SC600 bandsaw help

[Eiji Fuller]

I just picked up pretty beat up SCMI SC600 and need to do some tune up. This is my first bandsaw and I have only use a bandsaw once so I am in new territory here.

I started playing around with it and see that I need to change the tires, fix the brake (new pad?), and adjust the upper arm so that it is parrallel to the blade.

1. do I need to take the wheels off to change the tires? where can I get good tires?

2. How do I get the wheels off if I need to? I took off the bolt and flange on the upper wheel but it wouldnt budge.

3. How do I get the bottom wheel off to fix the brake? and where can I get the pad for it?

4. I need a new handle for the tensioner. do you know where I can get one?

5. Any tips on adjusting the upper arm so the blade guides stay in the same position relative to the blade thru out the travel?

I think I got the saw for a good price but it is beat looking I just want to get it tuned up for general use and resawing 6-10" wide boards to a consistant thickness.

Are carbide blades worth the premium price? Or should I just go with the standard blades. Any tips on blades and there usage would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Eiji Fuller

[Rich Tesoroni]

Answer what I can. I had a older Centauro CO600. Think I have the diagram on my work computer.

1) I put on Carter regular black tires ordered from them. You'll need to take off the lower wheel to fix the brake anyway.

2) Used an improvised puller to get the wheels off. Not sure, but might be able to unbolt the lower shaft from the other side. The shafts are simple rods with the ends threaded. Nothing complicated.

As long as everything is off, you might want to at least clean out and repack the bearings. The standard bearings on mine were seals on the outside, open inside with the space between filled with grease. I put sealed on both sides. Good time to do the belts too.

3) Ordered the brake pad and mount from SCM. Think it was $90.

4) Had problems with handles from SCM, but maybe you'll do better. Might just want to find the right size metric bolt and put a star knob on one.

Rich

[Steve McDonald]

Hi Eiji,
Check out this thread, it may give you some ideas.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t=SCMI+Bandsaw
You could try and contact Rick and ask him for some help.

Steve

[Grant Vanbokklen]

Hi Eiji,
Check out this thread, it may give you some ideas.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t=SCMI+Bandsaw
You could try and contact Rick and ask him for some help.

Steve

Should be noted that the red urethane tires he put on that saw in his rebuild process did not work out for him. There was another thread very recently where he said he's getting an original rubber tire set from SCM now. Maybe he'll respond here.

Here is the thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=112841

[Steve McDonald]

Hey Grant,
I was just reading that post funnily enough. I think this is the one you mean.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=112841
Definitely looks like Rick has cleared a path for you Eiji. His saw looks amazing, hopefully he can get it to stop throwing rubber!
For re-sawing I have been using a Lenox Tri-Master, can't say enough good things about it.
Steve

[Rick Fisher]

Hello..

You should post some pictures of your saw..

The parts are readily available from SCMI. I ordered a foot pedal and fence knob, they came from Italy, took about 6 weeks.

If you need an owners manual, send me a PM with your email address and I will send you a copy..

The tires are a " T " style.. I tried the Urethane but the top tire wont stay put.. Get the tires from SCMI and you can avoid the frustration I am having right now.. The Urethane has been on since last fall and is only a problem now.. so I cant figure if its the hot weather or what the problem is..

Removing the wheels is pretty easy, I used a 6" Gear puller, a bigger one would be even better.. Getting them back on .. that is a chore.. Of course your fighting bearings.. so perhaps each saw is different.

I did my saw, top to bottom.. Feel free to ask me anything, I will be glad to help... I just installed a 1" Tri-Master on mine, tensioning is no problem.

When you get it done, you will be impressed.. Its a real work horse.. I have resawn 10" Sapeli with mine now and it seemed irrelevant to the saw. The weakest link is the blade..

[Rye Crane]

Eiji,

You have a great saw and from the advice others have given you it should be fairly strightforward to get it all done. I also have a MM24 the new style with the 24" resaw capacity. It's a real workhorse. When you get your new rubber tires on, one thing I did was to make a fixture out of two pieces of scrap hinged at one end and I countersunk a bolt with a nut between the two pieces of scrap wood so I could raise the top piece into the tire. I used a festool hook and loop base just screwed it on and put a piece of 80 grit sandpaper on it. Then I rotated the wheel by hand as I gently raised the sanding jig into the wheel. In just 5 or 6 rotations it was making contact all around the wheel, I took off the high spots on the tire making the blade stay put and to quiet any vibration.

I also tried using Carter guides instead of the euro guides supplied by Centauro. I couldn't get the lower guides to work, I think I needed a longer shaft to bring the guides out more. I returned them for a full refund, too bad. What I then did was to polish the faces of the euro guides and it further quieted down the saw when adjusted just off the blade.

I replaced my belts, make sure you get the metric sized belts, they aren't expensive. I got mine from a local industrial belt supplier. I ended up removing the lower wheel, just to see how it all worked. Just loosen two of the bolts on the east&west locations. Leave the north/south alone. It will just slide right off the shaft and it's not all that heavy. Getting it back on is easier than remounting a tire from my Honda Odyssey. Just tighten back up equally on both sides and you are good to go.

As far as adjusting your upper column. You can take the flange off and there are some bolts to adjust it. Easily adjusted.

I also use the Lennox 1" trimaster, it's cut quality is excellent, you don't have to joint when resawing just keep pushing the wood through it's cut is so smoooooooooth.

You should have a bandsaw to give to the kids when you are finished with it. They are rock solid.

Best of luck,
Rye Crane

[Grant Vanbokklen]

You might also want to look into the Laguna guides if your changing out the stock guides. There was a post on one of the forums of a guy who put some on an MM20: http://mysite.verizon.net/resoh894/l...bearingguides/
He also had a great write-up of putting on a Laguna Driftmaster fence.

[Rick Fisher]

I went to a machine shop and got a lower guide mount made for my saw..

They charged me $20.00, so it was no big deal.

The Carter Guides on the bottom are annoying to get setup at first, but once they are set-up, they work great. I try to adjust them from the back of the saw as much as possible, rather than getting in behind the blade.

If you get a lower post made, get it an inch longer than you need. There is lots of room for the extra length..

[Eiji Fuller]

Thanks for the tips guys! Greatly appreciated.

The guides installed are carter guides with the tefloy or carboloy blocks not sure which. The guides look like they are in decent shape with the exception of the bottom guide's rear bearing has a nice wear groove in it. Replacing that is no problem

I dont know if I want to post pics of this saw. I mean it is beat. there are scratches all over the insides of the upper and lower cabinets from broken blades. the wheels spin real nice and the motor sounds fine. I dont have the luxury of fully restoring this saw to its original cosmetic glory but will get it in the best working condition I can.

I think I will order the tires from Carter so I can get the saw running sooner. Then repair the brake when it comes in from SCMI. How did you order from SCMI?

[Rick Fisher]

Eiji

If you are in the USA, you can order from Partspronto.com

https://www.partspronto.com/Default.aspx

If your Canadian, Parts pronto wont sell to you.. So you need to get someone in the USA to get you the parts.. I am doing that right now..

I tried the Canadian distributor but gave up on them for parts.. The last order I place never showed up at all.. They wont call you back, return your emails .. nada.. zip..


The broken blade problem is a bit of a flashback.. mine had the same problem.. I slowed the speed of the blade down to 4200 sfpm, and have never broken a blade.. You might check your blade speed.. if its up around 5200, that could be the problem.

[Rye Crane]

Eiji,

You can call Martin Ranta at 866 975 9663 he's the parts guy for MiniMax.
Your saw is the same as an early MM24. I would highly recommend using either their rubber tires, or if the Carter tires are rubber ok.

You can email martin at m.ranta@minimax.com

Rye

[Rick Fisher]

I would not buy the tires from Carter, unless they are T shaped..

Cant stress that enough..

[Eiji Fuller]

The tires have been replaced before and are glued on so I dont know if I am going to be able to use the splined tires. I dont think I want to scrape out epoxy in the groove.

Thank you guys for all the info. Much appreciated. This place rocks! We need more smilies though. Im a member at talkfestool and they have bunch of smilies to choose from. It makes it even more fun.

[Larry Edgerton]

The tires have been replaced before and are glued on so I dont know if I am going to be able to use the splined tires. I dont think I want to scrape out epoxy in the groove.

If it is epoxy, which I wonder about, you can use heat from a non flame heat source [oven, heat gun] to soften the epoxy and make it easier to remove. The saw is worth the couple of hours that it will take to do it right. I understand being in a hurry and the excitement, as I too have been in a hurry and was sorry many times. Try different solvents to see if one will break it down. I use tyre glue for bicycle sewups on mine [Delta]and it cleans up with lacquer thinner.

Oh, and you owe me a beer....