I know most of you think I don't have outlets in the garage, but I do and attached to one of them is a 90's-2000's Delta bandsaw.
Now, let me make this disclaimer - when I bought this bandsaw, I had 18 years less knowledge than I have now...
I would NOT recommend this era Delta equipment to anyone!
I noticed a problem for some time, the upper wheel adjustment would "stick" up or down and the spring tension was insufficient to move it.
yesterday I decided to pull it apart and see what the problem was.
Now mind you this saw worked well for some time 10, maybe 16 years!
I pulled the upper wheel and sheet metal cover so I could see the wheel adjustment and determine if there was something wrong. (build-up of sawdust or ???)
View attachment 29771
The diecast piece was not "free" meaning I couldn't move it by hand (attempting to push it up or down in the cast iron grooves.
I then did a little "stupid" and tapped it with a soft face hammer.
View attachment 29773
DON'T do that! the die casting can't even hold up to a light tap!
Interesting thing, the casting broke, but the wheel mount did not move! (Delta calls it a "sliding bracket") https://www.ereplacementparts.com/delta-28254-type-1434-band-saw-parts-c-3275_3481_14173.html
So I pried on it with a wooden stick (should have done that from the start)
It took a hammer handle (12" lever) to move the bracket!
I cleaned the grooves in the cast iron and the "tabs" on the edges of the bracket to see why the assembly was jamming.
I saw that there were scuffs on the bracket, so I filed the faces that ride on the cast iron "upper frame assembly"
I wish I would have measured the thickness of the "tabs" that ride in the grooves in the cast iron, but I didn't...
I put the bracket back in and didn't see much improvement, so I "levered" it back out and took a carbide scraper (this is a scraper used for scraping ways for machine tools) to remove a little more material faster than with a file.
I had also filed some from the edges of the bracket, not knowing specifically what was causing the bracket not to move freely...
Now I can move the bracket by hand, but I want it to move freely in the grooves
Well after a little trial and error, I used some dykem blue to really see what was going on!
View attachment 29774
Here is another view of the other side of the die casting
View attachment 29776
I have a little more to take off the edges of the bracket and hopefully it will move freely in the cast iron "upper frame assembly"
My big question is this - What changed?
There was not a build-up of sawdust or bad/old grease in the assembly, I used PB Blaster Dry Lube with the express idea that sawdust will not build up in the assembly!https://www.grainger.com/product/16...09039&ef_id=V0XzKwAAAd1WBatN:20190227151751:s
I will admit this is not the highest quality machine - I have changed the table trunnions as many who have owned these machines have since they are poorly designed die-castings.
But still, why would (how could) the die casting or the cast iron dimensions change enough to stop the bracket from moving in the assembly?
Metal (the zinc die-casting) can't expand and the cast iron can't shrink, so what happened?
Now, let me make this disclaimer - when I bought this bandsaw, I had 18 years less knowledge than I have now...
I would NOT recommend this era Delta equipment to anyone!
I noticed a problem for some time, the upper wheel adjustment would "stick" up or down and the spring tension was insufficient to move it.
yesterday I decided to pull it apart and see what the problem was.
Now mind you this saw worked well for some time 10, maybe 16 years!
I pulled the upper wheel and sheet metal cover so I could see the wheel adjustment and determine if there was something wrong. (build-up of sawdust or ???)
View attachment 29771
The diecast piece was not "free" meaning I couldn't move it by hand (attempting to push it up or down in the cast iron grooves.
I then did a little "stupid" and tapped it with a soft face hammer.
View attachment 29773
DON'T do that! the die casting can't even hold up to a light tap!
Interesting thing, the casting broke, but the wheel mount did not move! (Delta calls it a "sliding bracket") https://www.ereplacementparts.com/delta-28254-type-1434-band-saw-parts-c-3275_3481_14173.html
So I pried on it with a wooden stick (should have done that from the start)
It took a hammer handle (12" lever) to move the bracket!
I cleaned the grooves in the cast iron and the "tabs" on the edges of the bracket to see why the assembly was jamming.
I saw that there were scuffs on the bracket, so I filed the faces that ride on the cast iron "upper frame assembly"
I wish I would have measured the thickness of the "tabs" that ride in the grooves in the cast iron, but I didn't...
I put the bracket back in and didn't see much improvement, so I "levered" it back out and took a carbide scraper (this is a scraper used for scraping ways for machine tools) to remove a little more material faster than with a file.
I had also filed some from the edges of the bracket, not knowing specifically what was causing the bracket not to move freely...
Now I can move the bracket by hand, but I want it to move freely in the grooves
Well after a little trial and error, I used some dykem blue to really see what was going on!
View attachment 29774
Here is another view of the other side of the die casting
View attachment 29776
I have a little more to take off the edges of the bracket and hopefully it will move freely in the cast iron "upper frame assembly"
My big question is this - What changed?
There was not a build-up of sawdust or bad/old grease in the assembly, I used PB Blaster Dry Lube with the express idea that sawdust will not build up in the assembly!https://www.grainger.com/product/16...09039&ef_id=V0XzKwAAAd1WBatN:20190227151751:s
I will admit this is not the highest quality machine - I have changed the table trunnions as many who have owned these machines have since they are poorly designed die-castings.
But still, why would (how could) the die casting or the cast iron dimensions change enough to stop the bracket from moving in the assembly?
Metal (the zinc die-casting) can't expand and the cast iron can't shrink, so what happened?
