Band Saw Gloat... :)

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brownsfn2

brownsfn2

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Joined
Jun 23, 2011
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Location
Plain City, OH
I have been looking for a good band saw on Craig's list for a while. I was looking at a 1981 Delta ($250) that was about 1.5 hours drive from my house. I had not had the time to get out there when this Delta 28-203 showed up. The guy was charging $175 and he would deliver it. How could I go wrong? :)

I expected all kinds of problems at $175. It runs so smooth and quiet. I think it might need new tires but I am not sure how to tell. I definitely will be replacing the blocks and will need to either clean or replace the bearings.

Another surprise about this was the 1 HP motor. I thought they all came with 3/4 HP so I was really happy for that. I plan on adding a riser block.

I still have some questions though if any of you guys happent to know:

Are cool blocks the best thing to get? Or the Carter Products Bearings?
How about a riser block? Has anyone looked into one for this saw?
How can I tell if I need to replace the tires?

Thanks for any help!! Here is a pic. I am pretty happy with it so far.

 
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Congrats on the saw....

I have the carter bearing guides and love them (seem to run a tad cooler and quieter). For the tires, if they are not dried and cracked, they should be fine. If you have cash to burn, get the Urethane tires anyway. The delta riserblock is a very easy to install add-on, you will just have to get new blades for the riser. So make the decision to put the riser on before you invest in a bunch of 93 1/2" blades. Swapping out the riser just to user the shorter blades never made any sense to me.
 
http://www.mikestools.com/download/Delta-Parts-Lists/28-203-14-Inch-Wood-Cutting-Band-Saw-BS2G1.pdf

Parts manual for 208-203

Only trick to buying urethane tires is buy a set vice individual tires. Delta sells generic orange individual urethane tire, Carter sell blue. If shop around can buy a set of tires for same price as one tire from Delta or Carter. Shop around can expect to pay from $28 to $35 a set for urethane tires watch shipping cost.

Removing wheels from bandsaw make removal old tires & cleaning wheels and installation of new wheels easier. Follow instructions that come with tires, soaking urethane tires in hot water before installing.

I bought a set of urethane tires on sale from
Band Saw Accessories - 14 URETHANE TIRES

Tires went on easy, but no crown tires were flat on wheels. Noting in instructions about waiting after installation for tires to form a crown but they do.

Bearing blade guides vice cool blocks matter of personal choice. I would try cool block before modifying your saw with bearing blade guides.

If need new thrusts bearings would go with good quality sealed or shielded bearings, do not know enough about ceramics. May be someone with more knowledge can advise you.

I am one of those few people not a big fan of riser kits for 14" BS's.

Good luck with new saw great buy!
 
After taking this apart last night to clean it I see that I have orange urethane tires on it already. The problem is the previous owner did some metal cutting with it and there are some metal shavings on the tire. Does anyone know if there is a way to clean urethane tires?
 
I agree with waiting to buy your riser and blocks. When I bought my band saw, I had planned on getting the riser. But so far, for what I do, I haven't needed it. There have been a few times it might have been nice, but nothing that I really needed. If I get into doing some resawing on larger material, then I'll do it.
 
I had similar situation with my saw. I tried acetone while scrubbing with brass brush and steel wool.. Everything came off relatively easy. Took about 20 minutes. Yes, acetone is highly flammable, but not a great problem while scrubbing on urethane tire.
 
The 50-50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid makes a pretty good general cleaning mixture and leaves a light oil film. Good to penetrate and get gunk out of recesses. Was well rated as a penetrating fluid by one of the hobby machining mags back a while.
 
Great find! That is a terrific saw.

Your question about guide bearings vs. cool blocks is all about money. The guide bearings are better, BUT a set for the saw that you have will cost almost as much as you paid for the saw. It's just a matter of what your budget can absorb.

+ 1 on cleaning urathane tires! Acetone works well. I never though of adding ATF fluid, but that sounds like an idea I will try at the next "tune up".
 
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Thanks for all the great advice guys. I was really appreciate it. I think that the reason the guy sold it for so cheap was the table. If you can see the before picture below it looks rusty and hopeless.

1/2 can of WD-40, some scotch brite pads, and a palm sander later you can see the after picture. I think it looks better than I could have hoped.

Before:



After:

 
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