[Bandsaw] DoAll vertical bandsaw - another project

[bcall2043]

I brought home a new-to-me old bandsaw this week. Charley has already posted loaded on the trailer pictures with his new old mill here: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/6257-Not-1-but-2

Thought I might start a thread here about the saw since it is going to be a project to get it useful. I have not seen it run and it has missing parts but has great potential. It has power fead-in table but the cylinder is missing. It has a built-in blade welder but who knows if it works. The seller had taken it as part payment for some rent owed him.

I have attached a couple of photos of my new toy. One shows the saw off the trailer and into the garage. Had to lower the pallet jack as low as possible and remove the lifting eye-bolt from the top of the saw to get through the door. The second photo shows some "possible" parts for the project to get the saw operational. There is a set of leveling screws and a cylinder. The cylinder is a little long and would reduce the travel of the table but that might not be an issue with a hobby machine. These parts were found at the scrap yard today so not much invested if they don't work. The cylinder is also a air cylinder not hydraulic like the original equipment but I might be able to limit the hydralic pressue to a low enough level or use air for the feed. If it does not work it will still be fun to try. I have not applied power yet because there seemed to be some confusion as to what voltage the machine was wired for. I will have to check this out so not to let the magic smoke out.

More to come.

Benny

 

[ScrapMetal]

That is one heck of a saw Benny. I'll be interested to see what it's going to take to bring it back in to service.

Congrats,

-Ron

 

[bcall2043]

Thanks Ron,

The more I look at the machine the more I think it is too big for a home hobby shop but it sure is neat. The big work table and power feed potential really hit my fancy. Using the t-slots and various tooling all kinds of things can be attached to the table and cut. I have located and down loaded the manual for this series machine. It is not specific to just the one I have and covers a series of saws so I have some sorting of information to do and a lot to learn.

Benny

 

[12bolts]

Nice score Benny,
Was it just too good to pass up, or do you have a purpose in mind for it?

Cheers Phil

 

[Charley Davidson]

Benny is a full blown untreatable tool addict & has sucked me into the same black hole of no return, you guys need to quit patting him on the back and encouraging him. This is a horrible condition and you guys should be ware of it's symptoms, an insatiable desire to buy tools even when they are clearly way too big for you, coercing your friends into buying multiples of the same tool or machine, and sooner or later searching the obituaries for leads to upcoming tool sales.

 

[ScrapMetal]

Benny is a full blown untreatable tool addict & has sucked me into the same black hole of no return, you guys need to quit patting him on the back and encouraging him. This is a horrible condition and you guys should be ware of it's symptoms, an insatiable desire to buy tools even when they are clearly way too big for you, coercing your friends into buying multiples of the same tool or machine, and sooner or later searching the obituaries for leads to upcoming tool sales.

Geez Charley, you say that like it's a BAD thing.! :biggrin: Hi, my name is Ron and I'm a tool addict....

-Ron

 

[bcall2043]

Nice score Benny,
Was it just too good to pass up, or do you have a purpose in mind for it?
Cheers Phil

Phil,

It was not too good a deal to pass up but was very reasonable considering the features of the saw. What really made me go for it was the power feed feature. Cutting the thicker pieces of steel in a vertical band saw sucks. Not as bad as a hack saw but not my favorite. Right now I use the horizontal band saw in the vertical position with a small homemade table to hand cut shapes. I have read a number of threads on the various forums about modifications to vertical band saws to help feed the material into the blade like hanging weights off the back of the saw to pull the material. From what I read about vertical band saws in general the tables setting on bearing mounts with the infeed feature is the most desirable. I can see it being used a lot because most of the materials I use are mostly shorts rather than full length bars. A work holding vise or guides can easily be added to the t-slotted table and besides......what Charley says.

Benny

 

[Tom Griffin]

Benny,

I used a slightly smaller model DoAll saw of that vintage for years and it is the best saw I've ever used. That will make a nice restoration project and I hope you'll document it for us.

Tom