Fix Or Junk Old Saw.

[MattM]

I have a Johnson Model J. I replaced the guide bearings for forty two bucks. Off the shelf from a local store.

 

[GLCarlson]

Try VXB.com for bearings. Motion Industries is usually more expensive. McMaster always is.

Like everyone else, I'd rebuild. It's too good a saw to junk. Or, at least, sell it here as scrap!

You only need to get "close" to the current gear ratio. Take a look at
http://bluechipmachineshop.com/bc_blog/rebuilding-a-johnson-model-b-horizontal-band-saw/

and remember that the blade speed is a function of the gearbox AND the pulley ratio. Find a usable (cheap, surplus) right angle reducer and adjust with the pulleys.

 

[kvt]

I have an ammo box of straight tooth gears my Dad gave me a decade ago. What gears do you need? I'll take a look and see if they are in there. If so, you can have them.

If I can figure out the correct size I will send it to you.

 

[kvt]

OK, you are equating "outside the box" and "home made" to "substandard", which does not have to be the case. If you want functionality,
consider some inexpensive ball bearings and fit them to your saw for the guides. It's easy to do. That way you
are sidestepping a bunch of expensive replacement parts. I bought 10 bearings for $24.00 on E-Bay including
shipping so had enough for the saw and spares as well. Maybe take a look at some other saw set ups for guides
and use that as a basis for yours. Hopefully you find this information useful.

NO, outside the box, and home made do not have to be substandard, Often it may be an improvement, but in this case I think they were just trying to get going and never went back and fixed it. do not have real deep pockets so I want to do a good job on it, but cannot see paying $35 for a bearing I can find online for $10. And do not want to redesign things if I do not have to, and then what would the results be.
And I will keep my eye on Ebay for parts as well. In fact one of the replacement bearings is on ebay.

 

[kvt]

I have a gear reduction unit off a washing machine which is too cool to throw away but I don't have a use for it (yet!). would that work? I had a very vague idea to use it to build a bandsaw, but that's even further down the list of likelihood than all my other mental exercises that pass for projects

I though about using something else for a gear box but one of the problems is that the gear box is also the spindle for the drive gear as well. Thus I would have to redesign the way it is held and aligned which can be done if required but what would the results be. But I will keep your idea in mind if I have to go that way.

 

[kvt]

Most bearing manufacturers have online catalogs where you can look up a bearing by it's ID, OD, and thickness. You should be able to find what you need. You only need to know where it goes and what it fit's into and what fit's into it. Take some measurements and go searching. There are a few manufactures, so if one doesn't have what you need another just might have it.

I have been using the online tools to compare and check for replacements on most of them that I have numbers for. But a few I have not ben able to get to correlate to anything that I have found yet. And so I have gone to looking at some of the manufacture specs and trying to find some that will work. Seals are where I am having problems getting things to match up. A couple of sites you can put in the specs you are lookin for an it will tell you what bearings are close to it.

 

[kvt]

I have a Johnson Model J. I replaced the guide bearings for forty two bucks. Off the shelf from a local store.

You have the Model J, which by what I have found most of the parts off of the J model will fit the B model. Can I get you to do me a favor and get me the bearing numbers off the guide bearings. Both the side and the top. That way I can ensure I am getting the correct ones. Also just in case you have a newer once. Can you look and see if you can see the manufacture and part number off the input shaft seal on the gear box.
How do you like your saw and do you think the smaller version would be worth it.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I though about using something else for a gear box but one of the problems is that the gear box is also the spindle for the drive gear as well. Thus I would have to redesign the way it is held and aligned which can be done if required but what would the results be. But I will keep your idea in mind if I have to go that way.

good point. I'll be keeping it until we move, then I'll strip the shaft and gears out of it for future purposes and scrap the rest.