Can you Identify this?

[Allen Howell]

I am going to pick this "14" Wood Cutting" band saw up for free this weekend. Does anyone recognize it? It has a crown shape logo on the label, but I have not see the actual saw yet. Do you think it may be more trouble than it's worth? I do not currently have a band saw and cannot afford a pretty one.

 

[Daniel Warren]

Can't go wrong with free. It's a Delta clone. Clean off the table with some Boeshield or wd-40, check the wheel rubber on both wheels, set the blade guides, and if you're cutting green wood a 1/4" or 3/8' 3 tpi blade will work.

 

[Richard Shelby]

That's a "Taiwan" bandsaw like the ones from Harbor Freight. I use one like it every day, but I added a riser kit ro raise the throat to almost 12" to take a 105" blade. I routinely cut turning blanks of green oak 10"-11" thick witht the "tuners blade" from Highland WW
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodturners-bandsaw-blades.aspx

Mine has a 1HP motor which enough for the task. It's not pretty, but if you keep it in tune and adjusted you can make it work.

 

[Allen Howell]

Thanks for the replies. I will have to face the learning curve of "tuning" a band saw now.

 

[Bill Boehme]

It looks exactly like the Home Depot bandsaw that I bought thirty something years ago. They were sold under a number of different brand names and various colors. Jet was one of the other brands. The one that I bought was originally black, but I repainted it hammer tone gray a few years ago when I decided to turn it into a really nice bandsaw. The table on mine was warped so I flattened it with sandpaper glued to plate glass and created a mirror finish. I balanced the wheels and replaced the tires with urethane tires. The belt tensioning for the motor was really cumbersome so I made a sliding mechanism for tightening it. I also replaced all of the bearings and the blade tensioning mechanism with an aftermarket system that was available at the time. One of the blade guides broke and I was able to get a replacement from Jet. Before I finished the restoration project I bought a 16 inch MiniMax bandsaw with a 3 horsepower motor so the restored bandsaw is just collecting dust. It is a pretty good bandsaw for light duty use. It can be used for cutting turning blanks if you take it slow and have a good sharp blade.

 

[hockenbery]

It looks like it will work for you.

Band saws are pretty simple machines.
I have found the Bandsaw Handbook by Mark Duginske to have most of the answers

There are some replaceable parts that do wear out with use.
All are simple enough to change out that I can do it.
Tires on the wheels, thrust bearings behind the blade, that sawhas guide blocks on either side of the blade these wear as the keep the blade from wandering, tensioning spring.

I had an old cast iron frame powermatic I bought at auction for $50. It had been in a Highschool metal,shop and the tires were imbedded with aluminum chips and the tensioning spring was weak. I put new tires on it and put a hardwood spacer under the spring to trick it into thinking it was stronger. Used it for several years and gave it to another woodturner when I got a Laguna saw.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

As others have said, you'll almost for sure need new tires. Tires used to cost 15 bucks for two, now anywhere up to $50 or more. Tires can be a trick to install since they have to be stretched to fit the wheels, another pair of hands can help if you've never done it before.

Here's some trivia...... many years ago (late 1970's?) clones of the Delta 14" bandsaw began showing up in the states. The first clones had the classic Delta round tops on the blade guards. Somehow Delta managed to "force" the import saw makers to use the more squarish guards as on this saw. The idea was Delta wanted to differentiate their saws from the import clones..

 

[Bill Boehme]

The Bandsaw Handbook by Mark Duginski that Al Hockenbery mentioned is the best book on bandsaws that exists and should be required reading by all bandsaw owners. There is more to help you improve the performance and use your bandsaw than you can imagine. If the saw still has ball bearing blade guides I suggest replacing them with Cool Blocks or you can make your own using an oily tropical hardwood such as teak or rosewood. I found the tires fairly easy to replace if you use the instructions in Duginski's book.

 

[Russell Nugent]

Anyone come up with a good quick blade detensioner for one of these?

 

[Bill Boehme]

Anyone come up with a good quick blade detensioner for one of these?

Once upon a time there was an aftermarket detensioner that was sort of pricey, but my standard practice is to loosen the tensioning knob exactly three turns and then put a sign made from refrigerator magnet material on the saw. I also put a dab of white paint on the knob so that I can accurately gauge three turns. I also do this with my big MM16 bandsaw.

 

[Allen Howell]

Thanks, everyone, for the info. l guess I will have to do some reading and buying. For the price of the saw, it should be worth it, since I'm now making octagons for cutting blanks using a chain saw.

 

[hockenbery]

Thanks, everyone, for the info. l guess I will have to do some reading and buying. For the price of the saw, it should be worth it, since I'm now making octagons for cutting blanks using a chain saw.

Allen,
Good luck with it.
If this is your first bandsaw, I encourage you to pay attention to safety guidelines.
If you are experienced then it is more a matter of maintaining focus on safe working methods.

The bandsaw is probably the least dangerous of the big power saws. It is also the tool that has sent more woodturners I know to the ER than any other tool.

Main thing is never push any part of your body toward the blade. And be sure the work has a flat support on the bandsaw table so the work cannot roll to pull your hand into the blade.

One friend was cutting a bowl blank that was unknown to him rotten inside. He was pushing toward the blade hit the rotten pocket the blank fed quicker than he could stop pushing horrific injury. He was in a hurry and lost focus.

Another friend was cutting bunches of pen blanks for his nephew. Cut about fifty using a sled with his thumb in the proper place on sled to push safely past the blade on the last one that day he put his thumb about a 1/4” too fare left and cut a 1/4” off the end of his thumb. Fatigue or repetition caused him to loose focus and push his thumb toward the blade.

Both if these guys were quite experienced with a bandsaw both got careless.

There are too many more......

 

[Richard Coers]

Anyone come up with a good quick blade detensioner for one of these?

I haven't detensioned a bandsaw in over 40 years, with no ill effect to any of the multiple machines I've owned in that time. Only replaced tires on one of them, an ancient bandsaw I bought with babbet bearings with a motor conversion from flat belt line shaft drive. The thing to watch for in these 14" knock-off saws is the tensioning bolt and top wheel pivot. Even Delta suffered from over tensioning and bending that pot metal hinge that tilted the top wheel for tracking. The saw in the picture has the top wheel almost at full extension. Make sure the threads are good on that tightening rod and nut. Also make sure that top tracking pivot is not cracked. It's likely bent already.

 

[Russell Nugent]

I don't detension except for blade changes. I was just thinking more for blade changes so there is less wear and tear on the bolt.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Some things don't have easily observable symptoms such as a blade wearing sooner or sometimes breaking prematurely from metal fatigue. Also, a worn out tire may go unnoticed unless we recognize what signs to look for. The one unmistakable failure is the tire coming off the wheel or flapping. Ozone cracking (sometimes called dry rotting ... see example of extreme ozone cracking below) causes rubber to lose its flexibility and stretch and becomes hard.



A hard tire will cause the teeth on one side of the blade to gradually lose their set which will prevent the blade from tracking in a straight line as it cuts. This is especially a problem when resawing. Cutting bowl blanks, on the other hand, is typically done freehand so it doesn't require much more than a blade sharp enough to cut wood. Leaving a blade tensioned is also bad for the rubber because it will take longer for the rubber to rebound and provide cushioning for the blade teeth.

You can check the tires for ozone cracking by looking for very small transverse cracks ... a magnifying glass and a bright light will help. To see if the rubber is hard press the tip of a screwdriver against the tire and see if it compresses and, if it does compress, will it rebound. It helps a lot if you have a new tire on hand to make a relative comparison. The rubber on new bandsaws is far better than it was on my first bandsaw from thirty something years ago, but the tires still wear out ... I just don't know how long. On my old bandsaw the typical life of tires was roughly seven years.

 

[John Torchick]

I cut blanks on my benchtop BS and use a push stick or DIY miter. No body parts close to moving parts on machinery.
Worked in manufacturing when I was younger. Know of too many fingers and hands lost in presses, etc. Knew of one guy who lost his face when he was working on a hydraulic press. He was under the press and, for some unknown reason, it tripped and came down on him. Plastic surgery worked wonders but I'm told his facial features were totally different than before the accident.