New Old Continental Band Saw.............

[brino]

A few months ago I found this old Continental bandsaw at a local store.



It had been used for cutting wood, I wanted it for metal.
With the original blade it cut that piece of pine when powered by one finger in the wheel spokes.

My current vertical, metal-cutting bandsaw was homemade (not by me) and I always noticed a flex in the frame.


You can tell by all the cut-offs on the table that it certainly has been useful.

The upper wheel would actually move closer to the lower wheel in pulses as the wheel turned. I suspect one wheel is eccentric, and I always meant to fix that.......but.....when I saw the heavy frame on this Continental saw I decided it was simply time to upgrade.

This frame won't flex!


However, the "new" saw is so heavy that I think it would crush the plywood box that the other saw sat on.
I needed to find something stronger.

I took the Continental saw off of it's old base:



and dug out this old heavy frame that I picked up when my in-laws moved.....




It originally had a wood table top in that angle frame, but it was rotten from being stored outside...
I also had to replace the ball-bearings in the swivel castors they were seized tight.
I added the two (unpainted and with chalk marks) internal horizontal pieces of 2" x 1/4" angle for the saw to sit on.
That gets the band saw table to about 46" from the floor comfortable for me.

There's more to come....stay tuned.

-brino

 

[brino]

Here are a few details of the "new" band saw.

The wheels are 19" diameter, and the table is about 16 x 16".
It takes 125" blades.

It turns so smoothly that when I fit a newly silver-soldered blade I cut thru some scrap while turning the wheel with one finger.
That was 1/4" x 1" flat bar and some 3/8" round bar.

There is some info on VintageMachinery here:
http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=33955

Here's the upper blade tilt and blade tension adjustments:



Here's the 16 x 16 inch table:


The blade insert is actually a piece of lead that's been peened below the table:


Here's the original pulley:


and another shot of the top wheel:


still more to come!
-brino

 

[brino]

Like I said, I actually bought the Continental saw a few months ago, but other projects were holding it up.

I finally decided that I couldn't wait any longer because I was out of floor space. I had
1) the old homemade vertical metal-cutting bandsaw on its plywood box,
2) this "new" Continental saw just sitting UN-moveable on the floor,
3) that old frame empty and in the way, and
4) the engine hoist brought into the shop from the shed to help with the transfer.

I could barely move in the shop.....I had to walk sideways to get anywhere!

I got some paint on the new frame/base and bolted the saw in:




Then I took the engine hoist back to the shed.
Finally I could move around the shop better.

I still need to get a motor hooked up, and get rid of that home-made saw.
I offered it to a friend that will give it a good home......

-brino

 

[brino]

For a motor, I'm thinking of this one saved from one of those free treadmills that I junked a while ago.






I still have to mount it in the frame and I'm hoping to leave space in the bottom for some much-needed storage.
Also, I need to rig something to replace the approx. 2' x 1' control panel that currently runs it.

Those probably won't be soon, too many projects......but at least I can walk thru the shop.....

-brino

 

[francist]

Sweet! That table surface looks like it's been turned instead of the usual ground finish. I've never seen that before.

Cool machine, and from Montreal too boot!

-f

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

Nice find, That Saw is Gorgeous! Cant wait to see the modifications you plan to do.

 

[C-Bag]

Congrats on the new saw Brino! Yup, vertical bandsaws are the bomb. So you're going to set it up for metal? Or wood or both? I'm interested to see how a treadmill motor would do over time with the dust, swarf at low speed if used for wood and metal. I'm going to keeping an eye on this.

 

[mikey]

Beautiful saw, Brino! It looks more solid and aesthetically pleasing than any modern bandsaw I've seen, that's for sure. Congrats!!

 

[Ken from ontario]

deleted

 

[brino]

Thanks everyone for all the comments and support!

It looks more solid and aesthetically pleasing than any modern bandsaw I've seen, that's for sure. Congrats!!

I want to cover the bottom wheel for safety, but almost hate to because of the beautiful spokes.

-brino