork.
builds machine shop tool with fully equipped machine shop… from scratch!
I’m not sure your point. He’s building them from scratch using the best equipment he can. If a chef uses a fully equipped kitchen, would you say the food is not from scratch because their tools are too good?
No cause the chef didnt make the chicken
It’s an awesome build, but he’s got a lot of other awesome tools, which makes it seem less like a hack. This isn’t “well-trained professionals using professional equipment to achieve professional results a day” haha… and then you realise he built most of those tools himself 😭
I take your point, but to be fair, there is so much utter crap on this site that has absolutely zero to do with “hacks” or anything of interest to people who like “hacks” such as yesterday’s tracking ships by satellite. I mean how many of us are are hacking together spy satellites capable of tracking stealth smuggler ships? By comparison, this post about building gorgeous homemade shop tools is right on point for the “hacker” community.
Contrast this to any of the condesending trash posted by Lewin or Jenny making fun of the average reader for not setting up a 26 mile LoRa connection and this is actually among the best things this site posts.
I guess most of the editors don’t like this type of article because it’s pure building and not in any way political.
All of the tools that are painted orange he previously built.
More like he bootstraps a full machine shop from a drill press and a welder.
well, if it was made from an old windshield wiper motor that would be pretty nifty….
just building this without the help of China could be an interesting project.
i’ll stick with Harbor freight,
so…. with the help of china then
Man it must be nice to live where steel is cheap. I just bought 40′ of 1.25″ angle iron and it cost me $80, the steel alone in this project he could have bought a pretty good horizontal metal cutting bandsaw
Where do you live? steel can be found for cheap almost everyone as far as I know, appart from special cases for countries with really poor steel industry
A lot of it has to do with level of service.
The custom cut online metal places like onlinemetals would sell precision cut 5 foot lengths shipped to your door for $48 each so your 40 feet total would cost $384 dollars. Theres a metalsupermarkets in my city, or at least a short drive, that would set me back about $140 but at least zero delivery cost.
Retail consumer like home depot sells a six foot length for $19 so you could drive there and walk out the door nearly 24 hours a day 7 days a week, with eight of them for $152
More industrial-ish supplier like metalsdepot sells 20 foot lengths for $26 so your 40 feet would cost $52, of course you figure out shipping.
You can get even better deals at an old school industrial supplier. If the supplier is a pain to deal with, find the small machine shop around the corner and ask if they’ll add something to their next order. I bet you could pay for it with a couple cases of beer. forty feet of angle iron won’t cost an industrial supplier very much. Of course it might not arrive for two weeks, LOL who knows?
“Man it must be nice to live where steel is cheap. ”
To be fair, travel around the world a bit. You’ll come back and be amazed at how cheap so many things are here in the US of A compared to a lot of countries… The guy is skilled, and most of the stuff he’s built seems like it’ll last decades and do a pretty decent job of it, compared to a lot of the flimsy aluminum and plasticy semi-disposable stuff sold here…
If you buy a tool it’s made with the cheapest parts available and not built to last, so a few years later you buy another one. You build one it’s built to last and if something goes wrong you know what it is and how to fix it. Even if it cost twice as much to make as it would to buy it’s going to last three times as long.
Interesting insight…… But let’s see a price list of parts off the shelf. I know that the motors with the sew gearbox attached at big money new. Yes you can get good deals on used/ surplus, but how long do you have to wait for one to come up??? Now I brought an industrial Thomas bandsaw for £400. Bargain on the century.
Built from scratch or not, that’s still a $1200 motor. Definitely not built from scrap.