Powr-Kraft 15" bandsaw help needed

[Rusty Eads]

Is anybody familiar with the Powr-Kraft bandsaws made by montgomery wards in the 1950's? I have the opportunity to pick one up for about $150 maybe less. I currently have a 12" craftsman that I really need to get rid of. I know that 14" deltas and the like come up on CL fairly common but they are usually twice what this thing is. One of the upsides to it is that it has 8" resaw capacity, almost 3" more than my craftsman. Has anybody used them? If you have, do they vibrate much? That is the main reason I want to get rid of my craftsman, turn it on and you can almost watch it run out the door which affects my cuts. I have enclosed a picture of the saw for sale. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Rusty

P.S. I have this posted over at owwm as I know that they are more familiar with old machinery, just wanted to increase my opinion base.

[Bruce Page]

Rusty, I'm not familiar with that bandsaw but it does appear pretty stout. It would be interesting to know who the manufacture really is.
If all of the pieces are there, there's not much to go wrong other than bearings & tires and they can be replaced with aftermarket.
About the worst thing I can think of would be an underpowered motor by today's standard.
It's worth a look and a hands on vibration test!

[Bob Vallaster]

I have no acquaintance with the machine, but I like a good mystery.
This one at OWWM looks like a ringer for yours: http://owwm.com/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=6973
If so, the manufacturer is Duro

BobV

[Jay Allen]

If you can get ahold of it for a good price, it almost has to be worth tinkering with, doesn't it? For the most part, that old iron was sturdy and heavy duty. The quality was there and they were relatively expensive when compared to the mass-marketed equipment of today, but they lasted. It might benefit from some new wiring and maybe even a more efficient motor, but it should be worth the time/effort, barring major damage. Cracks in the major castings would be a problem, because the parts would be hard/impossible to find, but small parts could be made by hand. Bearings/switches and things like that can be had easily.

I just finished a fairly major rebuild on a Yates American 20" saw a few months ago. It was well worth the effort.

[Bob Aquino]

It looks reasonably well made. But it all really depends on the condition vs. the price. If you can get it for around a c note, not much to loose. Give it a good going over and check for any broken or cracked parts. If it looks OK, then buy it. There are not very many over on owwm.com, spare parts might be a bit hard to come by. There is a person posting here right now having issues with cracked parts on a relatively recent jet saw. You start looking for parts for a Duro, good luck. They just wont be there.

[hank dekeyser]

I agree, give it a thorough going over paying attention to the wheels and bearings. Usually you can get new tires for just about any saw- OWWM is an awesome site for the old stuff- get the model # and likely you will find a copy of the manual to download from there. yo ucan search for the saw itself and see pics of others, usually with comentary of where it was bought, what they replaced, how hard (or easy)such and such part was to find, etc. Through the years I have had afew oldies I rebuilt, most times common sense and a little ingenuity goes a long way to making your own replacement parts.

It looks like a pretty sweet saw in the pic, just make sure it wasnt just blown off and a fresh coat of paint thrown on it - if thats original paint, you could have a pretty nice score in hand.

[george wilson]

It looks like it will raise quite a bit of dust with the wheels exposed like that. You need some GOOD vacuum hose where the blade goes under the table.

[Keith Palmer]

Power Kraft was made by ToolKraft. They are still in business selling replacement parts for many items. I restored my 9" Darra James bandsaw for my shopsmith.

[Josiah Bartlett]

It looks like it will raise quite a bit of dust with the wheels exposed like that. You need some GOOD vacuum hose where the blade goes under the table.

All older bandsaws do that, even the "completely" enclosed ones. My 16" Walker Turner spews dust everywhere.

[Bob Aquino]

This saw was manufacturer by Duro. Monkey Ward sold machines under it's house brand name, Powr-Kraft that were sourced from multiple manufacturers, just like sears did w/ Craftsman label. Whether this current company, Toolkraft sells parts for this saw, I can't say, but they seem to go back to the early 60's and this saw dates from the early 50's. http://www.owwm.com/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=863&tab=3

This is the manual for this particular saw under MW: http://www.owwm.com/pubs/detail.aspx?id=1034
This is the page on the owwm.com mothership for Montgomery Ward: http://www.owwm.com/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=657
Take note that models with FD in the model number were made by Duro.

This is the saws manual from Duro: http://www.owwm.com/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2361

Hope this helps