Portable Bandsaw Base

[Crusty]

In keeping with my personal rule that anything I make or buy must do at least two useful things, I made a base mount for my Milwaukee portable band saw. The base is made so that it bolts onto my welding table (another function for the table) and is easily removed by loosening a few bolts. Parts are sawn by clamping to the welding table against the auxiliary fence which aligns with the saw's fence and I happen to have a foot switch that I may rig so that the saw shuts off automatically once through the work and it comes down against the hard stop I built in. It's just rigid enough without additional weight that makes it a pain to tote from storage to the table and back. The saw bolts to the base using four of the eight motor mounting screws and it can be taken off in just a few minutes. There's a rail for adding a sliding weight to increase the down force but it appears that it won't be needed.

The base converts my portable bandsaw into a horizontal cutoff saw that can be left unattended while cutting.



And with a simple flip it becomes a vertical bandsaw, though I haven't yet made a larger platen for that purpose.



I still have to grind my welds and then give it some paint but I've tried it and it makes nice even cuts. My max size is limited by the saw (6") but I rarely have anything that large to cut so I think it's going to improve the workflow here. It turned out a little rougher than I envisioned but I had to make several significant changes mid-build and the scars of those changes are apparent, but hey it works for its intended function and at a bargain basement cost.