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View Full Version : Rebuilding a used bandsaw.



astroracer
02-05-2005, 02:03 PM
I bought a used Taiwaneze wood/metal cutting bandsaw off eBay last week. I picked it up a week ago Saturday and dinked around with it a bit during the week but never had time to dig into it. It ran fine but it is 20 years old so I decided to do a major servicing while I had it broke down.
I pulled the gearbox off today (all of the cover bolts where loose to begin with which is what prompted me to open it up) and I'm glad I did. The 20 year old grease was like wax and most of it wasn't even in contact with the gears anymore... I took a couple of pics after I opened it, check 'em out... I scraped out about a cups worth of old grease...
I also noticed some growling in the gearbox when it was running and I found a couple of bad bearings. Not super bad but one was installed backwards with the seal towards the inside of the box so it was pretty much running dry from day one. I will be replacing both bearings on the input shaft with double sealed bearings. The others are fine and run nice and smooth.
I ordered bi-metal blades from Enco Wednesday and got them Thursday. They were on sale for 15 bucks apiece. If you need blades check them out. I also ordere a couple for my H/V saw. The 64 1/2" blades are less then 13 bucks for bi-metal... Not to bad.
I'll let you know how it goes with the bearings. They measure out as metric so I hope it's not to difficult to find them...
Mark

astroracer
02-05-2005, 02:32 PM
I just ordered my bearings from this place...
https://bearingsdirect.com
I pulled the part no. off the bearing and plugged it into their search engine and I had them ordered in less then 5 minutes. $5.85 apiece and exactly what I need.
Do you guys realize how cool the internet is?
Mark

JohnUlaszek
02-05-2005, 08:51 PM
You think that is cool? Try doing a search for naked chicks :firefire:

astroracer
02-07-2005, 09:12 AM
Yes John... The internet does have it's "uses" :cheers: but my comment was ultimately directed towards "legitimate", "getting things done", kind of uses... I have wasted a good many hours surfing for "stuff" myself.
Mark

JohnUlaszek
02-07-2005, 01:42 PM
Couldn't help myself Astro,
I think you are on the right track with the bearings, if you can get the speeds where you need them to be on that saw your going to love haviing an upright bandsaw. The 4x6's are ok for what they are but you will know what I am talking about when you start cutting steel.

astroracer
02-07-2005, 05:50 PM
No problem John, I can relate to that.
I am sitting here hoping my bearings come in tomorrow or Wednesday. I got the saw mostly cleaned up yesterday so now I am waiting.... I know just having a full size table to hold parts on while cutting will be a nice change...
I do need to change the lube in the H/V saw so I'll do that tomorrow if the bearings don't show up. And I can put the new batteries in both of my digital calipers... They were both dead Saturday when I was trying to mic the bearings... :throw:

astroracer
03-21-2005, 07:23 AM
I'll bring you guys up to date on the bandsaw mods.
It's been back together for about a month but I haven't had time to get the oversized pulleys and new belt until Saturday. Being that the saw is metric I couldn't find any pulleys with a 15mm bore so I picked up a couple 6" and 7" pulleys with 1/2" bores. I'll have to drill and ream them to fit the 15mm input shaft on the gearbox. The 6" pulley will get the blade down to about 105 FPM and the 7" will be around 90' FPM. Should be good enough for my needs.
I was planning to fit the pulleys yesterday but most of it was spent thawing out a frozen drain under my dad's driveway... The runoff was backing up into the barn so I had to do something. Ran a hose up the pipe and thawed it out with tap water. Took a couple of hours but once it was open the water drained off pretty quick. Drying the barn out took the rest of the day... Got a lot done but nothing that was "planned"... if you know what I mean... :nopity:
Mark

astroracer
04-01-2005, 04:30 PM
I have the "new" rebuilt bandsaw ready to go. I had to order drills and an adjustable reamer from Enco so I could sneak up on that 15mm bore in the over size pulleys. Enco had Silver & Demming step drills on sale! I ordered a bunch of "in between" sizes and a 27/64ths which is as close as I could get to 15.00mm's without buying a 30 dollar metric bit. Some of the S&D its I ordered were $2.99! The 27/64th's was $5.89! Super cheap!
I had to do a little notching on the saw pedestal to get the bigger pulleys on the shaft and I cut a hole in the side so I could "adjust" the motor pulley location to better line up with the new upper pulleys. I picked up a new shorter belt and will have it fired up and cutting steel tomorrow. I'll get some pics but it's not much to look at...
Mark

airrj1
04-02-2005, 04:42 PM
Geez are you still working on that thing!!! :enguard:

I love fixing up old stuff to better than new. Sounds like you have a nice saw now. Post the results. I'll be here at work tommorow to read it, just like I am here tonight. :banghead:

astroracer
04-02-2005, 09:54 PM
:bananna2: Yes RJ I "was" still working on it. Finished it up this morning though. It cuts steel now. Works like a champ, runs nice and quiet and I have well under 2 bills into it. I will be adding a work light but that is an easy job and shouldn't take me more then 3 or 4 weeks... :enguard:
Here is a couple of pics...
Mark

airrj1
04-05-2005, 02:03 PM
Ok. My calander is maked for a May 1st update. :wedgie:

Sorry. I'm picking on you and I haven't gotten a thing done on any of my projects in months. :pat:

Glad to see someone making progress.

astroracer
04-06-2005, 09:01 AM
May 1st.. Got it. :smoke:
I am going to pick up a couple more pulleys also. The 7 and 6 inchers I have put the blade speed at 90 and 105 SFPM respectively. I will pick up a 4" and a 3". They will speed the SFPM up to 158 and 210. I would like to just use the original step pulley but that thing is a press fit on the shaft and is too much work to R&R. I am reaming the new pulleys for a slip fit so I can take them off without a puller... BUT, now that I am thinking about this, why can't I ream the step pulley out to a slip fit and use it? No reason I can't! I just saved myself 20 bucks! :bananna2:
Who's my Daddy? :worship:

astroracer
04-17-2005, 12:14 PM
Ok. My calander is maked for a May 1st update. :wedgie:

Sorry. I'm picking on you and I haven't gotten a thing done on any of my projects in months. :pat:

Glad to see someone making progress.


Well RJ, it's April 17th and the bandsaw is done... I know, I'm a little ahead of schedule but I do have other things to do. I had to pick up separate 3" & 4" pulleys anyway. There is no sideways adjustment of the pulleys so the original step pulley wouldn't work because the belt wouldn't line up. I got the pulleys bored out and reamed today and I swapped the 7" for the 4" and cut some thin steel and it worked great. The faster speed (around 160FPM with the 4" pulley) is better with thinner stock.
I also picked up a Craftsman flexible neck task light. It came with two bases. A screw mounted base and a clamp-on unit. I mounted the permanent base to the back of the upper saw guard and the clamp on one will be used where needed. The light can be swapped in and out from either mount so moving it around is very easy.
I have been doing a lot of cleaning and throwing away of "stuff" these past two weekends. You know, the stuff that has been sitting on that shelf for 5 years and never moved? Outta here! I have barely scratched the surface and I've ran out of steam for today. I'm going to take it a little easy this afternoon, watch some nascar and work on the front subframe design...
see ya.
Mark

rb70383
08-03-2007, 06:47 AM
Been searching about the band saw conversions, and I am having trouble finding out how to figure the ratios of the pulleys. How does adding a jack shaft change things. Like when the jack shaft is being driven by it say 8" pulley then a 2" pulley goes to drive the blade. Where is the math for this?

astroracer
08-03-2007, 08:05 AM
Here are a few I found doing a search on Google...
http://www.csgnetwork.com/pulleybeltcalc.html

http://www.binkyswoodworking.com/PulleyTip.htm

http://benchnotes.com/Gear%20and%20pulley%20Speeds/gear_and_pulley_speeds.htm

toddmc451
02-19-2017, 07:45 AM
Loved your posting. It has motivated me to attempt to modify a cheap used 14" bandsaw for cutting metal. Got a "PRO-TEC" 14-inch saw ($100 on Craigslist), looks just like the ones from Harbor Freight. 3/4 HP, 4 speeds, but too fast for cutting metal. I will either replace the pulleys, or go with a jackshaft - haven't decided yet. I have also seen that some people replace the existing induction type motor with a D/C stepper-motor, and a digital speed controller (both salvaged from a treadmill), so I will be looking into this as well. Thanks again for your posting, and for the inspiration! :-)

astroracer
02-20-2017, 06:58 AM
No problem! Glad to get you motivated.
The old saw is still working although I have replaced the "wood style" block guides blade guides with roller guides and have had the motor rebuilt and reworked the switch. I use it almost every day and have had no issues with it for a couple of years now...
Mark