Kalamazoo 816 Bandsaw Restore

[dwall174]

I think those stories need to stay with the machine.

Yeah I'll probably never sell the saw!
But if it ever gets handed down to a friend or someone in the family, I got a lot of pictures & details of it during the various stages of being rebuilt.

After I fixed the problems with the feed-rate & head-weight, Another problem the saw developed was a bad wobble in the drive wheel.
It turns out that this was caused by a previous poor repair job done at one time to the drive axle.


The poor axle repair job led to the wobbling problems with the drive wheel!


I found another gearbox & drive wheel for it on-line, However the axle on that one had what looked like a stress-crack on the righthand side of the woodruff key slot. Appling just a little bit of force with a screwdriver, The righthand side of the woodruff slot broke off.

Apparently when these saws are misused & the blade comes to a sudden stop, It damages the axle!

Unfourntaly I do not have a metal lathe & a mill to remake a new axle, So I was left to the Backyard Machinist or MacGyver method.

I managed to weld the broken piece back in-place & then I filled the old woodruff slot with weld. It was not the best looking weld since I was trying to minimize the heat to prevent any warping. There were a few very small areas that didn't get fully filled with weld, So I used the old stand by JB Weld to fill-in those areas. I used a small wood lathe to spin the axle & files to get it to size, Once I had it to size I used my drill press/mill to cut a new key-way slot on the opposite (good side) of the axle.


Doug

 

[dwall174]

Another problem I had was with the replacement drive wheel!
The bore on this one was in good shape, But a section of the outer lip that the blade rides against was damaged.

Being it's cast-iron I didn't want to try & weld it, So it was back to the Backyard Machinist MacGyver method.

I got an old 17" Delta drill press with a customized spindle/chuck assembly that is screwed on ( 5/8-16 thread) & not the normal Morse Taper or Jacobs Taper mount. Being that the chuck wont come loose when side pressure is applied like with the taper mounts, I've used it as a small mill several times.

I tapped a 1/2"-13 hole in the center of the base of the drill press then I bolted the wheel to the table with just enough tension to keep it snug against the plywood top. I removed most of the material with a angle grinder first, Then I basically rotated the wheel into the cutter. I didn't think to take a picture of this item, But I made a simple spanner wrench type of tool out of a piece of wood that I used to feed the wheel into the cutter. I wanted to make sure my hands stayed clear of the cutter if something went wrong, Luckily everything went good.


After I got the section milled out, I used the angle grinder to cut & shape a piece of metal to fit the area.

I temporary attached that piece to the wheel using pre drilled holes & self-tapping screws.

With the piece now held in-place I drilled, tapped, & counter sunk machine screws from the back side of the wheel.

I flipped it back over to the front side then removed the temporary self tapping screws then I tapped & counter sank some small machine screws so the repair piece would be flush.

A little cleaning up with the angle grinder & some JB Weld to fill-in any little gaps & the result came out great!


The saw has been running fine with the rebuilt wheel & axle for a couple years now!

Doug

 

[Ken from ontario]

I really like the repair you did on the axle and the woodruff key slot but I love what you did with the wheel, ingenious. I'm sure now that the wobble is gone , your bandsaw runs smoothly .
I can watch hours of any restoration you do, very creative.

 

[dwall174]

I love what you did with the wheel, ingenious.
I can watch hours of any restoration you do, very creative.

Not a restoration project, But here's a few pictures of some unusual cuts I made on the bandsaw.
The piece I wanted to cut was too big to be able to fit in the vise & was larger than the saws cutting width.



The part is a top plate to a Famco 3-1/2C I picked up awhile back!

With just a square hole in the original set-up, It made it hard to get longer items like a pulley & shaft under the ram to press off or on.


Doug

 

[Danegineering]

Great restoration! I’m finishing up pretty much the exact same saw. Just need to fabricate a new motor motor mount (old cast bracket was not included...). One question, do you have any axial play in the drive shaft that has the pulley connecting to the motor? I’m wondering if I need to adjust shims because I have about 0.010” of axial play.


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[dwall174]

One question, do you have any axial play in the drive shaft that has the pulley connecting to the motor?

No I don't have any play on the gear box drive shaft!

I’m wondering if I need to adjust shims because I have about 0.010” of axial play.

Yeah there's several shims that can be adjusted, They usually have several .010" shims that can be removed as the bearings/races wear down.
I replaced the bearings & races in my gear box so it's nice & tight hardly any axial movement.


Here's a cut-away drawing of the gear box & the recommended bearing clearances.

Doug

 

[Danegineering]

Thank you! I appreciate the detailed reply. I’ll play with the shim stack and see if I can get it fixed, or if I need a few new taper bearings.


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[Cadillac]

I have the same exact saw. When I got mine both wheels were in bad shape where the blades rides on them. I ended up putting on a rotary table and recutting the od of the pull-ups. Worked great. Once you have the blade dialed in it’ll be a workhorse for you. FYI Kalamazoo still offers parts for the saw just ordered a new vise nut for one that I’m rebuilding for a friend. Had to rebuild vice nut and screw, and also made the movable jaw for the vise his was missing. Rebuilt the drop cylinder also.
As for motors mine must have been replaced because it has a 1/4hp 120v Dayton motor on it.

 

[dwall174]

I’ll play with the shim stack and see if I can get it fixed, or if I need a few new taper bearings.

The main worm gear bearings on these saws are a PITA to replace without some type of press!

There's no room behind the bearing to get a regular puller or bearing splitter tool to get a good hold of the bearing.
I ended up just cutting the bearings off on the first axle seeing that it was damaged anyway!

On the second axle I took the axle/gear to a friend of mine that has a hydraulic shop press. One thing to be aware of is there's a heavy "C" clip on the axle that sits inside a recessed area of the brass worm gear, (Drive Wheel Side) of the gear. The Gear & outer bearing can only come off in one direction!


Here's a few pictures of the main gear/bearing/axle set-up from a second saw that I picked up for back-up parts.

Here's a picture of a new axle.

They are hard to find, But some are still out there.

Doug

 

[dwall174]

FYI Kalamazoo still offers parts for the saw just ordered a new vise nut for one that I’m rebuilding for a friend.

Who did you go through?
bandsawparts.com use to carry quite a bit of Kalamazoo parts, But they seem to be cutting back on the amount of parts available?

As for motors mine must have been replaced because it has a 1/4hp 120v Dayton motor on it.

Yeah that is definitely not the original motor for the saw!
3/4HP. & 1HP were standard & they were the old large frame cast-iron motors, That extra weight helps counter balance the saw's head weight.

The head weight on these saws should only be about 8~10lbs.



Doug