http://www.woodreview.com.au 97TOOLS & EQUIPMENT21table for the roller fence and then four
more for the feeder unit.
Set up in this way your bandsaw
virtually becomes a resaw and due
to the location of the feeder, normal
operations cannot be carried out. I
only have the one large bandsaw and
even if I had the money would not
have the space to set up a second one.
So instead I made a portable jig that
would allow me to easily connect and
disconnect the feeder unit.
This took some pretty serious design
work which I did while awaiting
delivery so it could be hooked up
as soon as it arrived. I mounted
the roller fence onto an 8mm plate
that could be clamped to the table
(photo 1). This also allowed me to
compensate for blade drift when
fitting new bandsaw blades.
The feeder jig is moveable on four
lockable castor wheels and locks to
the bandsaw table with two vice grip
pliers. It takes less than a minute
to connect or disconnect the jig to
my machine so very fast to go from
bandsawing to resawing. The feeder
comes with full size templates to work
out where on your bandsaw the feeder
and roller fence need to be mounted.Photo 1 As you can see, I fitted
infeed and outfeed rollers to the
jig to assist with resawing. When
the feeder unit is fitted the correct
distance from the blade, the swivel
mounting point half hangs over the
edge of the bandsaw table. This was
not a problem for me but your make
of bandsaw may require you to fit a
bracket onto the edge of your table
to mount the feeder swivel base to.Photo 2 shows the roller fence. This
is a heavy duty outfit with 19 rollers
with what I assume are bronze or
similar replaceable bushings. This
would normally be mounted with
minimal space underneath the fence
but mounting the unit to an 8mm
plate has left the gap shown which to
date has caused no issues.Photo 3 shows the back of the roller
fence and if you look closely you will
see the ruler inscribed in centimetres
adjacent to the notched extension
column. This also shows the locking
and extension handles for moving the
fence in or out.Photo 4 shows the five speed
pulley housing. The wider green
flat belt drives the lower set of
pullies and the narrow V-belt is
changed to suit the final speed
required. On the side of the housing
is a locking bolt which is loosened
and a hex bolt which raises the
lower pullies so the belt can be
moved left or right.On the housing door are shown
belt positions that correspond to
feed speeds. The lower pullies are
then lowered and locked in place.
This operation should be performed
with the machine isolated from the
mains supply.Photo 5 The only maintenance
points on this machine are an oil
inlet port for the gearbox and a
grease nipple for the swivel point.
(Both grease and oil were supplied
with the machine.) This image also
shows the adjustable compression
spring. There is a nut on the shaft
which will compress or decompress
the spring to adjust the pressure
applied to the wood to push it
against the roller fence depending
on the width of the timber.Opposite page: The author with the Co-Matic AF19
fitted to the jig he made.- Showing how the unit is mounted to steel plate
and clamped in place. - The roller fence sits higher due to the use of a jig.
(^3) 3. Adjustment mechanism at the rear of the roller fence.