Black & Decker 10" Band Saw

[LX Kid]

Probably a waste of my time but the machine looks pretty good on the "outside!" Bought an old B&D 10" bandsaw at a yard sale for $10. Well thought I'd take a chance on it. Once I got it home and opened her up I found the tires on the 3 wheels were dry rotted and fell off, the 1/4" saw blade was snapped and one bearing needs replacing. Looked up parts online and found the following:
3 tires $30
1 bearing $12 plus shipping
1 59-1/8"x 1/4" blade $12 plus shipping

Well for about $70 I could put it back in proper working order but think I'd do better to cut my $15 loss and buy something new for $90-$125. Maybe salvage all the parts for different projects like the 1/5hp motor, knobs, aluminum work platform, cast iron feet and other various parts.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I agree, I have a similar size bandsaw and it's quicker to cut metal with a hacksaw. Might work well for wood, but for metal it's pretty useless.

 

[LX Kid]

I agree, I have a similar size bandsaw and it's quicker to cut metal with a hacksaw. Might work well for wood, but for metal it's pretty useless.

I use to have a model just like it sold by Sears and several other brands made in Taiwan. It was pretty good for thin metals using a bi-metal blade. Also quite handy for small wood projects. I think I have the rubber tire situation figured out by making my own. When I get back to this project I post some pics and what I did. (If it works!) LoL

 

[LX Kid]

Went out to the shop this morning to further look at the junk saw! Removed the tensioner wheel to inspect bearings and found that it's a warped wheel, where the bearings fit, instead of the bearings being bad. Former owner left the blade tightly tensioned which warped the center bearing support. Of course they don't make the wheels anymore so I will look into machining a 6" wheel from some delron round stock. I "think" I have some round delron about the size needed.

Update: Just check my plastics and it's 5" poly. If I used that I would have to find shorter blade length and maybe the tension adjuster wouldn't work. Back to square one. Maybe a hardwood would work! Or not!

 

[davidh]

maybe some reverse side pull on the wheel, using heat on the hub, would straighten it ? i had to do that to a compressor wheel a while back. it was fine.

 

[neshkoro]

I picked up an old Dayton 3 wheel band saw at an auction some years ago. The wheel rubber was shot. I ordered some 1/8" rubber sheet from Mc Master Carr and cut it to the correct width and length and using some rubber cement to glue it to the wheels, it is working just fine. Just a thought for you if you want to try to salvage it.
The saw is not as good as a large Delta but for small wood things it works pretty well.
I cut and weld my own blades so the blade size is no big deal for me.

 

[LX Kid]

maybe some reverse side pull on the wheel, using heat on the hub, would straighten it ? i had to do that to a compressor wheel a while back. it was fine.

I ordered some 1/8" rubber sheet from Mc Master Carr and cut it to the correct width and length and using some rubber cement to glue it to the wheels, it is working just fine.

Willing to try "reverse pressure" and add some heat to see how that will work. Worst senerio I'd would just melt or catch the wheel on fire!! Ha, LoL I had already been looking on eBay for some 1/16" adhesive backed sheeting and cutting it to 3/8" width. My concern was the end to end might come off and had seen where a soldering iron might take care of joining them. (The things I'm willing to go thru to salvage my $10 saw! Ha, ha, ha!)

 

[LX Kid]

Put the wheel up on the lathe and found the high point. Used clamp with a heat gun. Gonna see how it goes. Probably over-stressed with the clamp.

 

[davidh]

is that a plastic housing ? or ? i have a similar pos that was sold by WEN the soldering gun people. it does cut thin wood, and cardboard. i use it for shipping boxes and reinforcement boards when shipping long DRO's in the mail. it was hard to find blades but when i did, it was at menards and they were about $12. don't use too much contact cement for the tire if you make your own, weldwood contact cement seems to be the strongest. jmho. . . good luck

 

[LX Kid]

is that a plastic housing ? or ? don't use too much contact cement for the tire if you make your own, weldwood contact cement seems to be the strongest. jmho. . . good luck

It's aluminum with sheet metal side. I'm trying to think of something that I could "re-purpose" the whole saw like maybe a boat anchor! Otherwise I'm pretty sure I'll just tear it down for it's parts. It's turning out just not to be worth the effort. Last ditch effort will be to make a new blade tensioning wheel. Tried heating and bending and things just got worse for me.