Band Saw Broke - good general tool repair info

[ed4copies]

Well, we cut all the resins with my trusty old bandsaw, a Delta 14" that I bought in the early 90's. Replace the blade every two weeks or so (half inch, 3 to 6 tooth model), life goes merrily along. So, last week I replace a blade and the tensioning device will not work. Tighten a bit, slips back to "loose".

Time to learn about bandsaw construction!! So, I take apart the mechanism and find that the long threaded rod goes into a square nut that is nearly a quarter inch thick. Still have the parts list, go to the internet to find those parts are obsolete, with a replacement number for the shaft called out. BUT no replacement number for the nut. "Well", says I, "The shaft is probably NOT the same diameter and tooth that it was, so if I order the old nut it probably won't fit. In short, I figured I was SOL (spit out of luck). So, why not improvise?

Went to the local hardware, found some 5/16" rod and a matching square nut. Took them home to find they are the SAME as the part I am replacing!! Did the swap, everything works!!!

The moral of this story, "Don't give up when the part is "obsolete"!! It MAY also be STANDARD!!!

For the "metal purists" among us, I realize this "stock rod and nut" approach does not use hardened components. Two questions:

1) How long will the "standard steel" parts last (minutes, hours or days of sawing time)?

2) What kind of steel would I LIKE to have?? There is an "Acme" product that looks like the specs are more durable, but I am out of my element.
Is Stainless a good choice?

I expect the "stock" stuff won't last long, so I would like to have the replacement, more durable parts in stock to upgrade when this fails.

Thanks for any input!!

 

[bitshird]

Ed ,Stainless will have a better wear life, but really won't be a lot stronger, Acme screws should be hard, and would last quite a while since the root depth of the thread is deeper and it doesn't wear as fast as a standard pitch thread since more of the thread is in contact with the nut.

 

[snowman56]

Ed
The one you bought should last for several year's,Ken is correct about the acme thread's so maybe you should get a spare. Hope life is treating you and Dawn well.

 

[rwyoung]

Definately go with ACME threads for this application. They are much stronger.

You can get threaded rod in various metals at reasonable prices from McMaster-Carr (google will get you the address). And they will have the nuts too, including square. Fastenal also has these things but it has been my general experience that they are higher priced. However Fastenal has brick-and-mortar locations too so factor that into the equation.

One other place is www.smallparts.com They are great for finding that little doo-dad that broke on a piece of equipment and seems to have reverse metric threads or some other dippy configuration you can't find anywhere else.

The down side is shipping. But maybe you can find a few other bits and pieces to fill out the box and amortize the cost.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Chances are that the current 14" Jet model uses the same parts with different numbers. But, improvising like you did is a smart approach as well. I'll betcha that rod lasts a long time.

 

[George_Clark]

Ed, Try Itura Design, (904-642-2802). I don't believe he has a web site but he has a wonderful catalog with virtually everything for the 14" Delta and Delta clones.