$10 Band Saw Cover

I found an old Shop Smith on a local Freecycle group that was on its way to the landfill. The machine was badly rusted and was missing some parts. The motor however did run strong. A band saw came with the thing but it was in extremely bad shape. It had rusted parts, seized up bolts, and appeared to have been out in the rain for many many years based on the rust, bugs living inside, and leaves/grass.

After a lot of sanding, grinding, and cleaning I was able to get the main unit working well. The band saw slowly came back to life and eventually started freeing up. The part I was missing for the band saw was the cover. Shop Smith still makes covers but to have one shipped to me was around $75. I wasn't totally sure the saw was going to work or hold up so I figured I'd build a band saw cover first and see how the machine performed.

The cover was made of thin plywood. I cut a rough shape and then bolted it to the saw. I traced a line around the housing and just used a jig saw to cut out the pattern. I then used 2x4s that were thinned down with an electric hand planer to fit between the plywood and the existing shell. I used an old and much smaller band saw to cut out the curved shapes. Drywall screws were then used to attach the plywood to the 2x4s. It came out pretty well.

The band saw works great now. For a while it would throw sparks when rusted bearings would touch other rusted things but it seems to have settled down and runs true and strong now. The cover came out so good I really don't have any desire to buy a new one.

The video shows the whole build.

Thanks for taking a look.