Your in a good place, you can sit back and wait. There's probably not a lot of guys willing to take a machine like that and put the time and money in to it. So let them sit on it for a while and they'll likely see their gem isn't quite as desirable as they may have thought. The only question then is do you have the desire, and do you value quality machines?
If the machine is of the quality the other guys say, and I have no reason to doubt them, then it should make for a very nice machine once restored. I bought my shaper in a similar situation. It was in a unheated shop so protected from the elements, but had some surface rust on the table from a spill somewhere along the way, as well as marks from having been used as an anvil. Also had it's share of paint splatters and a short list of things that needed attention after years of neglect. I spent some money and time, new bearings, belts, a bunch of odds and ends and a LOT of cleaning.....but now have one of the best shapers ever made for less money than I could have bought it for used in running condition. I just have to get around to a solution for slower speeds once I have a few extra bucks again. As far as age goes it's not necessarily a bad thing. My shaper was made in 69' and I'll put it against any new shaper under $10k made today
So unless your in a rush for a saw, let them sit on it for a while. Your obviously not committed to it anyway so you have nothing to lose. Either they come down to the price you think is fair and get a nice piece of equipment to rebuild, or they don't and your no worse off!
Hey Brad .. Good for you .. Meber makes a good saw. Rebuilding a bandsaw is actually pretty simple .. I am about to start a General Canadian planer and can see right away that its going to be a much bigger job than the bandsaw.
With the bandsaw, most parts are easy to get at .. Remove one part, to get at the other .. More complicated tools can mean removing lots of parts to get at a simple small part .. not sure if that makes sense ..
I will post some pictures for you of my refurb on my SCM 600 ..
Before ..
After
Last edited by Rick Fisher; 10-13-2012 at 7:13 PM.
The doors on mine where trashed.. The machine had no lower guide, it was gone, as was the post that held it. It was a machine that broke blades and the broken blades destroyed the doors .. People had screwed things to the doors .. It was kinda sad .. So I had a body shop repair them and paint them . The logo was done by a sign shop .. Its vinyl letters .. They have been on the top door for about 3 years ( guessing ) .. and no issues at all..
I had planned on painting the green on the bandsaw, but after cleaning it, the paint was actually okay .. Here is a picture of it before cleaning ..
And after many hours of cleaning ..
I removed the wheels .. Had to buy a puller .. All I can say on pullers is get the bigger one .. lol
Cleaned and painted the wheels, bearings, cleaned and painted the upper wheel support and tension..
New tires, some parts from SCM, Some custom parts .. lower guide bar was made at a local machine shop for $20.00 ..
The costly parts where the motor which I spent $500 on .. The guides where $300.00 and a new mag starter was about $100.00
Those pictures are a good example .. Original paint was fine .. just nasty amounts of cleaning and scrubbing .. I bought some of that white UD whatever plastic and made the dust box piece..
I would have installed a VFD on the saw for the 3hp x 3ph motor .. It would have saved me $300.00
I would have rebuilt the Carter guides.. parts are all available ..
And I would have only needed an on - off switch because the VFD would negate the new starter ..
I got the tires from Sulphur grove, they do urethane tires in whatever size you want, but I would have bought the T-shaped rubber tires from SCM if I did it again ..
As I said .. Bandsaws are pretty basic.. good starter project .. I am going to try a planer next and expect it to be much more complicated..
As you can see, it is in rough shape, but fixable, especially for the price I paid.
It is being delivered on Thursday, so more detailed pictures then.
One question: It needs a new magnetic switch. Any idea where I could get one? I know Grizzly sells them, and I'm considering that as a solution since they are cheap (60-70), though and OEM style switch would be nice. I think the Grizzly magnetic switches can be plugged into the door microswitches and the footbrake switch if I remember correctly.
The original switch is still there, but defective. It is very similar to the MiniMax switches of the same vintage and are well known for being defective.
At the moment, it is rigged up with a 220V switch that the owner put on. It is not a magnetic switch, and it is also bypassing the microswitches on the doors and brake.
If anyone knows if the euro style magnetic switches can be fixed, that would be great. I'll know more on Thursday when I get it in the shop and start digging into its problems.
I'll leave the electrical questions to those better informed. However you asked about cleaners and one that I've grown to like a lot is a heavy duty foaming cleaner made by Dymon. Spray the stuff on and let the foam do the heavy work. It'll eat threw just about anything but the paint, sometimes you'll need to help it out a bit with a plastic putty knife or brush, but it does a good job. Only place I know to get it is through MSC.
It actually looks pretty darn nice to me .. It needs you .. living in a neglected environment .. It just needs a good home and an owner who isn't afraid of some hard work .
Well, the bandsaw is in the stable, and I started teardown and cleaning tonight.
One big mishap, is that the another piece of machinery fell against the bottom door during transport. I was a bit annoyed, but he dropped $100 off the price. For $600, it isn't pretty, but this thing is a tank!
I previously owned a Grizzly 20" welded frame saw and this Meber is light years better quality (despite the rust)
Here are the delivery pics, the dent and in the next posts the cleanup and tear down begins (pics tomorrow).
WD-40 and a scotchbrite pad with a ROS really does wonders for rust.
The dent from the outside. The jointer fared worse, but I got the jointer for free. It isn't a catastrophe, the fence came loose and became a projectile and broke. Not ideal, but it will still make boards flat and 90 degrees. More on the jointer when I start on it.
Wow, glad you bought it! That is the same saw I have in my shop, mine is a little younger I'm guessing based on the electrics. Mine has the modern lockable on/off (every machine has to have a lock out/tag out for some years now) dial switch and a second large red mushroom type off switch magnetic disconnect. Its soft start, micro switches on doors and breaks. Sucks about the door there, bet a body shop could fix that easily. They are real solid machines in use, the frame is rigid like a tank and the guides are very solid. I've used lagunas, a few larger grizzly's and a MM20, I'd put this odd brand right in there near the top of the list, strange I'd never heard of them before I stumbled into mine. You might be able to get a modern version of the broken switches from Meber directly. I'm sure that would't be cheaper than one out of the Grizzly catalogue, but I'm equally sure it would be a more elegant solution. But either one will start and stop the thing. Its pretty redundant to have the red mushroom, but I must admit I do use it frequently.
Enjoy that saw and congrats on a nice score. Can't wait to see the pics with wood going through it! I just sawed some 12 1/2" hard maple with mine, no problems.
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