# Boice Crane restoration/conversion



## SubtleHustle (Dec 15, 2018)

Going to post my progress, this far, on my Boice Crane vertical bandsaw restoration and metal conversion. Some of this is already posted in the POTD thread, but I'd like to have a spot to post from beginning to the end. I picked up this bad boy from an older gentleman,  on Craigslist,  for $25. He had it stored outside, on his driveway, under a tarp, for only him and God know how long.
So first, some pics of original condition...


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 15, 2018)

Started some of the paint/sawdust/rust removal, and primed it for painting. I used a wire brush on an angle grinder, to remove the crud...


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## lordbeezer (Dec 15, 2018)

You got a deal..


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 15, 2018)

Yeah, he wanted $50, but was wanting to get rid of it,  before family came for the holidays. Told me that if I come get it, he'd give it to me for $25. I was there first thing next morning.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 15, 2018)

So then I gave it, its 1st few coats of paint....
	

		
			
		

		
	




And a bit of cleaning/polishing...


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## mikey (Dec 15, 2018)

Looking good! Boice Crane made light duty commercial stuff and had a pretty good reputation. I had one of their table saws and still own a jointer (restored but yet to be put back together). Missed a deal on a band saw just like yours.

Now that its in the right hands, I bet that saw will have a much better and more productive life. Congrats!


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 15, 2018)

mikey said:


> Looking good! Boice Crane made light duty commercial stuff and had a pretty good reputation. I had one of their table saws and still own a jointer (restored but yet to be put back together). Missed a deal on a band saw just like yours.
> 
> Now that its in the right hands, I bet that saw will have a much better and more productive life. Congrats!


Thanks Mikey! I'm happy to have the chance to bring this one back to life. Since the owner was just basically giving it away, I'm sure it had one wheel already in the scrap pile. I am gonna give it my best, and I'm sure she will repay me with many more years of service!


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 15, 2018)

Thanks to A LOT of help and advice from JimDawson, I should have all of her new parts in next week. Had the 2hp motor and a new bimetal blade arrive yesterday, should have a 10:1 gear box, tires, and her vfd arrive by Tuesday.


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## rwm (Dec 16, 2018)

That looks really sweet! Nice work. Any way you could swap or modify the blade guides to be ball bearing? Might be more trouble than its worth?
Robert


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 16, 2018)

rwm said:


> That looks really sweet! Nice work. Any way you could swap or modify the blade guides to be ball bearing? Might be more trouble than its worth?
> Robert


Actually, it was missing the lower angled guide, so I ordered an angled ball bearing one. It came in on Friday, but still working on cleaning up the lower guide bracket. Will post some pics when its cleaned up and installed.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 16, 2018)

Starting to get it back together....


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## hman (Dec 16, 2018)

That that is a right purty "Boice Crane" logo!  Did you restore the original (if so, fantastic job!), or were you able to find a new one?


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 16, 2018)

Hehe kinda just a temporary fix. I plan to paint it on, in the future, with a stencil. I will also stencil the "tensioner" side, but for now....and for a while, I just had a "Boice Crane" sticker made. Actually I had 6 made, because that was the minimum order. And i am still waiting to stick it on there. Right now, it is merely held on by a couple small pieces of tape. I figured that I'd give myself a couple days of looking at it, to decide whether I liked it or not, before I peeled the backing and committed to it.

  On another note, if anyone wants a sticker for theirs, PM me. I'm sure I can get it to you, for the price of postage. It's not perfect, a tad bit pixelated.  But, looks good from a foot or so away.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 16, 2018)

Also, let me add, I am replacing both of the plastic door knobs with matte finished metal ones. The originals were a bit chopped and cracking, plus I thing the metal ones plain look better.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 18, 2018)

Well my 2hp motor, right angle gearbox, and vfd came in. After getting off of work, I started building a stand for them. Needed to gain 6-5/8" so that the shafts between the saws lower wheel and the gearbox could meet. So this is what i was able to come up with, through my scrap pile....




Not the prettiest,  but a little welding, painting, and bolting and it should do nicely. And it brought the coupler to about spot on!


Anyways, thanks for looking. Should be able to get a little more done by this weekend, and hoping to get her running by the end of the weekend.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 22, 2018)

Table, and tires on...gonna start the welds on the motor mount today.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 22, 2018)

Well, the welding got put on hold...spent the day finding and buying my sons 1st truck. Should get to welding tomorrow.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 23, 2018)

Ok, got the motor stand all welded, the paint is gonna have to wait. I'm too close to being able to give her a test run, to want to wait for paint to dry. Getting vfd connected and setting the parameters, then all that's left is putting the blade on and testing her out. Fingers crossed!


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 24, 2018)

Well, frustrating day for me. I got it all set up, and took a test cut... 1/8 steel bar, no problem, then tried 1" 1144, round stock, was cutting well to about half way through, then the drive wheel started slipping from the drive shaft. I figured that out, needed to tighten the set screws better. Went to put the belt back on, and reset the blade guides, then this happened....



The bracket that holds the guides broke.  It's my fault, I didn't think I was getting them right enough, and my dumb arse decided to grab some pliers.....so irritated with myself! So anyrate, guess she's down until I can come up with a solution to this heartbreaking ptoblem...


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 24, 2018)

Meant to say " went to the put the BLADE back on"...


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## mikey (Dec 24, 2018)

Well, that sucks ...


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 24, 2018)

Yeah, am open to ideas for a fix. Have added a few photos. I have literally been sitting here for the past hour, just staring at this thing, trying to figure out a work around. I have never attempted welding aluminum, and my mediocre welding skills, will keep me from attempting that route..


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## rwm (Dec 24, 2018)

And it may not be aluminum. May be Zamak.
Robert


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 24, 2018)

Hadn't thought about that...well crap..


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 24, 2018)

Maybe some jb weld would work on it... guess it would be hurt to try.


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## silverhawk (Dec 24, 2018)

Perhaps glue it back together and re cast it in aluminum? Mill a new part if you have a mill?


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## hman (Dec 24, 2018)

That's not a large area for any kind of glue to hold on to.  But you might want to try JB Weld to start with, then drill & tap across the joint.  I can't tell exactly how large the area is, but maybe there'd be room for two 10-32 screws.  The screws will hold the parts against each other, and the rough surface of the broken area will keep them from shifting sideways against each other.

PS - just noticed in your second picture that there's what appears to be a setscrew on the broken-off part.  That might have been what caused the stress and produced the break in the first place.  You'd probably want to find an alternate way to secure the guide to whatever it setscrews against, to avoid a repeat of the failure.

Alternatively, you could simply saw off the C-shaped section of the guide (including the mount for what looks like a height adjuster), machine a replacement out of aluminum or steel  and screw/pin it on to the end of the remaining assembly.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 24, 2018)

I might have thought of a fix, will keep you all posted. However,  it will have to be after Christmas. Will be putting my minimal milling skills to the test, but hey guess there's no better reason to bone up on some of my lesser skills.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 25, 2018)

hman said:


> That's not a large area for any kind of glue to hold on to.  But you might want to try JB Weld to start with, then drill & tap across the joint.  I can't tell exactly how large the area is, but maybe there'd be room for two 10-32 screws.  The screws will hold the parts against each other, and the rough surface of the broken area will keep them from shifting sideways against each other.
> 
> PS - just noticed in your second picture that there's what appears to be a setscrew on the broken-off part.  That might have been what caused the stress and produced the break in the first place.  You'd probably want to find an alternate way to secure the guide to whatever it setscrews against, to avoid a repeat of the failure.
> 
> Alternatively, you could simply saw off the C-shaped section of the guide (including the mount for what looks like a height adjuster), machine a replacement out of aluminum or steel  and screw/pin it on to the end of the remaining assembly.


Your alternate suggestion is basically what I had in mind.


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 25, 2018)

Well currently rigged up, to take more test cuts, and easily cut 1" 1144! Great news! At 20hz, it's running at about 200 fpm, with great torque, and zero issues. At 60hz, about 625 fpm,Turns out to be a great metal cutting bandsaw!  Not able to count the rpm at any faster speed by eye, will have to get my tach mounted first.Just need to get this blade guide assembly problem behind me, and should be good to go!


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## SubtleHustle (Dec 25, 2018)




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## SubtleHustle (Dec 30, 2018)

Ok, so working on a mechanical fix for the guide blade assembly. The first attempt resulted in a broke drill bit, stuck in the workpiece. 
	

		
			
		

		
	



 Just finished laying out the second attempt. Made a few modifications, from the first attempt.


Now gotta get ready for my football game, then going to get back at it.
My idea is to mill a flat, on the part of the assembly that accepts this workpiece(the broken area), then drill/tap 2 x 6-32 cap screws to attach the two.
	

		
			
		

		
	



I will also mill flat, the angled part of accepting piece(shown in PREV pic), in order to accommodate the 2 cap screws. That's the plan anyways. More to come...


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## SubtleHustle (Jan 1, 2019)

Happy New Year Friends!!!
   Well, I finally got her blade guides all fixed up! 





Not the prettiest job, but at least she's back in commission. Had to redesign my repair a few times, but that damned thing ain't going nowhere now! Now, I just gotta keep an eye on the bent piece of Zamak, opposite the part I just replaced....guess I'll just wait to cross that bridge, for now. Anyways, thanks for tagging along!


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## hman (Jan 1, 2019)

Beauty is as beauty does.  Good fix!


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## Escaman (Apr 17, 2020)

View attachment 10000000_296032580947496_5683881890424029184_n.mp4



SubtleHustle said:


> Yeah, he wanted $50, but was wanting to get rid of it,  before family came for the holidays. Told me that if I come get it, he'd give it to me for $25. I was there first thing next morning.



Seems we were doing the same thing around the same time.  Fun experience.  I have an funny addendum, if you're interested I'll share...just figured it our last night.


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