questions about restoring a vintage bandsaw

[Russ Ambrose]

I recently inherited some of my grandfather’s woodworking equipment, one piece of which is a Delta/Milwaukee 14 inch bandsaw. Judging from the owner’s manual, he purchased it in the late 1940s (or perhaps the early 1950s). While I have been woodworking for a while, this will be my first attempt at "restoring" a machine like this. I would appreciate any input or advice anybody can offer as I work to get this saw back in (better) working order.

The saw runs, although the motor needs to be replaced - it’s old and underpowered. I figure I’ll just get a rebuilt 1hp motor. There does not appear to be anything on the saw that is "broken" or inoperable. The wheels don’t wobble or hang up and the blade seems to track just fine. The table is solid and stable. It does not run as quietly as I would like, but it does not appear to be "grinding." Perhaps it just needs a good cleaning. I figure I should replace the tires, guides, and tension spring if nothing else.

As for "cleaning" the saw, should I just take it all apart (clean and inspect everything) and rebuild it from the ground up? Assuming I do need to tear this thing down, can anybody suggest a good resource (book, website, etc) to use as a "general guide to bandsaws" as I work on restoring this?

Any and all input is appreciated - thanks.:)

[Julio Navarro]

Sounds like a great machine, would love to see pics of it.

[Craig Stueve]

I have just completed a similar clean and careful inspection on a saw of roughly the same vintage as yours. Here are links to a couple of threads where I asked the same thing:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31906
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31934
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=32086
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=32427

I hope this helps you out some.

To clean the saw I ended up using the generic "Magic Erasers" on all of the painted surfaces and am very pleased with the results. I may try some mild rubbing compound and see if that would even out the finish a little bit more. But for now I am just excited to get started making some sawdust with this baby.

If you would be willing I would be interested in getting a copy of the manual from you. Either photocopy and snail mail or scan and email of the owners manual would be great.

Good luck and enjoy. If you haven't been around much older equipment (like myself) you will be shocked at just how well built and solid your saw is.

Craig

[Lee Schierer]

In addition to new blades, I would recommend replacing the tires with urethane tires. They will make a noticeable improvement over your rubber tires, which probably have age hardened. Suffolk Machine can help you for a reasonable price. I would also replace the blade guides with some of the new cool blocks. You may also want to replace all the bearings in the wheels. If you take the bearings out you can take them to a local bearing supplier and they will find new ones for you. Get seally or fully shielded bearings. Finally replace the spring with a new Inturra spring. The old one is probably pretty tired after all these years and not delivering proper tension. Lubricate all the pivots and adjustments and you should be better than new.

[Russ Ambrose]

Mr. Navarro, I'll try to get some pix up this weekend.

Mr. Schierer, thanks for the suggestions. You mentioned several things that will be very helpful.

Mr. Stueve, thanks for the links - should be very helpful. I'd be happy to send you a copy of the owner's manual - just let me know where to send it. You should be able to click on my name and send me an email.

thanks again