Bringing a 10" Jet Bandsaw back to life: Part 2

See part one here!

Making the Motor Happy

Disassembled motor

In the last post, we were waiting for replacement parts to arrive. Well, they've arrived! 

Before we continue, to the left you'll see a better picture of the disassembled motor. The staining from the rust that had brought this motor to it's knees can be seen on both the rotor and stator. You can also see the old bearings stuck on both the shaft and in the end cap.

These bearings were on there! The one on the shaft came off with some light tapping on the shaft while supporting the bearing in a vise. The other bearing was a little more stubborn. A little heat was introduced to the end cap using a heat gun, and a little "persuasion" on the bearing with a punch got it out in no time.

While the new bearings went in without incident, I wasn't happy with the way the motor felt. There was too much drag coming from somewhere - even with the new bearings. I discovered during the second or third reassembly (more about that later) that this increased drag didn't rear its head until the end caps of the motor were fully tightened. The culprit: too much axial preload on the bearings. My solution: take the rotor to the lathe and take approximately .005 off of one of the bearing locating shoulders.

As a side note, the lathe hiding in this picture is a Logan model 200, circa 1946. It belonged to my grandfather for longer than I've been around. He had it shipped back to Maryland from Lompoc, CA when they moved back in the early 1970s. A complete cleaning, repainting, and bull gear replacement is in it's future.

This extra few thousandths of clearance made all the difference in the world. Final assembly with the mounting bracket, driving sheave, cooling fan and fan shroud were next. Easy peasy.

I'd like to share a valuable lesson i learned the hard way during this process: Note the orientation of the stator and rotor during disassembly.  Some motors (like this one, for example) have identical ends on the stator housing. If the rotor goes in backwards, it'll spin backwards. 😖

Tire Replacement

Naked wheels

I ordered polyurethane tires off of Ebay, and they turned out coming from a company called Polybelt. Polybely was kind enough to send detailed instructions and an installation tool (the little dowel, nail, plastic tube thing in the picture to the left) with the replacement tires.

The instructions were pretty straightforward, and are as follows (condensed version):

1. Remove old tires.
2. Clean wheels.
3. Warm up new tires in soapy water.
4. Put new tires on wheels using clamp and included tool.
5. Let new tires cool down and dry.
6. Enjoy

Waaa?

So, after removing the last old tire and cleaning the wheels, I slinked off to the kitchen with my urethane tires in hand (after the boss went to sleep, of course - I didn't want to try to explain why I was cooking rubber on her stove).

In a small saucepan, mix a small amount of dish soap into to a pot of water. Add two polyurethane bandsaw tires for flavor. Once everything is heated to approximately 120°F, remove the pot from the stove and hope no one is watching while you carry the pot back to the shop.

That orange is snazzy!

The instructions recommended clamping the wheel to your work surface while installing the new belt. I can't imagine attempting to get this thing onto a loose wheel. That being said, the clamp and the included tool made installing the new tires much easier than I though it would be.

I don't have any pictures that go with this next bit, but I feel it's my duty to share it - and this seems like as good a place as any...

When the drive wheel was going in, I realized two things...

One: With the tire on the bottom wheel, it doesn't clear the housing of the saw any more. It took some rather heavy duty flexing of the housing to get that thing back in there. I'm sure the trunion didn't mind taking one for the team. 😉

Two: The drive belt I ordered (see the first installment of this series) is too short. Like 4 or 5 inches short (At least the profile is correct). I'm not really sure what happened while I was measuring the old one - maybe something shiny caught my eye, or it could have involved my nemesis: Math. Anyway, the old belt is on there now, and doing surprisingly well. I'll eventually measure it again and order a correct replacement. Probably after the old one breaks.

New Blades

I ordered two Timberwolf brand blades for this saw directly from a company called Sulffolk Machinery. I decided to try a 6 TPI Raker style blade, both in 1/4" and a 1/2". This pitch and style should match the type of cutting that I can foresee doing on a saw like this, and the widths are at the upper and lower limit for the saw. (Actually, while the published minimum blade thickness is 1/8", multiple reviews stated that the guide bearing design won't allow for blade smaller than 1/4").

Putting the rip fence rail back on

While putting the 1/2" blade in, I discovered something goofy about this saw - the rip fence guide has to come off to change blades! I was not amused!

With the 1/2" blade installed, I began playing with the blade tracking, the lower wheel alignment, and the guide bearings. Once I was happy with the way everything was running, I decided it was time to see what this little saw could do - and what a better way then by resawing some 3" thick white oak.

Now, I know that doesn't sound like too much, but keep in mind, that's eating up 75% of the height capacity of this saw.

A few test passes

Overall, I was happy with the results.While it isn't going to set any speed records, it was capable of doing the job. It cut at roughly 40 inches per minute. The cut was straight (parallel to the rip fence), and square to the table.

I later swapped blades, and did some contouring work (a small oak heart for she who must be obeyed, as a peace offering). It cranked right along on that thinner material (roughly 3/16" thick).

Wrap-Up

So, this just leaves building a table insert, ordering the proper drive belt, and making some sawdust! This has been a fun distraction from other not-so-fun projects around the homestead. I'm looking forward to using this saw in the future to resaw some dimensional lumber to make casement molding and french cleats for the shop. Hopefully I'll be ready to start putting up trim by spring.

Thanks for following along!