Delta/Homecraft 28-110 Band saw rebuild

[Andrew Howe]

Hi All,

Just thought I would post a bit on my band saw rebuild project. (comments/recommendations welcome)
History: My Dad pulled this out of the junk pile of a machine shop somewhere in the 1960s and lightly cleaned and painted it black and used it for many years
THe motor is a 1/4hp century motor running at 1725 RPM.
It is very heavy.
My Dad gave it to me back in the late 1980s.
I did not know much about the saw except if was likely a delta 10" and I needed band saw tires. Even putting them on in the early 1990s, it ran poorly and tracked worse than a drunk snake...
Well, I had to set wood working aside for school and gave it back to my Dad till he passed away.
So fast forward to 2010 as I am working to create a basic wood working shop in basement and I decide to rebuild it as my shop is about 15x20.
I do not have any pictures of it when it was together, all in pieces now.
Here are my starting pictures.
I used electrolysis to get the rust of the sheet metal and a mix of wire wheel and phosphoric acid on the cast pieces. THere were a few grind out spots on the casting, but nothing bad.
Worst part was the cast iron table as it was modestly pitted.
Below are a few picts.

195501195502195500

[Darin Kauffman]

Looks like a good start. I can't wait to see any other pictures in the future.

[Harry Goodwin]

Andrew: I own it's brother that my parents gave me years ago. Mine still runs great for a saw that size. I was able to buy new tires for it from Delta a few years ago. I have a used 12" Delta as a backup. The saw has bushings rather than bearings but I have tried to be strict with oiling its ports over the years. Harry

[Steve Kohn]

Keep the info. coming. I just bought a basket case of the same saw off ebay. I plan on doing the same restoration.

[Andrew Howe]

Here are some more pictures of the tear down, mainly of the base of the saw. It had some remants of the old delta grey color in some areas and some rust. 195711
I sparingly use phosphoric acid and a wire wheel and it seemed to work well.
Once I was finished I took it to the machine shop to get new bushing and needle bearing put in.195712

I also had to have the machinist (sp?) make a new shaft as the old one was worn out. I am glad I did because I was going to go with a different size bushing and have the shaft cut down and he recommended against it because it was better to keep it a standard 5/8" shaft. He had quite the shop and could make just about anything. He even got me phenolic washers. (total cost for the machine work $165)
below I am getting to the point of priming and painting.
195713

[Andrew Howe]

197438Well it been a few weeks and I am further along with the band saw rebuild.
The hot weather in Atlanta has been great for baking slow drying paint on steel.

Got the wheels cleaned and painted and more of it put together. I ordered neoprene tires from MCMaster and promptly cut it the wrong size (width) not accounting for the 20% stretch factor. So I had to order another one. Although, it is hard to see, this appears to be a crowned type tire.
197440197439

[Andrew Howe]

Well,

I found out very quickly as I was in the final stages of finishing the band saw and aligning everything up that one of the magnesium tires was warped and would not turn straight.
One option was to go back to my machinist and have him enlarge the hole for the axle, but making it true to the wheel. However, as I was searching on e-bay, someone had posted some spare parts for the same bandsaw and I was able to order all spare parts including new cast iron wheels.200922
Talk about luck.
Here are a few more pictures of the restore.