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| 1949 Delta/Milwaukee 14" Band Saw |
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| Rog02:
A few weeks ago I was driving down the street and spotted this setting in a "Garage Sale". I slammed on the brakes and backed upped to the driveway. Upon inspection it turned out to be a complete and functioning band saw. I inquired about the price and the guy said "$25?" as if he was asking a fortune and wasn't sure the saw was worth that much. I pulled out my billfold and passed him the cash so fast his head was spinning. "I think I might have priced that too cheap?" he says. "Yep, you did." I says, as I am beginning to take the saw apart for transport to the super secret R&D Dept. of T&E Technology. After I get the saw apart and settled into the trunk of my Saturn SC-2 (yes, it is the 1 ton model) the previous owner tells me the saw was purchased new by his father "after he got home from the service" and had been used to butcher deer at the family hunting camp in the Ozarks. After the father passed away the family sold that property and the saw had sat in the owners basement for the past 30 years without being used. As it turned out what I thought was saw dust migrating out of the saw was actually mummified whitetail deer DNA (necessitating a complete vacuuming of the trunk once unloaded). The owners grandkid had graffiti'd the saw with his airbrush and the saw shows the usual 59 years of abuse and neglect but is completely intact right down to the OEM Delta 1/2 HP motor. The motor pictured is a TEFC 1/2 HP I was checking for fit. An OEM "Open Stand" complete with the factory "Delta Bugle Bolts" The table shows a patina of rust but no pitting so it should clean and wax OK. The original factory Serial Number tag. The serial number shows the saw was built in late 1949. The current plan is to dis-assemble the saw, strip to metal and repaint original Delta blue-gray. While I am at it I will also replace the tires with some of the new generation urethane units as they offer better wear resistance. Since I do metal work mostly I will need to slow the blade speed way down from the 2200 FPM this is set up for and add some way of adjusting speeds for various metals. The present plan is to build up another "treadmill motor power package" and making the saw electronically variable speed. It should be a fun project. This is one of those times when rebuilding a machine should prove economically viable as the equivalent band saw would cost in excess of $2,000 today. |
| Brass_Machine:
Wow! That is a nice find you got there. I am anxious to see the restoration and modernization of this piece. Eric |
| Rog02:
I got some free time Friday evening and decided to try something I was told at the coffee shop. I had commented to an acquaintance that I was rebuilding a band saw and his suggestion was instead of sanding the table with 600 wet/dry and penetrating oil, I should first scrape the rust off with a razor blade and then use penetrating oil and a scotch brite pad (medium grit maroon). He swore I would be pleasantly surprised with the results. I followed his suggestion and was indeed pleasantly surprised with how easy the rust came off. Before: After 5 minutes scraping and a few minutes scrubbing the right side of the table with a Scotch Brite Pad. I will probably still end up wet sanding the table to get the detail I prefer, but for a few minutes work the table is now easily usable. Saturday morning I spent a few hours stripping, cleaning and generally detailing the blade guides. Sorry I did not get any pictures of that, as the rain kept me from running back to the house for the camera. The blade guides on these old Deltas are a micrometer type adjuster and fortunately were still movable. I dis-assembled them and again using penetrating oil and Scotch Brite Pad I cleaned years of rust and mummified Bambi DNA from the Zamack castings. The steel parts all cleaned up nicely and the assemblies worked like silk when re-assembled on the frame. So far, so good! I got a bit out of sequence for my usual rebuild. I normally start by refinishing the stand. I like to get the stand done first so that I have it ready to hold the machine as I progress. I have scratched fresh paint trying to dismount a machine from an unfinished stand and have learned from that mistake. On machines that come to me without a stand I design and build that first so the machine will have a comfortable place to sit during restoration. |
| Rog02:
OK! Time for this weeks installment of "As The Nut Turns". First I need to catch up on the pictures of one of last weeks projects, stripping and cleaning the upper and lower blade guides. Now for this weekends episode! As I stated before I prefer to begin all my restorations by refinishing or building the stand first. It is nice to have a finished place for the parts to be re-assembled without having to worry about scratching things trying to mount a freshly painted machine. As it was. I remembered to snap this shot just before I pulled the last bolts. The rust and stains are from 59 years of neglect and abuse. Bugle Bolts. These are the infamous Delta "Bugle bolts". As Delta no longer use or supply these I am fortunate that all 16 are present and accounted for. I clean hardware by dropping it in a vibratory filled with walnut hull and let it run until clean. After the rust is gone I will paint the heads with aluminum paint mixed with a bit of semi gloss agent to replicate the OEM zinc finish. After sand blast and first coat of Rust-O-Leum Medium Gray. I am not totally satisfied with the finish after this coat so I will probably color sand the parts again and re-coat. The rust pits are showing a bit more than I like. |
| Bernd:
Lookin' nice Rog02. :thumbup: Don't get me wrong here but isn't that a bit over board when you say you don't want to scratch the paint. You are going to use the machine right? So it might get a bit dirty and a scratch here and there then. The saw looks nice and sturdy too. Nothing looks cheaply built. It'll be nice to see what it'll look like when done though. Bernd |
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