14" Delta wood/metal band saw

Janderso said:
I would like to find a vintage 14" Delta Rockwell band saw with the open stand.
Every time I see one it reminds me of the one I had just completely rebuilt just before it burned in the fire.
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Was yours an original wood / metal or converted? I've been seeing a lot of these pop up lately but all seem to be the wood only version, although I think the only difference was the wood / metal had a gearbox built in so maybe cleaner from the factory, but not much practical difference than converting one after the fact.

I had myself half convinced to go get a Powermatic 143 wood / metal saw but I think that is probably a lot more money and saw than I really need. The Delta and Delta clones are generally quite a bit cheaper, more compact and more importantly in my shop perhaps 1/2 the weight so easier to move into their corner when not used. That Powermatic shows a weight of 400lbs, much of it probably in the cast iron base.

I've satisfied the iron cravings for the moment with a small vintage Kalamazoo horizontal bandsaw but unless it is a lot more satisfying in the vertical position than the Harbor Freight saw is I'm sure I will be revisiting the vertical saw cravings in the future.
 
Aaron_W said:
Was yours an original wood / metal or converted? I've been seeing a lot of these pop up lately but all seem to be the wood only version, although I think the only difference was the wood / metal had a gearbox built in so maybe cleaner from the factory, but not much practical difference than converting one after the fact.

I had myself half convinced to go get a Powermatic 143 wood / metal saw but I think that is probably a lot more money and saw than I really need. The Delta and Delta clones are generally quite a bit cheaper, more compact and more importantly in my shop perhaps 1/2 the weight so easier to move into their corner when not used. That Powermatic shows a weight of 400lbs, much of it probably in the cast iron base.

I've satisfied the iron cravings for the moment with a small vintage Kalamazoo horizontal bandsaw but unless it is a lot more satisfying in the vertical position than the Harbor Freight saw is I'm sure I will be revisiting the vertical saw cravings in the future.
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I had a wood only.
I see some Homewood 10" quite a bit. Too small.
If you find a wood only they can be converted easily and the gear boxes are available on ebay.
My Jet 714 Horizontal goes vertical too.
 
Janderso said:
I had a wood only.
I see some Homewood 10" quite a bit. Too small.
If you find a wood only they can be converted easily and the gear boxes are available on ebay
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Yeah I've got a small 9 or 10" Taiwan made plastic body Delta I bought new around 2000. It has been a good wood saw for small projects, but I don't think it would be worth the effort trying to convert it to cut metal. I've seen the HF 14" saws which appear to be vintage Delta knockoffs and like the general size, so I think a vintage Delta would be a nice addition. I've been seeing them frequently on CL usually at $300-500. I'd just hate to get one and find out the wood / metal says had a beefed up frame or something like that which made a satisfying conversion difficult.

It sounds like you were happy with yours so I will keep the Delta saws in mind.
 
If I bought a 14" Delta metal cutting bandsaw would it be easier to speed it up to do some occasional wood cutting than it would be to slow a 14" wood bandsaw down to cut metal?

I.e. Is there a fixed gear reduction between the pulley on the bandsaw and the wheel on a metal cutting 14" bandsaw?
 
The 14" Rockwell/Delta metal/wood band saws have an internal gearbox that provides an approximate 55x reduction in blade SFM when engaged. There are also 2 drive belts and 3 pulleys (2 pulleys have 4 steps each), so the saw ends up with 8 speeds total (40, 60, 85, 115, 160, 220, 335, and 3,000 SFM). First the pulleys: the motor pulley has 4 steps, the gear reduction shaft pulley has 4 steps, and the wood pully is a single 7" diameter. The long drive belt drives the wood pulley only directly from the motor pulley, and the short one changes between other 3 pulley steps on the motor pully to the 4 steps on the gear reduction shaft pulley to provide the different speeds for metal (40-335 SFM). To obtain all of the metal speeds possible you also need to switch the motor pully with the gear reduction pulley. Very versatile, but kind of a pain if you need to switch speeds often.

With the drive knob disengaged from the reduction gearbox, the saw cuts at 3,000 SFM for wood; with the gearbox engaged, the saw cuts at whatever speed you have the small belt set to. Unfortunately the speed of 115 SFM (that I would use most) requires the long wood belt to be removed, and to be replaced with the short belt going to gear reduction drive on same step of the motor pulley, which also means you have to loosen/re-tighten the motor mounting bolts to change the belts. Yuk!

I do not use 115 SFM, ever. I either run at 85 or 160 SFM, so I do not have to switch the belts/pulleys. I keep mine set with large belt for wood pulley, and small belt on first pulley step next to it, which provides 160 SFM for metal cutting. This way I just move the drive knob from engaged to disengaged to change from wood 3,000 SFM to metal cutting 160 SFM (30 second change over, tops). The 160 SFM works well for the sheet metal and <1/2" structural/flat hrs steel that I cut most. If you were cutting tool steel, you need to have it re-configured to the 60 or 85 SFM; aluminum would be 335 SFM, etc.

If you have a wood saw and want to slow it down for metal, you will need to add either a jackshaft or a right angle gear box on the motor. The saws were not available with either installed new, but several have converted their saws on their own. Not sure how difficult it is to convert from wood/metal speeds.
 
Hey gang,
I found one. A wood metal Delta Rockwell in very good shape.
A co-worker sent me a message yesterday afternoon. I was in the pool with my wife enjoying an adult beverage.
Facebook Marketplace had this saw listed six hours ago.
I contacted the seller immediately, sorry honey.
I checked it out this morning, bought it on the spot.
 

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Well done! Looks like it's in excellent shape.
 
Thanks David.
I think I got lucky on this one. Very clean-original paint. Looks to be a 1977.
I need to figure out the motor. He got it running but it just hums until you spin the wheel then it gets up to operating speed.
I'm thinking start capacitor but i'll take it down and see what I have. Either way, I can fix it with.
Yep, me and Ulma Doc :)
 
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