Converting Delta Saw to Metal Cutting  

Because of these videos I decide to restore the 14” delta I grew up with! Needs a new base and general fix up. My dad purchased it used 43 years ago

I am willing to bet every time you say nobody is going to do this there are hundreds if not thousands of people saying oh yes I am!!! Me for one. I purchased a Delta wood band saw new in 1993 when I was heavy into wood working. Now I have added a metal lathe and milling machine to my shop and need a good metal band saw. So this interest's me a lot. Keep your wonderful idea's comming

Most people probably have no idea what the advantages are of a vertical bandsaw. My only exposure to one was a 2,000lb DO-ALL bandsaw in my high school shop. I've never seen small versions for home hobbyists until a few years ago when people began adapting Milwaukee Portaband bandsaws for upright use in a DIY table frame. I've still not abandoned the dream of shoe horning a small DO-ALL into my shop one day.

I will be trying this out on one of my wood working band saws. Thank you for all of the wonderful educational content of your videos. Just grateful you are teaching so many things. For free.

Good morning Mr. Pete! Thanks for the shout out, I’m glad you liked the PM article. Even if few viewers actually do this same conversion, we all learn from your experiences, taking what we can and applying it in other situations. Even something as simple as how you fit the 12” pulley to the saw shaft will get filed away and possibly applied in the future. Thanks for all you do!

I really enjoyed these videos so far. While the exact specifications may not apply to many people watching, the theory, the method and problem solving are all incredibly useful to someone wanting to do a similar project. I greatly appreciate all your efforts.

I really like this conversation project and look forward to seeing the final product! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for all the hard work. I too converted my 14" bandsaw using a DC tread mill motor, 1 1/2" motor pulley and a 14" pulley to complete the task. ENJOYED this!!!!

Thank you mr pete. U gave me inspiration to get out in the garage and work on mine. I'm using a 1725 motor with a 19to1 right angle reducer. Got it mocked up and spinning. Now to just finalize and permanently get it all mounted.

Thank you for putting these videos together. I’ve been looking forward to seeing your different methods of speed reduction for these 14” band saws. Can’t wait for the next attempt!

Mr. Pete, I have the 10in version of that saw. This type of modification is exactly what I will be doing to it in the future. Though it might be a bit as I'll be making some gears to make my own gearbox. Thank you for your videos and being our RU-vid shop teacher.

True I might now have this bandsaw or the pull gear! But your video's give ideas to help us 1) think about future projects! and 2) to help us see what it would take to achieve something - this will close the gap for some of us to go out and buy or some way obtain the parts needed to build what you have done here! Thank You !! Liked !!

Nicely done. I did a Harbor Freight band saw. And made a jack shaft to slow it down to cut metal. You have given me some other ways to get this done, thanks' Bob

I think it’s a great idea and a great subject. As I’ve mentioned to you before, I rebuilt an old cast iron Craftsman vertical wood bandsaw to a metal cutter with an auger gearbox off of an old snowblower. Works absolutely beautifully, can’t imagine my shop without it. I cut steel, aluminum etc. and the blades last forever. Thanks for another great video!

I hung my portaband vertically from a guitar hanger and use it to cut metal that way and that is how I use it about 80% of the time. Cool project. Didn't know they made some.

I enjoyed this one a lot. I had already converted my 1934 Craftsman for metal cutting.

I really enjoy your video, No doubt you know your numbers very detail. I know now what to look for when Buying a vertical metal band saw. Thanks

This Edutainment is extremely Enjoycationable Thank you very much for all the effort.

GREAT series Mr. Pete. Thanks again for a wonderful video. Entertaining: yes. Educational: definitely. The combination of which makes an excellent teacher. Well done.

Awesome, gives me food for thought. At the present I’m using a portable bandsaw with a table. While this works well, the throat depth is a problem, several projects it has meant a challenge. I’m watching to gather ideas on finding a saw and doing the conversion.

Despite all the issues you had you adapted and overcame. Another good and successful job mr Pete. The blade and machine did its job.👍

Love that you think people won't do this. If I didn't also have the big brother variable speed gear box saw I would definitely to do that to my little grizzly. This is a great hack for the home shop guys. Thanks for sharing.

Well I have been given an old delta wood bandsaw, Just before I retired, and has been sitting around for me to convert it too metal, Your Video was well timed for my project. Thank you for making my life a little easier with your calculations. And oh ya I know why you keep doing this, Your the consummate shop teacher. Keep the videos coming, so old guys like us keep learning, Thanks Mr Pete.

If I come across a delta bandsaw in the coming months or years I think I too will convert simply due to cost savings. I think this is a very good series. Thanks for doing it.

About 18 months ago I went through exactly the same setup as you and it worked just like yours. Now I can cut 2” cast iron so all that messing around it’s nice to know you can cut metal when you want to. I used a 12 volt worm gear motor it’s like a large windscreen wiper motor and 2 pulleys it works fine.

My Dad's solution to using open-frame motors for woodworking equipment was to fit nylon stockings as filters over the input end of the motor, held in place with rubber bands made from different sized inner tubes. He explained that it wasn't a perfect solution but it did help as long he remembered to keep it clean. I remember him turning the table saw off and asking me if his nylons looked okay.

Thank you! I always learn something from your videos

You are a force of nature, love your dedication and perseverance. Everyone is seeking. Happy trails to you.

20 years ago I converted a 12" Craftsman wood cutting band saw into a metal cutting saw with the use of a jack shaft. It has served me faithfully ever since. I like it because it does not have a big footprint and the conversion price was around $50.

Mr. Pete, Edutainment? New word but very appropriate!

Splendid video Lyle! I applaud your innovativeness.

Mr Pete I got a delta band saw set for wood and want to convert it to metal it's very helpful for at least one when u were teaching if one student learned. something u did ur job thanks

Excellent results! It would cover 95% of what I do here and the other 5% could be done on my horizontal...Thanks, Mr. Pete! :-)

It is a very wanted video. I have the exact same saw and several others. I would like very much to make this one to cut metal. Thank you so much on what you teach. Again thank you for what you do for use. Yours truly, Shawn.

My father has this saw and I've been putting off bringing it into my shop. I'll see if I can make a similar conversion. Thank for the video!

Keep making the videos that you're interested in, your viewers will follow. I didn't know I would be interested in machine shop videos until I found your channel.

Thank you for “polishing your shaft” off camera, we greatly appreciate that.

Hey Lyle, years ago I used to build custom welded aluminium boats up in the northwest. For cutting aluminium we always used wood cutting tools. The bandsaw was run at wood cutting speeds with wood blades, and we used circular saws with carbide tipped blades on larger pieces. They'll go through 1 inch stuff like butter. We always used GoJo hand cleaner without grit to lube blades, sanding discs etc. It increased the life of the cutting tools by many times. The aluminium just loves to load up on the tools, but the GoJo is very effective at stopping it. Just make sure you clean the parts after really well (acetone was best) when your done. Thanks for the conversion videos. It's some good material to ruminate over. I have a saw I need to do this to. Your going to save me some time and mistakes. Thanks again.

Really liking this series. Please continue it. This is something id like to do

I for one really enjoyed this video and was also fascinated by it, as were at this point 5,886 others. I wait with baited breath for the follow ups. Great Job proffessor. :-)

Good morning Mr. Pete. Thanks for the breakfast video.

Another great video. This one was a two cups of coffee, and made my day. I know it's a lot of work for you to make these videos, but they are greatly appreciated. I am 81 now, and most of my shop time comes from watching your great videos. I still can't stop thinking, maybe I could do that, then the wife gives me that smile that says "right dear, if that's what you want to do, but remember the stray cat lives out there". I missed the name of that hardware store. Out here there was a store called OSH Orchard Supply Hardware that sold just about everything from tools to plants. It recently went out of business. They had the usual going out of business sale. Your hardware store looks awesome, I could spend hours in there (by myself of course) ;-) . You lost me with all those calculations, but it was very interesting and the end result was spot on. I love watching this type of video, so hope more are on the way. Again, thanks for taking the time to make these great videos. Ken, the grumpy old guy out in Marina CA.

Mr. Pete one of the greatest videos you've ever done !I believe I own two of the metal cutting band saws and I am now a little upset because this one you just converted, Cuts way better than my 2 Delta Rockwell 14 in metal ones! I'm going to convert my third Delta Rockwell saw from wood to metal similar to what you have just done thank you very much

I may not have the exact saw or reducer, but I do have a different saw that will be converted. The issues and principles will be similar and very useful to see the project deal with them. It's of more interest than you might think!

I have been wanting to make this conversion for some time now and have been waiting for this video so thank you for that, I have a newer delta 14” saw and will probably go the dc motor route, so I’m mainly interested in getting the rpm and/or fpm correct, thanks for sharing

Mr Pete, I have given you I thought to be encouragement in the past for all your video's. Please continue to make video's that come into your mind. We your viewers may not view then know do the many events in our lives, but please know that you are cherished as a wealth of knowledge and will be mourning your loss to us for many years to come. So please take the time to any video for your many fans. We may not need the information right now, but I find that your video's are a great source of inspiration and knowledge for my/our future projects.

Mr. Pete, I am glad you did this video. I have been wanting a metal cutting band saw for a long time. They are too expensive. I have always wondered if a wood saw could work. You have proven that it can. Now I can get a wood saw from Craigs List and modify it to work, and with Mustie1's comment also proves the concept. Thanks Soo much for sharing.

I think this is a great topic/project. I've been looking for a vertical metal cutting band saw, but they're large, expensive, and scarce. And judging by the shop forums I'm in others are having the same problems. A converted wood cutting saw is likely the way to go for us hobbyists. Thanks as always Mr. Pete!

Relaxing and having coffee and watching Mr. Pete vid ..fantastic 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Exactly what I am interested in. Thank you MR Pete!

Years ago I purchased a Craftsman 12 inch band saw (solid die cast frame with plastic cover) and they had a speed reducer as an option. It was jack shafts but it was belt drive in and out with chain drive between the jack shafts for a double speed reduction. To change speeds you moved the input belt between two different pulley the whole unit was 12x12x3 inches. It all fit under their standard base. If you are interested I could attach photos of the option. It worked much better than a hacksaw. Currently do most cutting with a metal cutting chop saw or curves with the plasma cutter.

Nice video, I was very interested in converting a old bandsaw to cut metal. Thanks for sharing

Great video! Always enjoy and always learn Somthing. thank you for the effort anf time to make these videos.

Very informative and inspiring! Thanks - so happy I found your channel

Great vid. I have an old wood cutting band saw which I have thought about trying to convert. I found this to be very interesting and informative. Thanks for all your vids!

Worked in a shop years ago with a couple Marvel vertical tilt-frame bandsaws. They were great for cutting tube steel, WF beams and other shapes. To have something like that in the home shop would be awesome.

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for, thanks Mr Pete!

Hello, mr Pete enjoyed this video, all I can. say is you have a lot of passion for what you do ,and patience....,just in case I would like to pass on to you what I did....i went to bay and got a few 40 amp bridge rectifiers an I also picked up an AC power supply..put it all together with a1.0 hp thread mill motor .that I had on hand....and variable pot and.now I have all the speed I need ,whenever I cut steel or aluminum or even wood love the setup and all it cost me was roughly 20 dollars..........good luck and thank you for sharing.......

I really enjoyed this. You're lucky you can get things like those pulleys so easily and cheaply it's much harder and more expensive in other places. Thanks again

We need more videos on the Delta bandsaw conversion to metal cutting Mr. Pete.

i find this all very interesting and usefull as i have a 1950s beaver rockwell 14 inch wood bandsaw. i would like also to convert it over to matal cutting. so thanks for this video and i hope there is more videos on this topic. thanks mr pete.

very glad to find this series. thank you!

I have a shop Smith with variable speed already in the head unit and I'm going to try and use your video to make it but metal, so I appreciate the knowledge.

Have often thought about converting one of these for metal. Probably won’t, but appreciate the information!

I converted an old Sprunger band saw to metal cutting. I used a 1/3 hp motor with capacitor stars and a 50: 1 gearbox . I sized the pulleys in a online pulley calculator. And was able to figure the speed of the saw wheels to come up with the correct speed. I am very satisfied with the performance of this saw. I enjoyed your video. I had a lot of fun building my saw.

l set mine to cut at 150 fpm and with sheet metal it cut too slow so it now runs at about 450 and had no problem with power or burning up blades, also it can still cut wood ok, thanks for the video l for one enjoyed it,

Engineer on the fly!! Love it!

GREAT VIDEO MR. PETE YOU AND I WOULD SPEND SEVERAL HOURS TALKING MACHINES WE HAVE THE EXACT SAME SAME INTEREST, I ENJOY ALL OF YOUR VIDEOS , AND YOUR A GREAT GUY !!!! JOE OUT IN SOUTH JERSEY.

I got the gear reducer to work great. Thankyou for showing that idea. I used pulleys that wont slip. I used an old craftsman bandsaw from the 60s and a 1/3 hp motor.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person with the saw blade size written in sharpie on my saw.

Terrific video, Mr. Pete! I just recently converted my belt grinder to variable speed, so I happen to have an extra motor and step pulleys. I'd like to try this conversion on my 1970's Sears Craftsman band saw.

This is a gotta-have. Got gearboxes of several ratios, will give it a try. Thanks!

Nice Info Mr. Pete. I've Seen A Conversion to Change Wood to Metal. In Car Magazines. Very Good For Auto Shops . I Can't Remember How Exactly they Did it. Great Information Video !

So lucky to have a shop like that at hand to get a pulley the size you need. I need to go some 80 miles and still not get what i wanted. Internet and wait 10 days is my best bet.

Really well done, thanks as always for sharing your knowledge!

Love that pull gear, wish we could still find them more often.

Mr. Pete, I’ve been debating a conversion of my bandsaw but hesitate because I do quite a lot of wood working and the bandsaw gets a lot of use. The Popular Mechanics article intrigued me. I happen to have a 12 inch free running pulley with a 2 inch pulley as part of the hub. I have to do some math but it may be ideal for that application. I will have to address a means of locking the free wheel pulley for direct drive for wood cutting. You’ve got my creative juices flowing with your “Edutainment”! Lol Dale

Great job Mr. Pete! Way better than a hack saw, for sure!

Thanks for info, looking forward to the rest of the videos.

Awesome video! I really learned alot with this one, thanks for sharing mr pete!

I like the videos on speed reduction.

The project came out great, it worked.

Enjoyed your video sir....thank you very much and look forward to more

Great video Lyle I enjoyed the experiment, and I am sure many more did as well. I now need to find a pull gear if that is possible.

Thanks for the video. I have been planning on converting mine to metal for a while now. Hopefully, this will motivate me to get started. It will be permanent. I am planning on using VFD and gearbox to get most of the reduction.

A great video and quite successful test.

I never knew they carried that kind of pulley. I really like that you can weld the hub on. Thanks for THAT bit of info.

Mr. Pete, Great video, please keep on chasing this idea. I need a steel cutting saw for my shop and I’m certain there are may others like me.

Makes me want to got back to Grizzly in Springfield and buy another 14" saw and bash it into a metal saw. lol. I love and enjoy your videos especially this type, lots of fun, entertaining and very useful. Thanks a bunch

I'm considering doing this... .Wood bandsaws are a dime a dozen around here. If I can find one with a stand like that, I'd consider dropping the motor down to the shelf, installing a jackshaft with a washing machine pulley, and running it. I have a horizontal bandsaw, but would love to have a vertical. I honestly don't pay much attention to guards. I also have very short hair, never wear jewelry, and avoid long sleeve shirts in the shop. Most of my equipment could give OSHA a heart attack. Safety is between the ears...... Thank you, Mr. Pete!

Hey Mr Pete, I have an extra band saw and a motor off of a floor scrubber that is internally geared down to 83 RPM. I plan to give it a shot and see what happens. I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you as always for sharing and inspiring. Great job.

I don't have a pull gear but i do have a open frame table so ill have to do a pully reduction type for mine i love this series great video

My dad had one of these saws in his wood shop. It would have been about 65 years old now. I wish I had it. It had no belt guard and was mounted on a wooden stand that he had thrown together. Back then, none of the machines had belt guards.

I'm always learning from you. Thanks

Hello Lyle, You mentioned that the vertical bandsaw videos do not attract many viewers. I for one, watch because I am a "machineophyle", and enjoy your brand of "edutainment".

Been looking for this type of info for awhile. Thank you

I’m very interested! Am about to convert mine. Perfect timing!

The speed actually, seemed fine. What a great store to have at your disposal! I could really, get in a lot of trouble there. Lol!

Your persistence is impressive. Well done thou good and faithful servant of God.

thank you for posting videos on this subject, i for one do not have the space in my garage for a horizontal (plus i would like the utility of shape-cutting plate). im glad to see there are options i can pick from, though im thinking of doing a speed control motor. im definately going to be looking into this series.