21-01-2014, 05:10 PM
Hi,
What a lovely day I've just spent in the garage working on this bandsaw. It was very cold this morning even with the fan heater switched but after dinner I warmed up nicely.
First job was to install both new bearings to the bottom drive band-wheel. This looks so easy that a child could do it until it's realized that both band-wheels need to be coplanar (aligned). The new bearings are in cast iron housings and being cheap they didn't want to behave. The actual bearings are installed into a spherical sleeve this sleeve in turn installed into the outer cast iron housing. Good quality bearings ensure this sleeve is free to give lots of adjustment thereby aiding shaft alignment but the sleeves on these two were extremely tight indeed. I tried applying lots of oil and nipping each housing in the vice to insert a shaft hoping to free them up a bit by using the shaft as a lever but they remained very tight.
The housings were to be mounted back to back sandwiching the bandsaw case but it was impossible to align both band-wheels because I couldn't get fine adjustment in fact it was proving very difficult to get the wheels anywhere near so a new plan of attack was called for.
I drilled two holes through the outer face of one of the housings this being tapping size for 5mm. The housing was accurately aligned then masking tape was added around the housing attaching the tape to the bandsaw case giving a reference to work from. With this housing aligned I used both holes as a guide and drilled through the bandsaw casing freehand using the big Bosch drill; cast iron is a dream to drill into. The new holes in the casing were then tapped at 5mm and the housing holes opened up to 5mm clearance. Now I could securely align this housing using two 5mm x 18mm socket machine screws.
Before permanently securing this housing I mounted both housings back to back on the shaft taking advantage of the sleeve stiffness then gently installed the first housing tightly securing it into position with the two socket screws; taking care not to disturb the bearings the second housing was loosely installed then aligned by inserting the shaft then the housing was tightly secured by the four through bolts; washers and nuts; a wooden straightedge confirmed band-wheels were at last fully aligned. This sounds long winded but it was a problem to solve which on first glance appeared easy? I could now pull the bottom band-wheel and shaft clear just leaving the bearings in place; this was a positive step forward and hopefully once the saw is fully assembled the band will track OK?
I can now turn my attention to getting everything ready for the paint job. The hammered enamel had been very thickly sloshed on everything. Hammered enamel is supposed to be tough paint but then I come along with my hand file sharpened at the end to form a scraper and this paint flew off the metal. Much quicker than using my blaster or chemical stripper; eye protection is a must because when I say the paint flies off I mean it; it comes off in a shower with each push of the scraper; the item being scraped needs to be pushed against something solid to prevent it sliding around but it's most impressive to see paint removed this way. Awkward corners were attacked with a Stanley knife and again personal safety is an issue to avoid slicing into flesh. A rub down with abrasive paper and more items are ready for painting. All in all a rewarding day which I've enjoyed. I can spend tomorrow in the garage so at last this project is now moving forward.
Kind regards, Col.
What a lovely day I've just spent in the garage working on this bandsaw. It was very cold this morning even with the fan heater switched but after dinner I warmed up nicely.
First job was to install both new bearings to the bottom drive band-wheel. This looks so easy that a child could do it until it's realized that both band-wheels need to be coplanar (aligned). The new bearings are in cast iron housings and being cheap they didn't want to behave. The actual bearings are installed into a spherical sleeve this sleeve in turn installed into the outer cast iron housing. Good quality bearings ensure this sleeve is free to give lots of adjustment thereby aiding shaft alignment but the sleeves on these two were extremely tight indeed. I tried applying lots of oil and nipping each housing in the vice to insert a shaft hoping to free them up a bit by using the shaft as a lever but they remained very tight.
The housings were to be mounted back to back sandwiching the bandsaw case but it was impossible to align both band-wheels because I couldn't get fine adjustment in fact it was proving very difficult to get the wheels anywhere near so a new plan of attack was called for.
I drilled two holes through the outer face of one of the housings this being tapping size for 5mm. The housing was accurately aligned then masking tape was added around the housing attaching the tape to the bandsaw case giving a reference to work from. With this housing aligned I used both holes as a guide and drilled through the bandsaw casing freehand using the big Bosch drill; cast iron is a dream to drill into. The new holes in the casing were then tapped at 5mm and the housing holes opened up to 5mm clearance. Now I could securely align this housing using two 5mm x 18mm socket machine screws.
Before permanently securing this housing I mounted both housings back to back on the shaft taking advantage of the sleeve stiffness then gently installed the first housing tightly securing it into position with the two socket screws; taking care not to disturb the bearings the second housing was loosely installed then aligned by inserting the shaft then the housing was tightly secured by the four through bolts; washers and nuts; a wooden straightedge confirmed band-wheels were at last fully aligned. This sounds long winded but it was a problem to solve which on first glance appeared easy? I could now pull the bottom band-wheel and shaft clear just leaving the bearings in place; this was a positive step forward and hopefully once the saw is fully assembled the band will track OK?
I can now turn my attention to getting everything ready for the paint job. The hammered enamel had been very thickly sloshed on everything. Hammered enamel is supposed to be tough paint but then I come along with my hand file sharpened at the end to form a scraper and this paint flew off the metal. Much quicker than using my blaster or chemical stripper; eye protection is a must because when I say the paint flies off I mean it; it comes off in a shower with each push of the scraper; the item being scraped needs to be pushed against something solid to prevent it sliding around but it's most impressive to see paint removed this way. Awkward corners were attacked with a Stanley knife and again personal safety is an issue to avoid slicing into flesh. A rub down with abrasive paper and more items are ready for painting. All in all a rewarding day which I've enjoyed. I can spend tomorrow in the garage so at last this project is now moving forward.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
