If you grow up around a workshop then the chances are that you’ll have the most respect for saws. Formative years being constantly warned by parents about their risks leave an indelible mark on the nascent maker, and leave them visibly less cavalier on the matter than for example other hackspace members. The fact remains that saws offer some of the most ready opportunities for danger in your workshop. But which are the least hazardous? In the workshop near where this is being written, definitely a bandsaw is far preferable to a circular saw when it comes to finger retention.
[Making Stuff] has a portable bandsaw, contained in effect within a large handheld power tool. He’s put up a video detailing how he modified it to serve as a more conventional vertical or horizontal bandsaw, with the addition of a sturdily built welded tubular frame and table.
The video starts with the removal of the plastic surround to the trigger and hand grip, then proceeds through the various stages of cutting, measuring, drilling, and welding. The pivot point is the crank bearing from a bicycle, and in a slightly overcomplex touch the switch is a solid state relay rather than something conventional. The metal work is well executed, and while the engineering is noting special and most Hackaday readers could do similar, it has the compelling quality of a workshop video in which everything is done right and the results are well presented. You might not make this saw, but if you had one it wouldn’t disappoint you. The full video is below the break.
