Old Iron Bandsaw Question....

[Todd Davidson]

Saw an ad on Craigslist yesterday morning simply stating Bandsaw with the below picture....

Long story short, I came home with a Walker Turner Metal & Wood Cutting Bandsaw....

Question: It has a GE 2HP 3 Phase Motor on it.... Any idea if the motor is original? I'm debating between purchasing a phase converter or swapping out the motor for a single phase. I'd be more inclined to keep the 3 phase if it was original....

Original owner used it to create custom chopper motorcycles in the 60s and it has sat unsed since the early 70s - or so I hear form the original owner's son who sold me the machine...

Machine appears to be complete - table is flat and the wheels spin freely....There are fence rails on the saw, but no fence (fella I bought it from said he'd call me if he finds the fence). Was a fence originally included?

Anyway.... Once I get some help tomorrow getting it out of my truck I'll post some pics for you old iron fans....

Now what to do with my 14" Delta....


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[glenn bradley]

Now what to do with my 14" Delta....

Keep it, of course. Congrats on a nice machine.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Great find, old iron bandsaws can be incredible! Interesting history too. Defiantly keep the old one too, you can have the big saw set up with a resaw blade and put a utility blade in the other for example.

[Dave Cav]

I'm looking forward to some better pictures, too. I would keep the three phase motor and put a VFD on it. It would probably be cheaper than a new single phase motor and the associated controls. WT stuff is usually pretty good, but they can often have obsolete/odd size bearings that are no longer available. You can probably get more info over at owwm dot org.

[David Kumm]

Go on OWWM.org as there are hard core Walker Turner guys there. There were some quirks to the wood metal machine having to do with speed changes so at least go and search the threads. A vfd is a pretty cheap way to convert that machine for probably $200 or less. Dave

[Gus Dundon]

Mostly, checking the wheel is the priority in buying used band saws. It won't that matter a lot if the motor is replaced or not, if the motor is working then it's fine.