# Mine's Bigger Than Yours



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Okay, it's not really mine…. it resides in the carpentry shop of the university where I work. This baby was in operation up until a few years ago. It has 38" wheels, stands over 8 1/2 feet tall, and adjusts to take blades anywhere between 18 1/2 and 20 *feet* long. According to the brochure, the crated weight was 3,400 lbs. The saw is vintage 1942. I thought y'all would enjoy a peek.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

Why isn't it still in service?

Also if you happen to walk buy it, can you get the serial number? I know some oliver lovers who are putting together as much info as they can get.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I've been here 12 years and I know I've seen it run. The carpentry foreman, whose been here 10 years, says it was out of service when he got here, but doesn't know why. He said he tried to start it up once and nothing happened, but we don't really need the saw anymore, so no money or time has been spent trying to fix it.

I'll see if I can get close enough to read the serial # .... there's a lot of junk piled up around it as you can see.


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## naperville (Jan 28, 2008)

Charlie,
These old machines are great! There is a 36" DoAll bandsaw at University of Illinois at Chicago that I used to use. It would cut very well. It even had a welder on the side to fablicate its own blades.

Tom


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

charlie,

thanks for even trying if you can't get it.

A good closeup of the Oliver badge should show it, Just under the screaming chicken as it is referred to is the model/serial number part.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Gee,

Wonder if I could get that down the basement steps?


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

Please don't think of buying this if your workshop is way up in the attic. LOL Alistair


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Nice bandsaw. I'd like to have it. Thats for sure.


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## matt1970 (Mar 28, 2007)

i bet with all the knowledge and ingenuity of the LJ's this saw could come back to life!!!!!!!!


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

marcb:

Here is a closeup of the serial plate.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

That puts the saw at between July and December of 1950.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Thanks for the info, Marc. We were just guessing.

Right above the serial number you can see where an anchor with the letters "US" is stamped. We believe this saw and some other old tools in our shop were purchased as navy surplus. Does that sound right to you?


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

big one !!


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## Huckleberry (Nov 7, 2007)

Whoaa!!!!!! Where can I get one like that? That would look great next to my vintage Powermatic.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

Charlie,

Yeah that sounds Navy to me, I missed that stamp.


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## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

WOW…............a lot of steel in that baby. I want to see someone put that in their basement…...........LOL


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## Bradford (Dec 8, 2007)

Come on Charlie VP, just borrow it, it don't work, (YET) You should be able to talk them into it. Something in the way of, needing to make more room for a….more ladders.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Bradford: I'd have to build a new shop… it won't fit in my garage!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Wow that's a bigin cool


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## Edziu (Jan 17, 2010)

I used to be able to use one just like that when I was back at ol' ivy. She was a real beauty, probably the same model as this, but with the original blue-green-grey paint. The darn thing took about 5 seconds to get up to speed. Needless to say, it cut anything you put into that blade.


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## docholladay (Jan 9, 2010)

That is a machine that needs to be taken by someone and put back into service. If the school no longer needs it, I would bet they could put it up for auction to raise money for the school or for the shop. Someone would be a nice price for that thing and then take some care in putting it back into service. Something that big and heavy definitely is not "worn" out. It may need some bearings or maybe a new motor. Either way, I'm sure it could be fixed and put back to use. It's a shame for something like that to be sitting idle.

Doc


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

thank´s for sharing this Buty Charlie
but you cuold have cleaned her a little better 
wuold bee a niice letterpress on the officedesk

take care
Dennis


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

We had a huge bandsaw in the school shop when I was in high school but it looked puny compared to this one! I believe the capacity of the school bandsaw is 30". It has caused a few bloody fingers and a thumb that was sliced right down the middle all the way through the poor guy's thumb nail. It still gives me the shudders whenever I think about it.

Erwin, Jacksonville, FL


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

In the shipyard where I learned my trade we had a 42" tilting arbor band saw. When we cut planking, some of it 20'+ long, one person would be in the normal sawing position, one would support the long end, whichever it was, and the third would stand on the table of the saw and turn the handwheel to "roll the bevel" as the plank passed through the saw. The goal was to leave 1/2 the pencil line so that it only took a couple of passes with a hand plane to fair the seam. Those were the days.

Paul M


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## Greedo (Apr 18, 2010)

we have a similar one in school, a "Dankaert" it works on 3×380volts, you start it with 2×380 and once it's at full speed you turn on the 3×380 otherwise the fuse and engine melt. it makes a horrific deafening noise while it is starting wich takes almost 10 seconds, and once it reaches it's speed it becomes almost noiseless.


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## NathanAllen (Oct 16, 2009)

"It even had a welder on the side to fablicate its own blades."

100% pure awesome


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

WOw. Really nice bandsaw. Sad to see it has become a storage table and ladder rest.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

wow! I recall an old Tanniewitz 28 incher I used to operate, I recal it even had a foot brake because the 12 hp motor took forever to slow down. This one by comparison is twice the machine!! Incredible, thanks for sharing!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Its not the size but how you use it - and that one seems to be 'out of service'...

but if we must compare (live and operational at the NBSS):


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

It's a common problem, Sharon. By the time you really learn how to use a tool, it's worn out and no longer in service. The old fellow you pictured here looks like he can still maintain a bit of tension on his blade.


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

Okay - you win. Mine's not that big …


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

But I use mine more often!


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

I have blade envy…
My unknown, 1950's i think, benchtop uses 60 INCH blades !


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

That might even give this beast a run for its money:


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