Kalamazoo 816 Bandsaw Restore

[TahoeJohn]

Thanks for the info. I am midway through restoring my Kalamazoo saw and the drop control cylinder is leaking out the top. Did you rebuild yours? If so, did you have to fab your own parts or were you able to find a kit? Any help would be appreciated.

John
775.560.9550

 

[Cadillac]

For my drop cylinder which was stock I had to rebuild the whole thing. The cap sealed leaked also and the cylinder wouldn’t hold at all. The cup seal which is the piston was deteriorated. I ordered from Kalamazoo with some other stuff I beleive it was 9 dollars . Well for whatever reason the cup seal was the wrong bore size. I had remember that Napa sells cup seals for brake pistons so I went and got cup seals from them. I had gotten three sizes the exact bore one oversized and one undersized. Paid like 3 dollars for each size in packs of 5. It’s been awhile but I think it was 15/16 bore I used.
As for the cap seal around the shaft. I cut a groove in the cap to accept a oring. I figured that was the easiest way. Been working for years now without problems.
I would have to say Kalamazoo was great to work with good prices and shipped fast. They still have parts for these oldies.

 

[dwall174]

Did you rebuild yours? If so, did you have to fab your own parts or were you able to find a kit?

Yeah I needed to rebuild the the cylinder & I also had to have a threaded fitting welded on where the original tube was attached.

After disassembling everything I took the cylinder to a local hydraulic repair shop near me that also sells Hi-Lo parts.
They were able to match up the seals & O-rings I needed.

Well for whatever reason the cup seal was the wrong bore size.

It seems as though Kalamazoo used two different styles of piston/plunger assemblies! One is more like the rubber "Cup Style" you described, The other style is a type of nylon backing plate that captures a "O" ring creating the seal.

They still have parts for these oldies.

Yeah but their starting to get a lot harder to find now that Clausing owns the Kalamazoo brand name.

Any help would be appreciated.

This guy (Frank) FDK 3 Co. is known for having parts for old Clausing Colchester lathes, But he also had old Kalamazoo parts!
I got the tension spring & the gaskets for rebuilding my gear-box from him several years ago.

Doug