Band saw rebuild

[Aaron Rowland]

I finished the rebuild of my Italian Bandsaw this week. I mentioned that the motor blew on another post. This machine is almost 10 years old and I'm not going to mention it's name. It's been a OK machine and there has been so much progress in bandsaws in the past decade that it''s not relevant. When I bought this saw it was one of the best on the market at the time.

However I did check out out some of the latest Taiwan made band saws and all I can say is WOW! I had no idea they had come this far. I looked at one 19" saw. Weighs 500 lbs, sells for about $1500 and was as smooth as silk on the controls. Had the quick release and the wheel that moves the guide up and down was perfect. Uses right angle gears so it stays put until you clamp it. The wobble in the square guide and the blade guides was non existent. I didn't run it or put a dial indicator on the cast iron wheels so have no idea about the machining quality. If I was buying today I would buy Taiwan and be prepared to take certain parts to the machine shop if necessary. Nothing wrong with that and in my youth I did that a lot with new cars. . Taiwan is so much cheaper the Euro that you could buy two of them for the same price.

On my saw I found a new Baldor with a C frame at a steal price at a surplus outlet. It bolted right in. I took the saw apart . The round blade guide was a sloppy fit in stamped sheet metal holes in the sheet metal frame. So I had a machine shop make up brackets with 25mm oillite bearings. Zero slop and smooth now. The wheel were slightly out of balance so I had them speed balanced. Zero vibration now. The saw came originality with Euro guides. Awlful. I replaced them with Carter guides . Quality and no compromise design. The only thing I couldn't modify was the 4" sawdust port. 4" doesn't suck! And also kills the CFM. There was not room it the sheet metal cabinet to enlarge to a 6" hole I think. I'm still working on that.

So I'm a happy camper, the rebuild didn't cost that much and it's a much better saw that will last me the rest of my woodworking days. First project - 5 bracket clocks.

[Greg Portland]

Aaron, I ran a 5" to the bottom cabinet and a 3" hose to the back of the blade guard (slightly angled forward). The ducts connect with a 6-5-3 wye branch, giving me a 6" drop for the entire machine. This setup does a great job getting all the dust from my 18" saw. You may want to add a blast gate to the 3" drop because it can suck up small pieces if you're not careful.

[Aaron Rowland]

Aaron, I ran a 5" to the bottom cabinet and a 3" hose to the back of the blade guard (slightly angled forward). The ducts connect with a 6-5-3 wye branch, giving me a 6" drop for the entire machine. This setup does a great job getting all the dust from my 18" saw. You may want to add a blast gate to the 3" drop because it can suck up small pieces if you're not careful.

I have looked at the BS cabinet several times and it just does not lend it's self to mods. It has large sheet metal beams on the back side so you can't get in that way. It has a trapezoid shaped box welded to the inside of the cabinet just below the deck. A 4" hole then exits on the side of the cabinet to the Cyclone. I have the same situation with a floor spindle sander right next to it. The sander uses a cast iron thingey with a 4" port just below the deck.
Just for fun I pulled out my CFM testing instruments to retest the set up. The airflow on the band saw is about 500 CFM. Down stream about 20 feet away is my planner with a 6" port. It pulls about 1200 CFM. A 4" duct has about 45% of the area then a 6" duct. 45% of 1200 is 540 and that's about what the saw pulls less a 4" flex hose about 4' long. Manufactures just don't get it and keep shipping machines with 4" ducts. So if you buy anything new equipment check the size of the port and if it can be modified. The rest of my machines were modified to 6".