I bought this old Delta bandsaw off craigslist and spent about a month restoring it. It had a missing belt, broken trunnion, cracked pulley, crumbling tires, old seized-up bearings, warped blade guard, and lots of dirt/grime/corrosion (many of these issues I didn’t find until after the purchase, of course). I tore everything apart and cleaned up all the hardware with a wire wheel, 409 / alcohol, T9 spray oil, and paste wax (though I just cleaned/waxed the painted sections, since repainting everything seemed a little much). I fixed up the cast iron table by scraping off some rust with a razor blade, scouring with a scotch-brite pad and WD-40, wet-sanding, cleaning, then the same oil/wax combo. After combing the web for parts, I ordered and installed a new trunnion (amazing the new Delta trunnions still fit these ancient saws), pulley, urethane tires, link belt, bearings (thrust and both wheels; 6 total), cool blocks, zero clearance inserts, various bolts/screws/washers/nuts, and several new blades. I also just ordered a riser block kit, since Amazon had a price drop too good to pass up. I’ll wait on installing it until my current blades get dull, then order some 105” replacements. I remade the blade guard out of a spalted maple scrap piece, and cut the mobile base stretchers out of some white oak. The motor’s wiring was in poor shape, so I redid it with a computer power cable and some heavy gauge hookup wire running to a light switch (someday I’ll replace it with a proper tool switch). The saw now runs smoothly and cuts wood like butter. I have a blank gluing up right now to try making a simple bandsaw box. More pics:
New life for an old workhorse. Good on ya!!! Well done.
-- ♫♪♪♫♫ Saddletramp, saddletramp, I'm as free as the breeze and I ride where I please, saddletramp ♪♪♪♫♪ ...... Bob W....NW Michigan (Traverse City area)
Jonathan, I left the blade guard raw wood since the spalted maple looks pretty slick (I even put a few coats of tung oil on it to make it pretty). I’ll try to get a better picture of it later.
found a bandsaw that looks a lot like bobasaurus but not quite. it is a DELTA. JUST GOT IT TODAY,THIS ONE BOLTS TO THE FLOOR,TABLE IS MISSING,BELT IS MISSING. EVEN HAD THE OLD BLADE ON IT. DON’T KNOW WHAT I HAVE YET BUT ALL THE WHEELS ARE THERE, MOTOR RUNS GREAT, ORIGINAL OFF,ON SWITCH.IT HAS DELTA EMBOSED ON THE BACK . HAVEN’T FOUND ANY NUMBERS YET. IT IS FILTHY. TIME ,PATIENCE AND ELBOW GREASE WILL MAKE IT LOOK BETTER. WILL POST A PIC. AFTER CLEANUP. MAYBE SOMEONE CAN TELL ME HOW OLD IT IS.
Very nice ours is a ‘47,unrestored and just keeps cuttin away.
Its funny…...I made a very nice 11g metal belt cvr. even painted/buffed it out…...then just set it on lower,base unit.Never got around to actually bolting it on…......been a year or so.Its still just sitting on the saw,unbolted….as a testament to how smooth the ‘ole Delta is.Am sure you’ll find that saw a pleasure to use.Flyin
WOULD FINDING A TABLE FOR THIS SAW BE POSSIBLE OR WOULD I HAVE MORE LUCK RAISING THE TITANTIC WITH A PAIR OF TWEEZERS? WOULD IT HAVE A SERIAL OR MODEL # ON IT OR DID THEY PUT THOSE ON BACK THEN? I’M STILL DIGGING IN THE JUNK PILE WHERE I GOT THE SAW. THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND OFFERS FOR HELP.
Heisbert, the replacement parts came from lots of different sources. I bought the bearings from an online store that sells only bearings. The tires, guide blocks, and link belt came from Amazon. The zero-clearance insert came from Rockler, I think. The pulley also came from Amazon, though I found the exact same one later in my local hardware store. The trunnion came from ebay… turns out the new trunnions delta makes are identical to the old. I ordered the blades from Rockler as well, I think.
Oooooh Yeeeeaaaah, baby! Gotta love some old grey battleships. I’ve got the 20” and the guts look so familiar. There’s a Carter swap for it, you know;)
-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog
True, Bob, but they you’d just be left with a new bandsaw. You can have that with a credit card swipe any day you choose. Bringing back a battleship is priceless. You’ll smile when you look at it 20 years from now. I bet that wouldn’t be the case with a Laguna. No offense, Laguna. You’re just the first brand I though of;)
-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog
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