Thought I'd post how I fitted an adjustable motorbike steering damper to my 6x4 band saw to control the drop rate of the arm.
This is a Sealey SM65 saw with a pivoting head. The drop rate has no adjustment, just a spring & it was eating blades on thin wall metals. I hung weights out the back to take some weight off the bow, which helped a bit.
I also tried packing the spring up but it doesn't help.
The ram has a stroke of 74mm & I worked out that the ram needed to be level with the stop button on the switch to give the maximum lift height, so the switch needs to be moved.
Made up a lower bracket with a strip of steel & a bit of M8 all thread welded on, bolted to the holes the the switch used.
Top bracket is similar, bolted to where the lower bolts of the gearbox cover goes. Note - you will need longer bolts for both brackets, mine were 1/4-20 unc.
When you remove the bolts on the gearbox cover don't use the saw & definitely don't tip the bow up - the oil goes everywhere!
If you set the damper on the stiffest setting the bow just about stays up but you can still get the standard prop in.
Switch relocated further back, drilled & tapped new holes in the lower bracket.
I apologise for the state of the saw, its going to get a better base frame plus wheels then get a full clean & repaint.
I did this mod before to my other saw with a fixed bow which was much simpler, I'll post some photos of it.
This is a Sealey SM65 saw with a pivoting head. The drop rate has no adjustment, just a spring & it was eating blades on thin wall metals. I hung weights out the back to take some weight off the bow, which helped a bit.
I also tried packing the spring up but it doesn't help.
The ram has a stroke of 74mm & I worked out that the ram needed to be level with the stop button on the switch to give the maximum lift height, so the switch needs to be moved.
Made up a lower bracket with a strip of steel & a bit of M8 all thread welded on, bolted to the holes the the switch used.
Top bracket is similar, bolted to where the lower bolts of the gearbox cover goes. Note - you will need longer bolts for both brackets, mine were 1/4-20 unc.
When you remove the bolts on the gearbox cover don't use the saw & definitely don't tip the bow up - the oil goes everywhere!
If you set the damper on the stiffest setting the bow just about stays up but you can still get the standard prop in.
Switch relocated further back, drilled & tapped new holes in the lower bracket.
I apologise for the state of the saw, its going to get a better base frame plus wheels then get a full clean & repaint.
I did this mod before to my other saw with a fixed bow which was much simpler, I'll post some photos of it.
