My band saw broke!!

[GlennW]

I bought this Roll-In 20" band saw in 1979 or 80 and it has truly been trouble free and a work horse. I was sawing some plate the other day and suddenly the blade stopped, but the motor was still running. I opened the back up and the motor and drive shafts to the gear box were turning, but no blade movement and smooth and quiet as usual. Opened the front and can just spin the drive wheel effortlessly and quietly, so my suspicion is a broken shaft. Soooo, out comes the gear box for disassembly and inspection and sure enough the wheel drive shaft is in two pieces. (Yes it is Russ!) What's more interesting is it is a cast and then machined/ground shaft with sharp inside corners on the relief grooves that aren't even really needed. No surprise that it broke.

The gear box is actually quite well made and shows no sings of wear whatsoever, so they definitely got that part right!

I looked online and the saws still look the same, and they show a new shaft being available for $325.00, but I'm not so sure that the saws have not had some internal changes made to them over the years, so I need to find out by serial number if my shaft is still available. Just in case I measured the shaft up and made a drawing of it and have some 4140 pre hard bar ready to go. The issue at this point is time, as I'm overloaded at work and need to be doing other things than making a shaft if it is available.

Monday's phone call will determine which direction I go on this project, make one, or buy one!

A little turning between centers, a bit of threading, a bit of grinding where the bearings go, cutting a woodruff key seat for the gear, and a square shaft keyway for the drive wheel.

[Bill Shields]

if it lasted 40 years then it is well past any warranty that anyone would offer.

[RSG]

Nice repair Glenn! Good to go for another 40 years

[whateg0]

Nice repair Glenn! Good to go for another 40 years

I think you missed the part where he is trying to decide whether to make the part or not.

[RSG]

Nice repair Glenn! Good to go for another 40 years

I think you missed the part where he is trying to decide whether to make the part or not.

LOL....guess I assumed he did it based on this comment

A little turning between centers, a bit of threading, a bit of grinding where the bearings go, cutting a woodruff key seat for the gear, and a square shaft keyway for the drive wheel.

[GlennW]

Took about ten minutes to rough one end of it out within about .100". 1 1/2" 4140 pre hard bar.

I had to stick it out and use the center, as the "feed out" method really wouldn't work very well with this nasty, scaly, hot rolled bar.

Took longer to get the tailstock back on the lathe. I seldom use it, so I have to drop it down between the turret and the carriage and then finagle the nut on the bottom side reaching up through the bed. (Fun!) It must weigh a hundred pounds and seems to be gaining weight rapidly. I used to remove the turret when I needed the tailstock, but it's 130 lbs and like picking up an octopus, so I quit doing that.

Now I'll cut it to length, rough the other end, and then set it up between centers to get it closer to the finished dimensions. I'm not wild about roughing between centers. That's tomorrow after it cools enough to handle.

[GlennW]

Didn't realize it was still early. Ready for turning between centers tomorrow.

[Bill Shields]

Ha....none of us actually thought you would purchase a replacement

[GlennW]

Why buy something for $325.00 when you an make it for $400.00!

[Bill Shields]

But for $325 you get a part that only lasts so long. For $400 you get a lifetime warranty

[GlennW]

Yea, I didn't want to have to go through this again in 40 years. Once is enough.

[Harold_V]

Why buy something for $325.00 when you an make it for $400.00!

Chuckle!
That tends to parallel my philosophy, or so it seems.

I'm with you. I am not fond of turning between centers, even for finishing. I do it, when necessary, because of the inherent quality of working between centers (concentricity). Truth is, I'm far more inclined to use soft jaws and then finish on the grinder, between centers, of course. With soft jaws, concentricity is rarely an issue, and the added rigidity (especially for roughing) generally yields a much faster project.

Well done thus far, Glenn. You'll have it finished long before a purchased one would arrive.

H