Very old bandsaw

[pgrbff]

I have no experience of resawing and have only owned a very small bandsaw in the past. I now have quite a lot of broadleaf woodland and find myself wishing I could do a bit of re-sawing.
I cannot under any circumstances afford a nice new saw and here in Italy, I'd be looking at 2K for anything recent and half-decent.
I can however buy numerous old 50cm machines for €200-€300. for instance like the one below. I know they are far more dangerous than current models, my Italian grandfather was a carpenter at a hospital and was missing several fingertips, but apart from the safety aspect, what other problems might I have? I assume they would still saw straight?

Apart from anything else I do find older cast iron machines far more interesting. Quite a lot of work making up a full blade guard and possibly buyin better top and bottom guides.

 

[pgrbff]

Dust extraction going to be virtually impossible

 

[Doug B]

I don’t see why it shouldn’t cut straight if set up correctly I saw this a couple of years ago

It had been restored to working order with Perspex covering the wheels it looked no more dangerous than a lot of bandsaws I’ve seen.

 

[pgrbff]

Excellent, thank you. I hadn't thought of perspex.

 

[pcb1962]

Dust extraction going to be virtually impossible

But hair extraction extremely likely if you lean forwards at all to get a better look at what you're cutting

 

[memzey]

Beautiful machine. Is that a three phase plug on it? Are you setup for three phase?

 

[Bm101]

Dust extraction going to be virtually impossible

You might be surprised?
Have a look at Steve Maskery's recent thread. Even without perspex sides you could probably catch a good percent of the the total dust and an even better percent of the finer more dangerous dust by catching at cutting point.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...tion-that-actually-works-85-efficient.126232/

 

[Droogs]

Looks like a gool solid chassis. Make sure the motor is ok and then stripp and clean and service it. put in new guids and bearings if needed. You can run it without a fence and just clampe a guide to the table when needed or you can drill the leading edge and fit some trail and make a fence to fit that. You might need to retire the wheels with innertube etc and go from there.

When you have time you can make a couple of covers for the wheels and until then just be extra carefull

You can really tell the day they drain a pint and a half of blood out of me by my typing lol

 

[Ttrees]

Lovely machine!
What power supply have you got?
If not three phase, then worth a few considerations...
If you want a machine this size, and don't have 16 amp single phase sockets either... and...

If getting an electrician in to wire up the workshop, isn't an option ..
Then you have only one solution I believe to run a machine of that size.

A very good solution it is though, is a VFD/inverter
I run a 24" machine off a 13a plug with this device.

What you need to make sure is if the machine has a three phase dual voltage motor...
You should see 220 or 240v on the motor nameplate along side the 380 or 400v
like so...220v/380v
Then you can buy a hundred quid VFD/inverter instead of a really expensive one that has a 380v output .

Bit o sheet metal from something to make a shroud for it.
Guides....you can get away with a single thrust guide and cobble something else for the rollers, (timber cool blocks)
Old machines tend to be good for homemade solutions.
With this stiff of a frame it will tension a heavy duty blade which won't twist as much, but pretty much any 20" machine will.
You are looking to do heavy work though.

It looks 300kgs or 400kgs
I would make sure no cracks are in the casting before buying.

Tom

 

[pgrbff]

Unfortunately yes, 3 phase. Originally I thought I'd have to change the motor and switchgear but I'm told I can use an inverter.

 

[pgrbff]

16A plugs over here although I only have a total of 5kW for the whole house. Most people only have 3kW and some only1.5kW.
It is dual voltage, see above.
I thought I was going to get a lot of negativity. I'm so pleased I didn't.

 

[Ttrees]

I personally love having a VFD for my bandsaw, even if I had 16a plugs.
I had a 20" single phase saw before it and seemed harsh to start.
That had to go back as it had misalignment issues, so I bought this for half the price of the new one.
Tires needed dressing which is easily done with the side of a plane iron, clamped to the machine with some blocks.
I chose an Isacon/askpower 2.2kw VFD as it dosen't have the annoying fan running all the time.
Beware some of the VFD's are teeney, somehow with the same specifications,
so ensure you buy one of a normal size that has the dimensions clearly stated, one ebay seller recently sent someone a different "micro version" of an Isacon VFD to the picture,

Here is Myfordman's extremely helpful and knowledgeable paper which delves deeper into things.
Plenty of posts here concerning VFD's/inverters also.

Induction motor information here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_GZrXNsNxTlQzd6aldlQjJtUDQ/view?usp=sharing

 

[Ttrees]

I forgot to mention if the saw has poured lead babbitt bearings or modern ones...
Wallace of this forum would be very knowledgeable on the subject,
as would Jack Forsberg who might have made some articles somewhere,
and the website OWWM (old wood working machinery) definitely has.
I have no knowledge on the subject to comment on that.

Tom

 

[pgrbff]

Thank you all. I'm so glad you have all been so positive.

 

[pcb1962]

Thank you all. I'm so glad you have all been so positive.

Sorry that I wasn't, I'm by no means a safety preacher but the idea of getting my hair caught in that top wheel scares the s**t out of me. I'd make a cover for it before I'd go anywhere near it.

 

[TRITON]

A very stylish machine indeed, love those legs.

Shame its all pressed steel these days, making modern look soulless.

 

[TFrench]

Check out fireballtools on youtube - he has restored an awesome old bandsaw. Of course he has a full machine shop and a waterjet so it's completely ridiculous but its a fantastic 45 minutes or so of old bandsaw awesome.

Edit:
He's done a condensed 10 minute long version as well

 

[pgrbff]

Check out fireballtools on youtube - he has restored an awesome old bandsaw. Of course he has a full machine shop and a waterjet so it's completely ridiculous but its a fantastic 45 minutes or so of old bandsaw awesome.

Edit:
He's done a condensed 10 minute long version as well

Yes, I think he is ever so slightly better equipped than me.

 

[clogs]

at that price I'd have it in a heartbeat.....even if I could just look at it....
dont worry about the bearings lead or no, everything is fixable.....
I can point u onto some very specialised plastic bearing material....
and before anyone starts moaning it's used as bearing on multi million £ ships.....
it's not cheap and comes from South Africa.....but it WORKS...

 

[Doug B]

But hair extraction extremely likely if you lean forwards at all to get a better look at what you're cutting

It would be nice to have enough hair to be extracted off