Portable Cordless Bandsaw Jig.

Boys and Girls,
 

If you happen to be a Lumberjocks ex-pat, you may have stumbled across this project there, however, if you’re a native Craftisian or just refused to read my projects over there, this may be new to you.

Seems like I’m travelling back in time by dragging across this project I posted at LJ’s back on Nov 26, 2017.

Beauty or fine woodworking techniques was not the aim of this project, the driving force was to simulate a bandsaw for metal with a working tabletop for my Milwaukee M18TM FUEL™ Deep Cut Band Saw… not to be confused with this Milwaukee M12 FBS64 Compact Fuel Band Saw,

 

the MT18's lil’ brother in the background (in the jig),

which was an unsolicited present much later.

 

I consider the 18V as a static tool with the work being taken to it, but have found the 12V brother a handy item to take to the work… albeit for smaller jobs… though its capacity is quite deceptive.

 

The jig was designed in SketchUp, however as it was out of 18mm MDF, the laser couldn’t cut it so it had to be fabricated from measurements,

The tabletops were designed in SketchUp with the intention to insert them behind the blade

angling the kerf from the back into the back of the blade.

Under Mk.II, it was redesigned to feed from the front into the kerf,

and there was a backing brace to keep the kerf from opening. These two tabletops were designed to cut bolts and such,

or flats using a mitre gauge,

They were also designed to clip over the saw’s poopsie tabletop,

with packers to lock it in with the contours.

The jig itself was just tung oiled and the latest "tabletops" were buffed using my Beall Buffing System to provide less friction when using the slides.

 

FAIW, the bandsaw played an integral part in cutting up the mandatory fence to size, required around my new spa,

 

 

 

 

----------------------------------------- ooooOOOO From LJ OOOOooooo --------------------------------------------- 

 

I apologise to any strangers to my style of posting and doubly to those that are familiar.

 

Unfortunately any good duck tale has to have the scene set, to supplement the taradiddles that will support my enthusiastic imagination.

 

My latest shady accountant had a powwow  with SWMBO and they both conceded to permit me to purchase a therapeutic spa tub.  Why therapeutic… well you hold your nose, put your head underwater and contemplate what would happen if the missus locked the lid so you couldn't surface… beats yoga.

 

Now here in Victoria (Aust.) it is mandatory to have a child proof fence around anything aquatic larger than a lidless tumbler of water.

 

Well in downtown Churchill, not being inundated with fencing contractors, I could not get anyone to undertake the project and anyone that bothered to quote, would require me take up a full time job for the next 5 years for any potential settlement.

 

So this little black  duck decided to undertake the project by himself and with the money saved, could justify the purchase of a portable cordless bandsaw for cutting the aluminium fence to size… hey my hacksaw does NOT have an ON/OFF switch.

 

OK, this now leads me back to my mainstream story.  I now have a cordless bandsaw that I would like to take the work to rather than it to the work.  Inspired by Bluenote38 Portable Bandsaw Stand , I decided to make a stand for it.  Being portable with a big fat battery on its back I had to deviate from B38's design and try to come up with something to fit my malformed twisted blade.

 

I took a few measurements, a couple of angles and quite a few mouthfuls of vino and did a mock SketchUp drawing of a cradle.  Waited for the alcohol to evaporate out of my brain, I then hit the workshop.  After recovering from the resultant bruises and armed with the SU measurements,

I started to hack some shapes out of a lump of 18mm MDF.

Cut out a recess to hold the handle I was surprised at how my measurements were accurate enough that the bottom actually sat on the bench.  I cut out a few triangles in accordance with the angles I measured and butted them against the bandsaw "bottom" to brace it.  Hmm, it actually fit and was more stable than I imagined.  As I had to allow for the battery, there was too much clearance around the body so I glued a shim against the inside left frame to take up the slack.  I had some plastic wedges,

(please don't ask me where I got them from… don't ask… don't… please… ah… ah-ha… NO!) that I jammed in on the other side and that secured the body and stopped any potential movement.  I then attached another "triangle" on the other side of the bottom.

It was not according to plan but more so an "as fit" fit.  Not pretty but functional.

 

Now I was faced with the issue of switching the bloody thing on.   I initially planned some cut outs to access the trigger, however, as the trigger didn't have a locking switch, I somehow came up with the design of a through rod that I could use as a lever.  I drilled a holding hole on the left hand side and an elongated hole on the other to permit lever downward travel.  I drilled on of the holes in the wrong position, however, I hid it behind a cover block so only the most observant person would notice it (if they opened their eyes).  I attached a spring to the end and when it didn't work, I flipped the lever horizontally so the spring was now at the elongated hole end.

 

Miraculously the tension on the spring wasn't enough to pull the lever down, however, once manually pulled down it had sufficient tension to hold it in the "ON" position.  Lifting the lever turned the saw OFF and when the lever was released it stayed OFF.  What a great design and sheer arsed luck!

 

Added a couple of clamps to the base to hold the jig stable against my bench. 

 

One of my primary intentions of using this saw was to shorten the egos of some of my smart arsed long bolts.  I always found that to use a hacksaw or a Dremel metal cutting wheel was just too cumbersome so the first thing to do was design a stable "tabletop" for the saw.  I then found that for ease of use a cradle/sled would be a handy attachment.  It worked like a charm for small bolts/screws or long rods,

 

Small aluminium tubing,

and even brass pen tubes though the blade I used left a rough cut….

maybe a "greater" TPI would serve better, however, having a small tube cutter this was just an exercise in versatility.

 

The sled may be a bit small for large bolts but then I can easily hold them in a vice and hack it to pieces using the saw hand held.

 

The cradle/sled components (except for the "V" support which was done on the router table) were cut out on the laser, super glued with the moving parts used to ensure free movement as the glue set.  Added some wax to smoothen the movement and make it all smell pretty.

 

I created another tabletop and modified it to take a small mitre gauge (that came with my small belt sander), for all those flat pieces of metal,

 

and for those cantankerous pijani hinges,

 

All in all I was happy with the build and again I sincerely thank Bluenote38 for the inspiration.  Mine is not a pretty jig and I haven't attempted to pretty it up as the first attempt was just a proof on concept but as it worked first time I thought I'd leave it as is.  I did give it a coat of tung oil to give it a bit of a tan.

 

If I have to remake it, I will make it out of solid wood (pine) if only to stop the splitting of the MDF due to the screws.  The SU will need to be altered to change the 18mm thickness to 19mm, however, that would be a very simple operation in SketchUp without the need for an anaesthetist.

 

Again, for all those that hate reading… rather than read the above, have a look at this video I posted on YouTube …

 

PS.  If you want to ensure your manhood is preserved and the saw doesn't jump out of the jig and attack you, you can add an optional retaining strap…

 

 

 

 

 

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