Delta bandsaw questions

I have an OLD Delta 14" bandsaw that has been in my family since the

40s. It's been a great saw. However a couple weeks ago, I dropped the upper wheel, and took a 2" chunk out of the rim of the wheel. I found a used upper wheel, but the used wheel is a newer aluminum wheel, and the spokes are thicker than the original, which is steel (I think), much heavier, but thinner spokes. Problem is, that there is an indentation in the cover for the tensioning knob, and spokes of the aluminum wheel hit the cover. I've drilled out some washers to space out the wheel a little bit so that it clears, and I assume I'll have to do the same on the bottom wheel to get them in plane, but I "think" I'll be able to get it to at least run. However, the used aluminum wheel I found seems a bit abused. It looks like the previous owner had problems getting the bearings in, and banged up the center hub a bit near the bearings. I'm curious how the bearings on this saw are installed and removed. Is each bearing put in put in from the outside, and is there something that keeps them from going in too far?? I notice that there is a spacer inside the hub that seems to keep them separated, but if there isn't a positive stop for the bearing, I'm not sure what keeps the wheel from coming off, except for the very tight fit. (Hope that makes sense.) Other question is how are these bearings removed? Can you just bang them out from the other side? Should you use some kind of puller that can be inserted into the hole? By either method, can they be pulled or banged out via the inner movable portion, or is there some way to get to the outside. I want to take the bearings out, because the bearings on the used wheel I found feel rough, and I think I should replace them if I can do it without further damaging the hub. I don't have a manual for this saw, so I'm not sure what the proper procedure is for replacement of the bearings. As I said, I'm pretty sure that the previous owner of the wheel had similar problems and partially damaged the wheel, and I didn't want to do more damage. However, I am starting to think that my original wheel might still be usable. The chunk broken out of it is only at the edge of the wheel, where the rim that holds the tire in place is, and doesn't affect the bed that the tire sits on. I'm thinking that perhaps I can get the broken piece welded back on, just to keep the wheel pretty much in balance, and hopefully welding it won't warp it. I'm curious what people think about what my best option would be, ie using the old original wheel, or the newer aluminum wheel with extra spacers? Or is there any hope of finding a replacement steel wheel for this saw? I feel really bad about damaging this saw, as it belonged to my father, who used it for many years, as have I. I'd really like to make it good as new again. Thanks for any suggestions.
Reply to
Bill Jones
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My guess is that your old wheel is cast iron.

If so, you may have some luck getting the broken pieced brazed back in place.

Welding won't do the job.

As long as you have the wheel off the saw, definitely replace the bearings.

They are probably nothing more than bronze sleeve bearings.

All you need is access to an arbor press.

After that, it's a piece of cake.

HTH

Lew

PS: Be kind to your elders. That's what this saw is, isn't it?

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

You might try a product called J-B weld. If the piece that broke out is not in an area where direct stress is applied, it might work very well. Its a 2 part epoxy like product designed for repairing castings. You'll find it in most hardware stores. I bought some in Lowes and used it to successfully repair the housing on a hand grinder - amazing stuff.

Bob

Reply to
bluemax1811-newsgroups

IIRC the bearings go in from each end and seat against machined shoulders. Insert a punch (rod) thru one bearing and drive out the other. Go easy and work around the circumference. A brass 3/8 rod would be ideal. Jim.

Reply to
Jim L.

Why not weld it ?

Now I'd suggest Belzona epoxy resins (as recently recommended in sci.engr.joining.welding) but even JB Weld ought to do it. These would be simpler than welding. But welding CI isn't exactly rocket science and plenty of people do it, myself included.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

I've seen several people try, none were very successful when compared to brazing.

Sounds like you have had better success.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

SNIP

You have a model number? If so, get some visual aids at

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to modern day isn't a lot of change.

Whatever you do - removing material, braze/weld, be sure and re-balance the wheel before you spin it for any length of time.

Might also want to consult with those on

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Like Lew, no answers, but some prospects.

Reply to
George

"Lew Hodgett"

Snip

Nonsense. Welding cast iron is done all the time, come by and I'll give you a demonstration.

Take the wheel to a competent welder and have it fixed.

Dave

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Reply to
Teamcasa

Thanks for all the suggestions above. I'll try taking it to a local welder, and see if he feels more comfortable welding or brazing, and give that a try. I guess I'll also attempt to gently punch out the bearings on the used one I picked up, and if they come out easily, I'll replace them, and have a spare. Re balancing, I'll probably ask the welder/brazer to put on a little extra metal there (I couldn't find everything that chipped out), then I can file the excess off until balanced. This way, I'll know where the extra weight needs to come off.... I think. I read an article on how to balance these wheels, and it didn't really make sense to me. The article basically said to spin it several times, and keep marking the spot where it comes to rest at the bottom. I can't beleive that this would be very accurate. Seems better to somehow make a center point for it to balance on, perhaps on a lathe out of light wood, cutting a dowel to go through the bearing hole and a sharp point, and just lay it on a flat surface and see which side it tips to???? Seems like that would work, but maybe I'm missing something. Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. I've used that metal weld epoxy stuff in the past too, and that seems like a last resort if nothing else works.

Reply to
Bill Jones

Gravity wins all the time on good bearings. May not be precise in one spin, but the number of tries will give you a pretty good average. Then you may use the method they use in the factory of taking a large drill, and spiraling away some metal. Mine's got a couple in plain view.

Reply to
George

Thanks for the links. That's a pretty impressive list of model numbers. However, they don't have my exact model number, which I "THINK" is just LBS, because the different parts of it have numbers on them like LBS-5, LBS-92, LBS-26, etc, etc. However, I found one that is pretty much the same, with a different model number, ie

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I have several other Delta/Rockwell tools, a drill press, table saw, lathe, jointer, however all of these are from back in the 40s, and none of these have any of the listed model numbers, but I've been able to find a tool similar to most of them. Anyway, thanks for the links.

Reply to
Bill Jones

LBS-XX was the system Delta used to use prior to the silly Internationalization of their parts numbers. You'll find these numbers on band saw parts from the 30's to the mid-70's. After that Delta (actually Rockwell) went out and lost all their class.

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your saw is from the 40's you can get by just telling everyone that it's a Model No. 28-207. This link will take you to the "proper" parts drawing/parts listing for your saw.

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I like to have both on hand. The older for identifying the part against the number on the casting in hand and the newer for actual ordering though Delta has conversion charts on hand when you call.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

Thanks. Since my last post, I found the old catalog that my father saved. It's a

1940 catalog, although I think he bought it in 1939. The catalog shows the saw as being a model 890, or actually closest to 892, which has the base, although mine doesn't have a belt cover, but that may have been lost. The saw sold for $48.85 in 1940.
Reply to
Bill Jones

Interesting - the saw purchased today would cost about $676.58, which is right in the ballpark for a new Delta bandsaw.

Reply to
Fly-by-Night CC

They are the same saw. In 1939 Delta was sold to Detroit-Timken which was eventually morphed into ownership by Rockwell in the early 40's. One of the things that Rockwell did was re-number everything from the Delta three digit to their hyphenated five digit numbers. The machines stayed the same, the numbers changed.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

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My $189 (1939 price) Unisaw would/should be $2341 today.

I've always thought the price of the Unisaw was being kept artificially low. I mean, for as long as I can remember (back to the late 80's/early 90's) the saw has hovered right around where it's selling for today give or take a hunnert here and there.

It has definitely not risen the same as everything else.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

Thanks. This is getting interesting. I saw your Delta documents at the OWWM web page, includuing the serial number page. However, I can't seem to find serial number tags on any of my machines, except for the drill press which is a pre-1941 version, 3-6188. The other machines seem to have the casting numbers on various parts, but I can't find any overall serial numbers on them. I got the 890 number off the catalog, but never did find it on the saw anywhere. Perhaps I'm just not looking in the right place. I don't think the tags were worn off, because they still have the little patent stickers and things like that. Anyway, my wife thanks you, because you got me so enthused in all this that I went downstairs and took pictures of all the tools, but then decided that there was too much junk and sawdust around them, so I've decided to clean up the workshop, for the first time in 8 years.

Reply to
Bill Jones

Yeah, we've talked about this before. Either Delta/B&D(is it now?) has used the Unisaw as a loss-leader; has lessened the material quality to keep prices lower or some combination (which is my take on it). They certainly aren't using cast iron bases any longer or even the sheet metal motor covers of just 2, 3 years ago.

Interesting that the Powermatic 66 appears to be right at about that

1939/2005 price comparison.
Reply to
Fly-by-Night CC

Fly-by-Night CC wrote in news:onlnlowe- snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Or volume, freight, marketing costs, other overheads etc., have allowed an iconic product to be sold, profitably, at lower costs overall, relative to the rest of the economy. Having good experience with my Unisaw, how much of a factor was that when it came time to choose a drill press? A jointer? A lathe?

There's a whole bunch of fifty-somethings that know what a Unisaw is, at least enough to lust after one. Maybe not rational. but then, many of us fifty-sometings aren't totally rational on equipment purchases. Marketers are aware of these things.

Hence Delta labeled products in areas/segments where Porter Cable has/had perfectly servicable offerings.

Run your factors against a bunch of other products. How do pickup trucks, computers, televisions, housing, etc. stack up?

Patriarch, cleaning some rust off of Econ 105...

Reply to
Patriarch

Computers are interesting: consider the Apple Macintosh 512k, introduced in September of 1984, it sold for $3,195. Today that would mean $6005 big ones.

The new Mac Mini has a 1.25 GHz processor and goes for about $800 with a

17" monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Reply to
Fly-by-Night CC

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