Stretching My Ring to Fit Better (Video)

New Bandsaw Stand

I decided to make a new stand for my portable bandsaw that will allow me to use it vertically as well as horizontally.  My previous stand worked well, but on large stock it was kind of a pain to use.

My first step was to make a frame to serve as the base of the stand:

Made from an old bed frame

Next, I drilled and tapped two holes into the base of the saw's handle, which allowed me to bolt on a scrap piece of 1/4" steel plate:

The next step was to weld on a piece of round bar stock to serve as the pivot.  This was a little tricky, as the axis of rotation had to be perpendicular to the plane of the blade, but the blade itself is at a weird angle compared to the body of the saw:

I ground a groove in plane with the blade, and used this to square the bar for welding.

I then added two upright sections of angle iron to serve as hinges for the rotation, and welded on some washers to keep the bar from drifting axially:

The next step was to add a clamp for holding the work during cutting.  I used a small woodworkers vise (the only part I bought specifically for this project), bolted to some square tubing.  Again, it was important to make sure that this clamp was perpendicular to the plane of the blade:

The final step (other than priming/painting, which I haven't done yet) was to weld on another piece of square tubing to provide a base for using the saw in a vertical position:

It works great!  Here's a video of the saw in action:

(Play) Shortsword

I finally finished the play shortsword I promised to make for Yulianopolis:

This was mostly a learning experience for me, as I got to try out various techniques and tools (like the new belt grinder).  Still, he seems to approve:

Bevel-Grinding Jig

I decided to make myself a new adjustable jig to help with grinding accurate bevels on knives:


Pretty cheap and easy...just a piece of angle iron, a piece of flat bar, a hinge, some screws/bolts, and some neodymium magnets to help hold the workpiece to the jig (in this case a play dagger for Yulianopolis):

The large bolt on the back allows for a very precise adjustment of the angle of the grind:

2 x 72" Belt Grinder

I decided I wanted to build myself a 2 x 72" belt grinder to add to the forge.  My 1 x 30" grinder is useful, but doesn't really have enough power or surface area to work larger stock.

I'm going for something like this, from the blog of D. Comeau Custom Knives (many thanks for the helpful post!):

So far I've cut and welded the square tubing for the frame, and had some expert assistance from Yulianopolis drilling the holes in the baseplate for the motor mount:

Next steps are welding the frame to the baseplate, and then working on mounting the tracking wheel and tension arm.  I'm pleased with my progress so far:

Welding completed, paint applied:

Test-fitting the tension arm and belt:

Finished the platen and work rest:

The finished product:

Top Tools & Gulliotine Tool

I got a set of top tools and a guillotine tool from GS Tongs.  I've learned a lot of useful tips and techniques from his YouTube channel, and decided I wanted to supplement my forge collection with some of his wares.  Pictured, left to right, are a slit chisel, round punch, slot punch and the hardy guillotine tool.

Steampunk-Redneck Compressor

I picked up a couple of old propane tanks during the neighborhood bulky-item trash pickup a few weeks ago, and decided to expand the capacity of my compressor.  It's ugly, but it works!

10 gallons total

Brass fittings are not cheap!

Goes up to 100 PSI