# Old Delta Bandsaw Restoration



## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

(moved from projects post)










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:


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## saddletramp (Mar 6, 2011)

New life for an old workhorse. Good on ya!!! Well done.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

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.


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## RibsBrisket4me (Jul 17, 2011)

Classic piece of iron!!! I'm sure you will enjoy it for years!


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## popeye99 (Sep 1, 2011)

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.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

Have fun working on it, popeye. I can help you with part numbers for bearings, etc, if you need it.


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## Flyin636 (Jul 29, 2011)

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


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## popeye99 (Sep 1, 2011)

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.


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## Maverick44spec (Aug 7, 2011)

It turned out great. Maybe one of these days I will find a good old workhorse to restore too.


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## Camero68 (Jun 5, 2012)

Exquisite band saw boxes will surely be the outcome of this classic machine.


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## Heisbert (Jun 7, 2012)

Your one month restoration process didn't go to waste! Nice saw. I'm just wondering where did you buy replacement band saw parts?


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

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.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

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


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## Heisbert (Jun 7, 2012)

How much did it cost you everything on parts? Got any discounts on them?


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

After buying these replacement parts, I ended up paying almost enough for a brand new bandsaw. Oh well, I still like this thing.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

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


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## Heisbert (Jun 7, 2012)

Good for you! That good feeling gives you more than what's worth the price. Though you may have saved some money from purchasing those parts. www.bandsawparts.com is a good source for less expensive replacement parts for different brands.


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## AHuxley (Apr 22, 2009)

Look at the big brain on the SHILLS today. They bring up an old bandsaw thread from a year ago. Nice restoration BTW. Then they work the conversation around so they (that being Heisbert and Camero68) can shill for one of the sites they shill for… Look at their posts and you will see they are nothing but shills.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

Hah, maybe they're aiming for some kind of viral marketing nonsense. Oh well, at least my bandsaw gets to bask in your attention once again.


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## Jaime62 (May 30, 2019)

Hello. 
My father in-law has a similar saw, sadly he passed away last year. He was a shop teacher for 36 years in Peoria Illinois, and he accumulated many machines and tools. 
We are in the slow process of selling some of those things and someone is interested in the saw. We have no idea how much it costs. The saw works fine, but it could use a good cleaning. If anyone can help us, we would appreciate it. 
Thanks.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

> Hello.
> My father in-law has a similar saw, sadly he passed away last year. He was a shop teacher for 36 years in Peoria Illinois, and he accumulated many machines and tools.
> We are in the slow process of selling some of those things and someone is interested in the saw. We have no idea how much it costs. The saw works fine, but it could use a good cleaning. If anyone can help us, we would appreciate it.
> Thanks.
> ...


I paid about $150 for this one in pretty bad condition, had to replace lots of parts as you can see. Maybe yours is worth $200-$400 if it's in better condition? An equivalent new model from grizzly is about $600-$700.


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## Jaime62 (May 30, 2019)

Thanks for your reply, now we have something to go on.


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