Bandsaw rehab

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ckbarron
Bronze Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 6:38 pm

Bandsaw rehab

Post by ckbarron »

Hi, I'm new to the group and am looking for help rehabbing my bandsaw. It's been in storage for about 10 yrs and has a lot of rust. The blade was left tensioned when it went into storage. Can you tell me what problems/damage could that cause? Would it over time cause the wheel axles to deform so that I would need to replace them? How would I know? Or would it just damage the tires? I appreciate any help you can give me.
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reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Re: Bandsaw rehab

Post by reible »

First welcome to the forum!

After 10 years it is hard to tell what might need attention. It also is hard to know if they is any damage at all other then the rust you mentioned.

Some people leave the tension on all the time, (in my opinion not a good thing) but they still have working machines so I would not panic. Get the rust cleaned off and go from there. If the blade is rusted I would just part with it as blades are not that expensive and cleaning one is a pain.

Then have a look at the tires to see how they look. If they are falling apart then it time to deal with that. They sell the older black tires which I prefer but are harder to work with so many get either the orange tires from Shopsmith or the blue tires off ebay. Getting the old tires off will more then likely be the worst part of the job.

There are some mods that you can make to the bandsaw if it is an older model but those can wait until you have a better idea of what is going on with yours.

Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
P89DC
Gold Member
Posts: 148
Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2017 11:23 am
Location: Greeley, CO

Re: Bandsaw rehab

Post by P89DC »

I bought a bandsaw that had been sitting for years under tension. The well-rusted cast iron table was soaked in oxcilic acid to remove all the rust. I replaced all the rubber guide bushings with cartridge ball bearings. The dried out and ripped tyres were also replaced with blue ones. All is good and no ill effects from being under tension, this saw runs really well.

If you can save the existing tyres it's worth it. On another bandsaw I sanded the tyres with 400grit wet/dry and they're still good after 32 years. The blade was tensioned most of the time back-in-the-day and it was always inside. These days i un-tension the blade but that's a new practice for most of us.
1986 510, jointer, bandsaw, belt sander, scroll saw, jigsaw and lots of accessories. Shopsmith woodworking bench too!
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