1:4 Scale Model Delta Bandsaw

While I'm still waiting for the right chance to get one of these beautiful 1950's-era 14" Delta bandsaws – I found myself just making my own to hold me over until the real one comes along. So here's a "not-quite-finished, but good enough for now" 1:4 scale-model I worked up.

There's this one old photo I've always loved, of my grandfather, in his Mr. Sawdust shopcoat, working at his bandsaw — one that appears to be a Delta or something quite similar. All these years later, over at the new Mr. Sawdust School, Wally has some of the finest Deltas I've seen and knows them inside and out. I'm sure that's all no small part of why I find myself simply appreciating these more and more as time goes on.

I made this little Delta almost unintentionally. I'd wanted to see what sort of fidelity I could get out of my new SLA/resin 3D printer, and thought a little bandsaw would be an an interesting test. I just assumed someone had fully 3D modeled something like this. I mean, it's 2023, there's models for basically everything if you know how to look. 3DWarehouse, GrabCAD, everywhere you look for detailed engineering models... nothing close to a detailed Delta model. Gave up looking and just started building out my own in Fusion 360. To quote Carl Sagan, "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." – a line that runs through my head at least once every day of my life. I just wanted to test my printer, but found myself first inventing this particular universe. It's certainly one good way to understand a machine though — how everything works together, what makes it uniquely "great" compared to similar or modern makes and models.

While it's definitely not dead-on accurate, it's quite close in the ways that matter. Not having a real one nearby to reference and take my calipers to for measurements, it's modeled entirely from patent drawings, old manuals and eBay photos. I made a few compromises just to keep things moving — like the big art deco base, in reality, is built of ~5 panels that all assemble together. The mechanics and movements could all be driven by a little motor, but that's getting into countless little details — I mean, who sells or makes a bandsaw blade this size? . I've collected patent drawings and technical diagrams for fences and trunnions and blade guides and knobs and everything else you can think of — but there's a point of absurdity and spent-time I don't have good reason to cross for now — so I'll just enjoy it for what it is right now, what it could still be, and maybe a few others will too.

(Above notes from the original post over on the Mr. Sawdust FB page.)