Doall 16" Bandsaw Rebuild
I'm starting this thread to document the rebuild of my 16" Doall vertical bandsaw. Im hoping to get some feedback and advice as this is my first machine rebuild. I have read through all of APMech's thread several time and already used it to help with dissassembly of this one. I hope to get this machine in a good workable condition not necessarily a factory fresh restoration.
APMech's Thread for inspiration and goal:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34928
I picked this machine up last Saturday kind of on a whim. The previous week I browsed craigslist with all the normal buzzwords and was surprised when I saw an ad for a Doall bandsaw that was less than $1000.
This was the ad;
There wasn't very much to go on but after a quick text I got some pictures that explained a lot more.
So Saturday I picked up the saw and was informed that the seller had purchased it out of an auction in Dallas. I came from an aviation facility and appears to have cut large quantities of fiberglass and carbon fiber panels, (Confirmed by the 30 lbs of dust I vacumned out).
I currently have the saw mostly disassembled as that was the only way to get it out of the truck. Also, I was unable to test the saw at the sellers place and I wanted to be sure everything is in rebuildable shape before getting too far in. My biggest worry was the gearbox but I split the case last night and it appears to be in decent shape.
Disassembly Thus Far:
I had my suspicions before that the Vari-Drive was disabled or removed from the missing knob in the previous pictures. Upon opening the motor cabinet these were confirmed and you can see the vari-drive has been disabled for a while. They had a belt run from the air pump sheave up the gear box directly.
Also note the 4-5" of dust in the bottom of the cabinet. That was evident everywhere.
First I removed the Vari-Drive. After cleaning it a bit and removing the Bakelite pullies they appear in decent shape. No cracks and only some belt wear from the speed never being changed.
One of the sheaves cleaned up. Do not appear to be in bad shape.
One of the things I was most worried about. We'll see if it can fit in my lathe and get slightly resurfaced. The wheels appear to not have any crown. Which I thought odd after reading through APmech's Doall thread. Maybe the two wheel saws track easier. IDK
On a good note after taking off the job selector I found the face plate for it underneath. I was really happy about that because that makes the whole saw in my eyes.
Removed the motor. It appears to be well worn. It has almost 1/4" of endplay. I'll be looking for another one.
.
Removed the gearbox. It had this phenolic wedge underneath the gear selector. I didn't even notice it until way after the gearbox was removed. So much dirt on everything.
Opening the gearbox showed very little oil. I only had a small amount come out. Good news is the gears appear to be in decent shape. Being that this was locked into high gear most of its life none of the power was running through the gears. This gearbox is different from others I have seen in that it only uses two gear sets. High gear is 1:1 and the input and output lock together then low uses the other gear for reduction.
Not much wear. For the little use I expect to give it, it should last a while.
That is where I am right now. I need to finish disassembling the gearbox and I will rebuild that first before starting in on the rest of the machine.
I'm starting this thread to document the rebuild of my 16" Doall vertical bandsaw. Im hoping to get some feedback and advice as this is my first machine rebuild. I have read through all of APMech's thread several time and already used it to help with dissassembly of this one. I hope to get this machine in a good workable condition not necessarily a factory fresh restoration.
APMech's Thread for inspiration and goal:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34928
I picked this machine up last Saturday kind of on a whim. The previous week I browsed craigslist with all the normal buzzwords and was surprised when I saw an ad for a Doall bandsaw that was less than $1000.
This was the ad;
There wasn't very much to go on but after a quick text I got some pictures that explained a lot more.
So Saturday I picked up the saw and was informed that the seller had purchased it out of an auction in Dallas. I came from an aviation facility and appears to have cut large quantities of fiberglass and carbon fiber panels, (Confirmed by the 30 lbs of dust I vacumned out).
I currently have the saw mostly disassembled as that was the only way to get it out of the truck. Also, I was unable to test the saw at the sellers place and I wanted to be sure everything is in rebuildable shape before getting too far in. My biggest worry was the gearbox but I split the case last night and it appears to be in decent shape.
Disassembly Thus Far:
I had my suspicions before that the Vari-Drive was disabled or removed from the missing knob in the previous pictures. Upon opening the motor cabinet these were confirmed and you can see the vari-drive has been disabled for a while. They had a belt run from the air pump sheave up the gear box directly.
Also note the 4-5" of dust in the bottom of the cabinet. That was evident everywhere.
First I removed the Vari-Drive. After cleaning it a bit and removing the Bakelite pullies they appear in decent shape. No cracks and only some belt wear from the speed never being changed.
One of the sheaves cleaned up. Do not appear to be in bad shape.
One of the things I was most worried about. We'll see if it can fit in my lathe and get slightly resurfaced. The wheels appear to not have any crown. Which I thought odd after reading through APmech's Doall thread. Maybe the two wheel saws track easier. IDK
On a good note after taking off the job selector I found the face plate for it underneath. I was really happy about that because that makes the whole saw in my eyes.
Removed the motor. It appears to be well worn. It has almost 1/4" of endplay. I'll be looking for another one.
.
Removed the gearbox. It had this phenolic wedge underneath the gear selector. I didn't even notice it until way after the gearbox was removed. So much dirt on everything.
Opening the gearbox showed very little oil. I only had a small amount come out. Good news is the gears appear to be in decent shape. Being that this was locked into high gear most of its life none of the power was running through the gears. This gearbox is different from others I have seen in that it only uses two gear sets. High gear is 1:1 and the input and output lock together then low uses the other gear for reduction.
Not much wear. For the little use I expect to give it, it should last a while.
That is where I am right now. I need to finish disassembling the gearbox and I will rebuild that first before starting in on the rest of the machine.
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