Bandsaw!

Yesterday, I picked up a band saw for $20. (thanks, Craigslist!) It’s in need of some repair. Let’s see what’s funky about it.

Here is the little bugger now. From the front, it looks to be in relatively good shape. Notice the “throat” area of that saw (the  area between the blade and the left side of the saw from this photo’s perspective). The fact that it’s so deep (heh) means that it has clearance on par with band saws much, much larger. The table is anodized aluminum from the looks of it, and is slightly corroded.

Yes, that’s the back of my car. Good thing you can’t see the floors.

Here’s the first real problem, easily solved. The safety key for the power switch is missing. The guy I bought it from had one that fit his Sears table saw, and so he didn’t need to get a replacement. I am not so lucky. Still, it’s only $6 at Sears to replace, so then I’m out only $26 for a very capable band saw.

Now this is the real problem. No, not the sawdust, the drive pulley. You can barely see it from the photo (it’s the black plastic thing just left of center on the photo), but it’s backed off about 1/2″ from the motor spindle, and it appears to be stripped of its timing belt teeth on the pulley itself. This means that when you turn it on, the spindle will rotate furiously, but the timing belt and the idling pulley on the other end of that belt don’t move, which means the saw blade doesn’t move.

Sears sells a replacement for $13.50 online. So  now the bandsaw will cost me at least $39.50, but that’s still a bargain.

If you look at the inside of the front panel, you can see where the drive pulley has been rubbing up against the panel, wearing a nice donut shape through the paint to the bare metal. Good times.

Finally, the back side of the saw, which shows some rust pitting on several parts. Again, mostly cosmetic, but should be addressed with a nice cleaning. Basically,  some hardware replacement will  be needed if the rust can’t be cleaned off. Also, I would imagine that replacing the capacitor on the motor would be a useful thing to do. Then a coat of rust-resistant paint over the pieces and this should be a serviceable saw.

I’ll write more as the cleanup of this particular tool progresses, and hopefully it will actually work here pretty soon.

Update 4:50pm, March 3: Having ordered the parts on Sears.com, I didn’t take into account sales  tax and shipping, so the total for the key and the pulley is $30 delivered. I should get those parts next Tuesday. So I have between now and then to clean this little beasty up.

Peace.