Old metal bandsaw opinion needed

[bpsbtoolman]

I have had the Craftsman horizontal band saw in the pic shown for over 40 years and it worked well until the bronze bearing on the blade wheel wore out and the blade tended to slide out. I intended to remachine the wheel and replace the bronze bearing with a roller bearing. At about that time a 12" Covel hacksaw came up for $25 and after buying it found an easy to fix a broken gear. Its slow but can use bimetal blades at less than one buck a piece. I still intended to rebuild the sears saw which incidently calls for .020" thick blades that are hard to find, but recently a 4 X6 HF bandsaw I bought at a yard sale for $50 works great except lacks the hydraulic downfeed cylinder the Sears had that worked great. I have just finished building a similar downfeed cylinder to fit the 4 X6.
I recently saw the Sears saw on ebay that sold for over $ 150. Tempting since I don't need 3 horizontal saws plus my 14" vertical band saw.
Walt

[nheng]

Are these old, small Craftsman metal bandsaws (30 years old or more, US made???) any good or would I be better off with a Grizzly.
Thanks. Den

[JCHannum]

They are US made, and Sears may have some parts available, as they were sold as Craftsman Industrial.

I have one, and am quite satisfied with it. It will not readily convert to vertical mode, and the hydraulic cylinder on most I have seen needs attention. They are simple to fix.

They are heavy cast iron construction, and hold their accuracy well. I recently got a box of replacement parts at auction, so mine will last me. If it were to wear out, I would look for another one rather than buy an Asian import.

[nheng]

JC, Sounds pretty good. Do you know the blade length offhand? I did notice that the cylinder, once the saw was lifted, was pretty slow to drop. Is there a release valve of some sort on it? I think I will have a manual once I pick the machine up but wanted to get a few blades on hand.

[JCHannum]

Blades are 60" X 1/2". I usually use 10 or 12 TPI.

There is an adjusting needle valve on top of the cylinder to control speed of blade drop or hold the saw in the up position. It is the knob visible in the photo.

[nheng]

"It is the knob visible in the photo"

As you say, they need attention It has sat unused for 5 or 6 years and this has probably not helped.

[ERBenoit]

Is the picture something you are looking to purchase or by some ther means, obtain? What size is it? Gravity or hydraulicly regulated down feed? I would compare the features and price between the two and then decide. The picture shows saw to be in good repair. If looking to purchase, I would suppose the biggest question may be are repair parts that cannot be easily reproduced availiable for it. I have a 4x6 Grizzly H/V. It is o.k., but I am really not fond of it. I also have a Rockwell 7V Horizontal about the same vintage, that was "priceless" to me. Gearbox is tricky (slips) at times. Maybe that is why. Winter fix? In short, personally, I would start with the Craftsman, if it will fit your needs, provided there is not a sizeable investment.

[nheng]

It's part of my father-in-law's shop which we need to empty over the next 6 months as he's now a nursing home resident. We'll either be using or finding good homes for the stuff so that he can take comfort in knowing that they are being cared for.

The feed is hydraulically regulated and it feels like it needs a little loosening.

[Tinkerer]

I'd keep it.. it looks to be in great shape. And being that it's 30+ years old it's most like a better built machine then anything offered today. And more then like designed to be repaired rather then replaced as is the current trend in here and how.

Tim

[zl1byz]

Yep going by some of the other posts on the bb recently. If it's done 30 years it's worth a bit of time and keep it out of the land fill. Also one less sale for the junk importers, maybe they will eventually get the message.

John.