Having accomplished what I wanted to in the lower cabinet, I took aim at the upper wheel area of the band saw. I still had a few days before the planned righting of the saw, so I might as well make use of it.
Nothing looked in horrible shape, but there was certainly a lot of sawdust packed around things. Nothing was terribly rusty though, which was good. I had removed the upper wheel for this, to make things a little easier.
Once I got it removed and on the bench, I brushed off some of the saw dust, The mechanism behind the tension was refreshingly simplistic.
I removed the second wheel bearing and the guides that held the sliding section in place. Again, not much rust, which is a good sign.
I also took the time to clean up some of the cabinet around where this would be. Not going crazy, just trying to knock out some of the saw dust and such.
I got the whole assembly taken apart and used a wire wheel in the buffer and drill to clean it all up. I used some fluid film on much of it that wasn’t a bearing surface.
The original tension gauge was pretty banged up and bent out of shape, so I got it cleaned up and hammered flat and back in to the correct shape. Then reassembled things.
The parts that mating surfaces that slid against each other, as well as the screw threads, received a wax based lubricant to hopefully not get gummed up with sawdust as easily. The original bearings on this spindle could be repacked, so I cleaned them out and gave that a shot. Worst case scenario, I end up replacing them in the future, but for now we’ll kick that bill down the road.
I got this whole assembly reinstalled back in to the saw, and everything is moving nicely now. I installed the rear bearing, but won’t reinstall the front until the wheel goes back on.
Next up, I removed and cleaned up all the parts to the guide post. There is a spring loaded metal tape that helps pull the guides up so they’re not as heavy when adjusting (bottom in the parts lineup here). Interestingly, I looked at the maker stamping on it, and it’s a mortised in sash window balance. They can still be found, so this was an off the shelf part being repurposed for this. I found that kind of neat.
Another thing I thought was interesting was the bracket that held the guide post clamping assembly. It was just a piece of steel angle iron with some slots milled in it. This could have been a casting, but was a good economical solution.
Yet another interesting design feature. When I was disassembling this guide post clamping assembly, I noted that the lock washers were between the top plate and the casting. When I reassembled it, I realized they were using the lock washers as springs between the two. The long bolts are screwed in to the lower casting, and then there are jam nuts on the other side. This allows you to adjust the tension and resistance on the guide post to where you need it.
After all that was cleaned up and reinstalled, now the internals of the upper wheel compartment are now done. I’m rather pleased with how thins are coming along.
All of the main internal mechanical features of the saw have been gone through now. I’ve still got plenty of mechanical items like the trunnions and blade guides, but those are all outside the saw cabinets, so that’s a little easier. I’m getting ready to get this thing stood up soon!
Thanks for checking it out.
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