On my quest to becoming fairly self sufficient at my home garage I finally found a used band saw. Works both horizontally and vertically. Guy was asking $280 and took $250 cash. I could have brought one in from the USA for about $180 more, brand new but it's a hassle.



Went to local hardware store and saw they had a modern equivalent! Asking price is $479.99 Canadian.



I think I did alright, maybe payed a little to much but cleaning it up some it will keep its value.

Funny thing is the castings from the old to the one in store aren't far off despite the obvious age. But I have noticed that many brands are almost exactly the same, leaving me to think these various brands all come from the same foundry, factory overseas.

I started to disassemble the saw as it is rather dirty on the drive wheel. Bearings are running with no play so should all be good! Guards are old, some wear as they are bent and rubbing so will see about replacing them.

Couldn't find much history online but seems Shopmaster is a perhaps the brand name that Delta used.

Airgun Design
I received a barrel and pellet Mold from a well known Airgun maker last week (many thanks to him). So now working on the custom rifle design to shoot the 308 pellet. Hoping to start making parts later this next week.

Thanks for reading, wish my American friends a pleasant long weekend.

Pedro

Thanks Pedro!

Looks like a good score there. Those saws are very handy. You can set them up to be pretty accurate.

I think dozens of people put their Logos on saws like that. To my understanding, Chinese draw up a design, and then factories all over China tool up and make them. That's why you can see differences. Used to be that the Taiwan tools were noticeably better then the Mainland tools that were made to the same specs. I have two Rong Fu (Taiwan Mills R-30 and R-31. About 30 years apart, they are about identical. It had gotten so they charged about 40% more for the Taiwan versions.

Thing is - if you can run your entire business with one tool - then put your whole budget in 10-20 year old German tools. If, on the other hand you need more then one tool - then buy a whole trailer full of Chinese Tools and do creative work with them. . Fix, alter, augment. The guy with only one tool probably still doesn't know how to use it. The guy with a shop full of crappy tools, knew why he needed another, and another.

Gary

The Germans build good stuff, but boy can it be expensive! There's a guy who does fancy cabinet work up here who runs a couple of Italian made joiner/shaper/multi-tools. They can saw, or rabbet, or dado, or carve out whatever profile he wants given the right bits and adjustment. He ended up buying two from the same company so he can leave one set up for long-term projects and use the other for all the odds and ends. He calls them his "Italian Ladies", they're a bit high-strung but they do beautiful work.

I'll end up with the HF version sooner or later.

Lon

Pedro
That's a nice find for your shop . I came across a saw 2-3 yrs ago and bought it . It's identical to yours . It has a 1 hp Moter on it but I never realized you could use it in the vertical position . I'm sure the table got lost in the process along the way . I couldn't believe how heavy it is too . The first thing I did was build a frame with casters to wheel it around for easy storage when not in use . . Hope you don't have any problems finding the correct bi- metal blades for it . I haven't used mine much but I think it was stamped
Duracraft. Good luck with refurbishment/ cleaning process . It's a great way to learn the machine too.

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt,

I'm sure one or more of your bandsaws at work have blade welded on them. My big one does. It was worth buying the saw just for the blade welder attachment. I weld all the blades for my bandsaws. Guess that's 7 bandsaws I have now. Yay!!!! I win!!!!! ...... Huh? ...... Oh ..... sorry.
Anyway, I buy the 100 foot rolls of saw stock, and chip and weld.

There's a knack to getting good welds and tempering them correctly. But you catch on. Hey - listen to this one .... I used to scarf and braze the blades together. Beveled scarf joint on each end of blade stock. Clamp in jig. Braze together without burning up the 1/4" blade width stock. Then clean grind. Then anneal. They held up just fine. I used to even use then for abrasive cutting. Where I'd take a worn out metal cutting blade. Run it at wood cutting speed, and cut stainless steel sheet stock for knife liners. The brazed blades took that abuse!

So; we could have a blade welding seminar if needed!

Band Saws Rule!!!!

Gary

Gary
Believe it or not we have 1 band saw at work . It's a 1980 marvel .it cuts 21" tall by about 18" throat . We buy all our blades for @$58 bucks . They NEVER break just wear out like a chain saw and start to cut bowls. The one set of teeth will take off 3-4 and it's done from there . Throw them out ! We do have the occasional carbide tooth or 2 gets stuck in material and imbed itself . That's a real pain in the but .

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt,

That's a big saw.

Yep, tooth loss will kill a blade. Some, you can just anneal the upcoming teeth for half an inch or so, those will just dull over then, and stop the loss. A big saw running slow, if you are hand feeding, you know when that gap is coming.

I just today had a tooth rip off on my 18" saw. Mine's not that tall though. I annealed the upcoming teeth, but it didn't work on this bimetal blade. So I just cut out and welded a new 5" section in.





Gary

I checked online at numerous 4 X 6" saws. Amazing how many brands are so close to each other.



I am debating cleaning my saw up and giving it a quick paint job. Will see how things go this week. I like the idea Kurt suggested, making a new cart with wheels to roll around the saw. It is a fairly heavy casting.

Saw blades shouldn't be to hard to come by, can get any size cut & welded these days. Years ago at my dads shop we bought Bahco saw blades. I think a Swedish company. Blades cut very well with light coolant, A2, D2 and all steels were no problem.

Pedro



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2016 07:18PM by pedrog.

Well so much for deciding whether or not to clean and paint the saw. Bought some cleaners, grease, gasket making material and started taking the saw apart. With limited tools I used a wire brush in my drill and got most of the caked on saw shavings, grease and dirt off. Someone had decided to paint everything gray.



After looking at a saws online and the paint selection at local auto/farm supply I went with Jet brand colours. Want to be able to see parts underneath without being to dark. Using and almond colour by Krylon, good paint covers well. Other parts will be semi gloss black.

Noticed the saw blade guides are worn worse than I thought. For now will see if it's only worn bushings but eventually convert to the 3 bearing arrangement.

I know it's no great exciting build but it is amazing how stress relieving it is to have your mind away from work! The end result is still the same machine, but clean and looking new.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Pedro

looking good!

Pedro
I understand completely . Your whole mind is focused on the task and it's very relaxing to NOT think about work and such . Hope the rest of the parts are in descent shape for around the farm .
Good luck

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Pedro,

Great looking saw. I didn't realize they were Worm Drive. That's Neat.

Good looking Castings. It's nice to have it all fresh. Now - don't keep it that way. Any tool needs shavings and oil to be "in use". Ha.

Those blade guides are often square blocks in square sockets. Just turn then 90 degrees. Even if there is a worn step in the block face, turning them usually puts enough flat true surface against the blade for tracking it doesn't take much. Often you can turn them backwards. Of course, they CAN be ground flat with a diamond wheel. Point being, it is easy to assume more may be needed, then is actually required to make it cut very well.

Looks like a real nice saw. Glad you got it!

Gary

Gary , Pedro
Garys correct on those carbide blocks . On our saw they are square and good for 3 turns . I've replaced a lot of parts on our saw but never had to buy those yet . I put 2 bull ring gears in it and the aftermarket one has an adjustable screw to keep it true . It's a great feature to keep the lash within tolerance. +or- .003 . You'll get a lot of good years out of you new tool Pedro . Did you say it had 3 speeds ? I see some have 3 speeds and honestly I've never even looked at or ran mine except for test purpose . Yours has the 3 pullys it must be .
Now you got me wondering .

These are some of our old blades . They actually have a system for rolling them into 4 small circles coils . Most guys have a hard time with it when I train them and if you uncoil it backwards then the teeth point in the wrong direction . Also if your not careful uncoiling they can cut you when you open them .
Most people don't even know how important a tune up will help !

Thanks
Kurt



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2016 09:40PM by kurt wag.

Last week I spent a few evenings working on the saw. A lot of cleaning and prep for painting. I had hope to make more progress Saturday but a trip to the vet with puppy and a few others things throughout the day kept me from getting to far. Tonight I took apart the motor. I cleaned it and ran the armature in the lathe. Yup it's bent! Wiggle about 1/32. Motor is so old it doesn't even have bearings, bushings and oil cap for lube!



Getting down to smaller details. New wiring, need one bushing for blade guide wheel and can complete ( I think) Funny been looking locally for a saw for about a year, finally find one and then see another posting for a newer model and for less money than I paid! Murphys Law!

Thanks for comments and sharing experiences.

Pedro

Hi Pedro,

Wow. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that saw has saw-ed a few cuts in its life. That "before" wheel with the sludge coating is .... impressive. Wowwww.

I'm sure you are going to have it "better than new". Now remember - the Concours Auto Shows mark down if you get it too much better then "Factory Fresh". Hehe.

Looking good Pedro.

Gary

Hi Gary,

I got caught up with my "perfectionist" personality and maybe a little OCD. Realized I was going overboard to the motor and mount didn't get much attention. I can do those things over winter. Now I just want to get it back together and start using it!

I should have shown the sludge I pulled from gearbox. Yuk! All new grease, Lucas brand.

Pedro

Pedro,
Hey nice work on the band saw! It looks brand new! amazing what a little matnence can do.... Now you got to get it all dirty again.... Was looking at similar band saws they all do seem to have the same styling. Nice work

Matt

Thanks for the comment Matt.
Maintenance is always important and the thing most people tend to skip!

Pedro