Search the Community

I bought an old 10 inch Craftsman bandsaw. It gets the job done but I stink at cutting straight lines. I have watched some videos on making a fence but was curious if any of you have your own and what was your experience. Thanks.

Have had a problem with bandsaw table slipping out of level every time I use it to saw lathe blanks. Have now thought for a while could put a stiffener in to stop this. Finally got to it. Two piece brace as prop and bracket to stop sideways movement. The brace has a slot cut at end to fit the web under table.

Hi everyone, glad I found this forum. I have a 1932 Walker Turned Driver Line model 700 Band Saw. Its complete except the top adjusting mechanism has a broken bracket. I have attached some photos. If anyone here knows where I can find a replacement part or maybe get this one repaired I would be in your debt. As I said in my intro, I love restoring old woodworking tools. I spent some time on OWWM but they have this thing about even mentioning Craigslist in any way shape or form. I have looked there but no success at all. So I'm thinking new faces and new ideas. Many thanks for any help or information. John

I made this in my tiny little shop (man, I’d really LOVE to have a window). Two are #4 hard maple shaker boxes with African mahogany tops. Also made two #3 shaker boxes from walnut with butternut tops. Hit them with some natural danish oil and after they dry for about 3 days or so, I’ll shoot them with about 4 coats of a satin poly. The hardest part for me is milling the stock to 1/16th of an inch....I seen to be able to get a better result on my table saw instead of the bandsaw....anyhow, I hope all youse guys are staying safe and healthy! I can’t wait until this comes to an end.

Well I'm not sure if this belongs here but...I've had on/off problems with my Laguna 14-12 since I bought it at Woodcraft in Richmond Virginia and Laguna has been contacted several times. This recent issue seems to crop up from time to time where when changing the blade is difficult to the point it won't stay on the wheels for even several hand revolutions. Last night was one of those times. I had the 1/2" blade on and went to install the 1/4". I released the tension and took the 1/2" blade off, put the 1/4" on and went to tension the blade. I turned the wheel by hand less that 2 revolutions and the blade sprung off. I had released the tension as I expected a lesser amount needed for the smaller blade. Remounted the blade and repeat, blade comes off. Now I really back off the tension, repeat and try 4-5 times with same result. Dinner time, I'm disgusted, I go and have dinner. Thinking about it still bothers me so after dinner and dishes I go down and put the 1/2" back on and tension, hand turn the upper wheel and check to center the gullets on the tire center. No issue. Take the 1/2" off and install the 1/4" blade, no issues. Now an on and off issue I've had with this saw is that when releasing the tensioner the top wheel doesn't always move much. I had this the first time after assembling the saw back 2 years ago and a nice lady at Laguna suggested loosening two bolts that align the upper adjustment when tension is applied. Not sure of the proper term here but hopefully you get the idea. So I had problems getting through to tech support at Laguna so I called my Woodcraft and spoke with John who sets up all their shop equipment for their classroom. After telling John the above he suggests the same adjustment as the nice lady did thinking maybe I didn't loosen enough. I had thought of that but wasn't sure if I loosened it more it might cause more bad than good. Keep in mind this saw has had very little used time on it like maybe 10-15 hours. Surgeries slow you down.... That and this has been a sporadic issue with me thinking the upper wheel carriage assembly may not be moving as intended all the time. Had I used it more maybe it would have "broke in" or it may have been more frequent to see the issue. But this long story has a bright lining as I had left a message the other day after talking to the desk at Laguna and received a call this afternoon. I was expecting a tech but instead got Benjamin, head of technical support I think. Anyway he's one of the big guys. We discussed and he asked when it was purchased, 01/30/2017, and said although it's out of warranty clearly I have had running issues which he wants to resolve. He asked me if John, from Woodcraft, was technical enough to be able to look over the saw and see if it had issues. I'm not sure but will find out. If so he's willing to pay for John to travel to my house (2+ hours driver round trip) and have a look. Benjamin also suggested my calling to speak with their best tech and see if he has any ideas which I think is the best next step and then John from Woodcraft if necessary. Biggest takeaway was this is by far more support than I expected from Laguna and very nice to see a company stand behind their products.

Issues with my Craftsman 113. 27350 bandsaw......way to much shaking going on....drive wheel wobbles.....tore the thing down today.... Removed both the belt pulley and the lower wheel.. 2 wheels, only found one key stock....one for the belt pulley was MIA. Large snap ring holding the shaft in place on the belt side.. Metal cap swings down out of the way, once the shaft is out... (nice and cleaned up..) to get the shaft out, I had to remove these two bolts..which went right back in as soon as I could....hate losing parts. Shaft "looked" good when it came out, and the rust removed.. Bearings themselves are fine, it seems to be a problem with the shaft itself.. Mainly on the drive wheel side. Bearing will slide around a bit. Looking like a new shaft will be needed...I did find my snap ring pliers..finally.. Need to skinny the points down a tad, so they fit. Will take the shaft, bearings and all to the TSC Store, and see what they have handy. Bearing No. 3203 RS FAG..... Wondering IF I can find a washer that fits over the snap rings, and can be held in place with those two bolts. Maybe tighten things up a bit? IF I need a bandsaw for the next project..we have back-up.. That little 12" Craftsman 3-wheeler will do for the small stuff....has a 3/8" blade onboard. Would have to dig it out of the hole... And..NO, I am unable to just go out and buy a new/used bandsaw right now....not an option. Will just have to fix what I have.

Just a little tech tip, the one thing I absolutely dislike about my Shopsmith bandsaw, is later on in their infinite wisdom, they decided to remove the convenient band saw access door knobs with allen screws. So when you need to get in and change a blade, you have to break out the allen wrench and unloosen three screws, a tad time consuming, not horribly, but why? So I was goofing around a couple days ago and just happened to look at the table saw fence knobs, and a rare flash of light materialized in my lil ol pea brain, and I thought to self, hey self, those fence knobs sure look like they'd replace those allen screws on the bandsaw very nicely. Because one of the cool things about the Shopsmith, is everything seems to fit everywhere else, in many regards, so why not these knobs? Allen screws for access door, gotta be taken out to access for cleaning, adjustments and blade changes. Not a deal breaker, but why not knobs? These allen screws go into the band saw access door. These knobs are the ones on the tables saw fence to hold the extension tubes in place And now those knobs above, are in the bandsaw access cover below So now that I know they fit, I am purchasing additional knobs from Shopsmith for my bandsaw. Just in case any owners out there are dealing with the same frustration, this is one solution of many I am sure.

I watch a lot of turning videos on youtube. In one of Carl Jacobson videos he said he cuts the heart out of a log and paints the ends with basic paint and doesn't get any cracking. Since I got the new bandsaw I figured I would give it a try. I made a jig to hold the log and made some bowl blanks real fast and easy. They will turn a 9 inch to 10 inch bowl.

Picked up this old Powermatic a couple years ago after watching it sit beside the burn pile behind a local high school shop for most of a year. The weather was really starting to become unfriendly to it so I inquired about its status and was told that it was out of service permanently due to a problem with the foot brake making it unsafe to use by students and a new one had replaced it. They only would release it to me if I signed a waiver releasing them of responsibility which I did. After a man vs. saw episode even involving my wife’s help to get it trailered, it came home. The brake was indeed bad as the lining had worn out and the brake was used metal on metal for sometime, thus grinding away the flywheel area where the brake makes contact. It coasts to a stop for now. I had to replace the power cord and after hitting a wall finding suitable thrust bearings for the factory guides, I swapped them out for some Carters. The blade guide and table were pretty rusted and I had to disassemble those to free the guide. It isn’t beautiful and still sits in its original skin with some graffiti scratched into the paint, and drips of varnish, and such. I may paint it one day but I like the story it’s appearance tells. It is a monster machine when all of that cast iron momentum is in my favor as can be seen by the walnut block in the picture. I have cut small lumber from logs mostly and a few turning blocks and it’s even great for this. I gave up my 14 inch Delta after I ran this one. Only downside is the large footprint in my shop so I had to put wheels under it so I can move it around if I’m feeling strong. The good news is that the high school that housed this saw still is running a wood shop program, at least on some level. Not the case everywhere. I have an “as retrieved” picture of this one somewhere but could not find it. The photo here isn’t a great one but shows the saw this week in its messy glory! My shop is nearly all 50 plus year old machinery. I like the challenge of the old stuff I guess!

Had to resaw one of these things.. Cut one down to 26" long ( less to resaw) then marked it for a 2" or so wide cut. Set the extras aside.. After I had resawn the slab off. Then made a bunch of lines, to make 1/2" thick slats. I had one of the sides to the rocker on the bench, to lay out mortises for the back rails. I left the rails sit in place, as a spot to lay the slats as each came off the bandsaw... A little rough? We do have ways to deal with "rough" I laid the slats out to get the spacings, and see just how many slats I would need to make. Need a lot of plane work at the moment, and some tenons cut on the ends of the slats. I had went and bought a couple of 3/16" dowels to pin some joints with. Why buy fancy pins, when the rocker is scheduled to be painted, anyway. I also laid out a tenon on the end of the front post As there will be a through tenon to hold the armrest in place......with wedges, too. As for working in this shop? Welcome to the Dungeon Shop! This is about it for work space. I can walk around the bandsaw, to access other items.. I can move things around in here, as needed, and the lathe is to the right of the picture, buried as usual. When I need to run the lathe, I can move things around again. This space also allows access to a few handsaws.... There are a few "out & about" at the moment, these are in case I might need a saw. Might have enough? Maybe later, IF the bench can be cleaned off, I can go back into tenon-mode.....we'll see. Stay tuned to this "Batty Channel", same "Bat Time, same Bat-Channel"

Meandered down to the shop this evening.....decided to at least try a few things out.....tried the Aldi's crosscut saw to make four pieces of pine parts... It do cut fast, and it even tried to cut me thumb. Got two small holes. It had hopped up out of a cut. The 1x6 I am using was a little out of....focus. Needed a plane to bring things back into line.. I planed the two matching sides together, edge grain and end grain. I wanted them to match, and be at least close to square...Plane didn't do too bad on the end grain.. Millers Falls No. 11 junior jack plane. Once all of that was done. I got out the combo square, and marked a line 1/2" in from the face of each board. Bandsaw time... Not the greatest resaw cut, but it needs a new blade...someday. Opened this one up like a book.. Well, we have ways. Grabbed the old cambered jack plane.. Going right across the grain, this isn't the time for see-through shavings. Once it was close to flat, a second plane came out... Have a bit of trouble with that old knot....but, I kept at it. Finally got the four of them close enough to work with... Will let this set a day or so. IF they want to move a bit. I can come back and mill them flat for joinery work. Igor, clean up on Aisle #1! Lower back says it be "Quitting Time!" So I guess I' meander back upstairs. Knee held up decently, lower back didn't. And, somehow, I picked up a cut on the back of my hand.....didn't feel a thing, looked down and had a leak going on. Yep, time to quit for the day. Next up? Finger joints by mallet & chisel. Stay tuned...

Just saw this in the latest ezine from Woodworker's Journal- The entire article is here- http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/monarch-gauge-promises-simpler-band-saw-blade-tensioning/

Had a chance to get in the shop so I put together some scraps I had to make this band saw box.The bulk of the box is African mahogany with a strip of cherry down the middle. As things moved along I got a bit ahead of myself and started to cut the drawers out of the top slider before cutting off the front and back . Found enough cherry to make the front and back of the top slider using the damaged piece as a template. The handles are black walnut.

In cleaning up my shop after 6 months of large projects I came across my Rikon 10 inch fence which had managed to get stuffed behind it. Sure I probably don't use it much, but is nice to have when needed. So I looked for a place to put this thing. As I am doing so I remind myself this only works if you can have it easy to get to. So in thinking about placement this was a primary concern. My friend gave me 30 or so of these magnets they use to install a diaper on the forklifts at his work. They don't like oil on the new concrete. Seems they just chunk the old ones. The new kit comes with new ones so why bother? Enter a good friend who remembers magnets are used for several things in my shop. Taking two of these I had a means to attach, but be about to easily remove, this fence holder. Perfect! Now I go to my bins and find a short piece of Kreg channel which fits the one end. Then raided the aluminum bar scrap bin and found a short piece for the opposite end. Now I have metal on both sides which the fence can squeeze and stay put. All that was left was a chunk of wood and some paint. To prevent the magnet from scratching the BS I cut to fit a piece of tape. Simple but effective. Now the fence holder itself is a fair tip. But the real tip is making good use of space, and making in this case a fence, useful because it is easy to get to and you can see it. Without being in the way.

Today I made a band saw box out of a piece of domestic cherry fire wood. Herb

Need some help from the folks. A couple years ago I purchased an Enco 199-9001 14" band saw for $40. It needed cleaned up and a trunion. Called Enco got the trunon and this thing worked pretty good. Now the upper guide block ( pot metal ) broke. Called Enco, the model and all parts are discontinued. Went to Lowes, looked at the Porter Cable one they carry, looked close enough to swith the complete assembly and I would be back in business. Looked up all the parts, made a list and called the local Dewalt repair center, talked to a nice guy on the phone, gave him the list and most of the parts were back ordered. They have been back ordered for a while and he noted this may mean they are discontinued also. So I am back to looking for a upper guide block or upper assembly again. This saw is not the best, but works good and gets a fair amount of use. ANy help, ideas or information is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

Hi guys. I love old stuff namely old machinery. I’m getting this Parks bandsaw from a friend and wondering what anyone can tell me about it. Age? What’s original? What isn’t? Ok to paint it or worth more not to? Cateloges out there? Etc? thanks in advance! Chris

Hello All, I am new to the forum and I am happy to be part of the club. I love to restore antiques and decided to tackle my second band saw project. My first was a 1941 Craftsman which I use on a regular basis. I picked up this saw from a friend who is buying a motor home and becoming a snowbird. He had owned the saw since he picked up from hid dad about 40 years ago. I have been told that this is a Parks 20" band saw that was made around the turn of the century. It is made of cast iron and weighs about three hundred pounds. The original wood bed rotted many years ago and was replaced with 1" box tubing. I plan to paint this beast dark forest green and dark burgundy. The current motor is an old Dayton but I found a period correct motor for it here in town. I am having some custom 129" blades made from a company that charges about $20 ea. I am still looking for more information about this saw so if anyone has more info on this beast it would be greatly appreciated. I really would like to know the year it was made. This saw should be a great addition to my shop.

My own dad, John H. Morris in his shop we built together back in 2005. He lives in the mountains nearby, he is Papa Jack to my wife, Grandpa to our kids, and at 86 years old, he's doing pretty danged good. He loves building birdhouses for the locals where he lives, and he has earned the nickname "Birdman" and he wears it proudly. Actually he didn't even know he had the nickname till just a few weeks ago, he heard it through the grapevine and he was tickled to death to know that he has an official nickname in his community. Love ya Dad! Just thought I'd share to you all my Dad. Class act he is, he loves solitude, self reliance, his garden, and building these little bird homes. Next to the shop is his single wide trailer that was pulled up on the property in the late 60's, the trailer is old, but he made it home. He's been living there since 2004. Dad, smiling for the camera Dad's shop looking out the front door He has a work station with the belt sander, palm sander, and cutoff saw, that only he knows why it's set up that way, for his birdhouse, and he gets a lot done DeWalt RAS, I know I know, don't say it, the blade guard, I used to get on him bout this, but he's been doing this since I was a kid, I used to cut wood all day myself without the blade guard on his RAS as a kid in his other shop, matter of fact I learned some of my worse safety or non safety practices from Dad, and later learned through working in the trades, what safety really meant, but hey, like I said, you aint gonna convince an 86 year old man otherwise, is what it is. I did however get on him about using a 10" blade on an 8" RAS, he did heed my warning on that, promptly switched them out. Dad, with his hands on his hips, he walks around most the day like that, I think he got that from his own dad, my dad was raised on a farm in the Catskill's of New York, the farmers all walked around like that when they got old. @aaronc, some of the antler I told you about. See, hands on the hips still, told ya! Old hand made three wheel band saw I gave my dad, I got from an estate that turned over hand made machinery to me to distribute to folks in need, I asked them if my dad could have this old three wheeler, they loved the fact it was going to dad. Sent them pics of Dad with the BS and they loved it. The saw works great by the way. Just another view out the front of the shop This is shot from his trailer, looking out, he actually has a stick built sun room built off the side of the single wide, he spends all of his time there with his dog Susie. He watches TV, reads, surfs the net, and he has this view, sorry the image is blurry, but it kind of gives ya an idea of what he sees every day, just beautiful country up there, 45 minutes from us. Thanks for reading!

I have just gotten a Ryobi BS901 Bandsaw for short money. It needs tires and maybe a drive belt and a blade. Ryobi does not make these parts anymore. I have seen them on Ebay and some other sites but was wondering if you folks might be able to recommend good places to buy these parts. I don't see specific dimensions for these parts and am hesitant to buy based on 'fits most 9" bandsaw' verbiage. Thank You.

Having a problem with my bandsaw cutting thru 6 inch pecan. Almost from the first entry was cutting slow and when 2-3 inch got a pinch and stopped the blade in wood.....stuck. Motor slowed before stop and slow feed did not help. Put on a new Woodslicer blade and started to cut then did the same again after 10 to 14inches. Posted in AAW forum and got quick responses so did not get a chance to get here. This is a Grizzly 14 inch GO55 saw and someone else had the same problem. The answer is in the stock bearings. The thrust bearing is mounted horizontal to the blade and the blade rolls on the side of the bearing. Apparently the last time I adjusted the guide bearings they were shifted forward and pushed the blade forward causing it to slip past the thrust bearing. Well that did it and the blade slipped past the bearing causing the guide bearings to flatten the set of the blade. The solution I hope is new bearing setup from Carter Products, will be in tomorrow.

Time for another tip from Magnolia Woodturners . Many times the bandsaw will present problems on cutting blanks for the lathe so in this article are a few tips and how to to make that job easier and safer. http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=turning&file=articles_750.shtml

Boy these Cornhole games sure are popular. Our neighbor's daughter is getting married this May and they asked me if I could build a couple Cornhole boards for them, they are going to have games at the wedding reception. I only first heard of this game because of @John Moody, John is the resident Cornhole builder in our community. So I know what little I do know by John's work, and I just scanned the internet really quick to get the regulation sizes of everything and I set to building their boards from wood I had left over from other projects. I have not had a full day in the shop in two years, really, no kidding, life has been quite a challenge and I was so happy to just get this day to make some dust on such a basic project, I loved it. I had my folk music going in the shop, a little bit of Johnny Cash, some Del McCoury and Bill Monroe, and tapered the day off with Hank and Waylon, man what a joyous day. It was just one of those days that lined up perfectly to do some "me" time and the family was completely ok with it. Also, I got to really get into my Shopsmith! And what a blast I had with it. So, I know they are just Cornhole boards, but what's more important, is that I had a day of fun, so if you want to see some boards, read on! I set up my outfeed table configuration to handle some mid size panels for the Cornhole boards. Ripped a couple pre-prefinished 3/4" panels I had left over from a prior project, I am getting used to my Shopsmith today. I then set up my outfeed table to handle ripping some narrow boards, the table needs to be set at the center of the table saw or in line with the blade, it was a quick operation, part of using these Shopsmith's is knowing what they are capable of, and how to maximize their ability, I am not there yet, I am only discovering the surface of what these machines are capable of. I pushed the oak boards through with minimal effort. Then I joined each board just to clean up the edges and to have a nice mating edge to the underside of the surface board. I need to align my Shopsmith fence as you can see a tad burning on the oak edge. I have not adjusted my Shopsmith yet since I purchased it, the gent I bought it from had it sitting in his garage for 15 years with no use, so no doubt I need to tune up the alignment. I have however oiled the sheeves and other areas and I tensioned the drive belt to specs before I used it. I used good ol pocket holes to mount the sides of the boards up to the surface board. I drilled out all my pocket holes first. Then I set to screwing the boards to the underside of the Cornhole deck. I swear Shopsmith and Rigid have a secret relationship, because my Rigid Shopvac hose is the perfect size for the table saw dust port, and the jointer dust port. I cut a small radius on the end of the back cornhole board legs, so they'll fold up and down easily. This bandsaw is really nice, I can't believe how something small and seemingly very simple in design, is so accurate and easy to use. I aint kidding folks, I like it better than my 15" Grizz I had. A very strong feature of the Shopsmith is the Drill Press operation, it's sweet, I like it, I am happy. Quiet, accurate, with an adjustable table for in and out, and up and down and of course since the power head operates the Drill Press, it's variable speed. Drilling the holes out for the carriage bolts. The back folding legs are mounted, you flip them up and lock them down by tightening the wingnuts, I used a 5/16" carriage bolt, washer and wingnut. Legs up. I still have to cut out the 6" diameter Cornholes, but mission basically accomplished. Our neighbors should like them, she is going to paint a mural on the deck of the Cornhole board, I think the LA Dodgers symbol. Any my baby put to sleep, she did well today, I was please with the operations, and I became more efficient at the changeovers, I am getting good at operating my Shopsmith, and it's turned out to be a great machine for my purpose, and, mama gets to park her car in the garage now! I hope John Moody approves of the way I made these boards, and if anyone has any tips on the building Cornhole boards I am all ears, I may do some for my family as well, not sure yet, depends if the kids want them or not. If you want to build your own boards, here is the site that John Moody directed me too, they have all the information and specs for them there. https://www.playcornhole.org/ Thanks for sharing a part of my day with me folks.