Metal Band Saw: Horizontal Saw on a Welded Steel Frame

Curtis Eccardt's horizontal power band saw (Emerson Electric, US 4,364,294, 1982), built from welded steel channel and tube instead of iron castings to cut its cost. The saw head swings down on trunnions over the bed; a hydraulic cylinder with a valve sets how fast it feeds, a spring counterbalances it, and a spring tensioner shows the blade tension on a scale. Two guides with rollers twist the blade's lower run 90° so its teeth face down into the work, and carbide inserts hold it there. The patent gives no sizes, speeds or ratings; the welder and wrenches are ours. The picture: the patent's Fig. 1.