Buffalo 4x6 bandsaw gearbox lube??

[Ralphxyz]

Would someone please interpret these lube instructions.

Drive gears run in the oil bath and won’t require lubricant change more than once a year. When changing, put down the head to a horizontal position and loosen screws on the gearbox.

Open the cover and place pan under the right lower corner of the gear box.

Slowly raise the head until the oil flows out.

Lower the head and wipe up excess oil.

Add lubricant until it is full.

Close cover and tighten screws.

I picked up the saw a couple of years ago and never "changed" the oil.
Now it is starting to drag and the motor is getting really really hot so
thought I'd better investigate.

There is no liquid oil in the gearbox there is some real thick sludge in the bottom of the box.

What should I use as a lube? I take it it should be a oil not grease.

This has been getting a lot of use, probable 2 hours a day for the last month.

Thanks for the help!!

Ralph

 

[Doug Arthurs]

gear oil is what should be in it. If the gears are bronze then use synthetic. If not any industrial gear oil will work.

 

[Ralphxyz]

Thanks Doug.

Now in thinking more about the instructions I am guessing that:

"Open the cover and place pan under the right lower corner of the gear box.

Slowly raise the head until the oil flows out. "

Is to empty out the old oil.

"Then"

Lower the head and wipe up excess oil.

Add lubricant until it is full.

Of course the box will not be "full" but as full as it can get while tipped on it's side.

Hopefully this is correct.

Ralph

 

[crerus75]

I'm assuming this bandsaw is one of the Taiwan-style imported ones available from a variety of manufacturers.

The instructions for the Harbor Freight bandsaw sound very similar and are available on their website. They say to use 140-weight gear oil which you can find at any auto parts store. The manual doesn't specify, but several people have reported that the saw requires GL-4 (or earlier) oil, as GL-5 supposedly has a material incompatibility issue between the additives and any bronze components in the gearbox.

When you open the gearbox, check for bits of metal. If the saw has been running almost dry for 2 hours a day and starting to bog down, there's a very good chance you've done some damage. The gearbox uses a worm drive, and the gear wheel looks like it's made of bronze. If this is the case, there's a fair chance that the worm shaft itself is fine and the gear wheel shredded itself to bits. I saw a replacement on Amazon, but make sure that it's the one you need. Make sure you clean all the old sludge and metal bits out of the gearbox before refilling and resealing. The Harbor Freight manual should also give you an exploded view of the parts if you need them. Good luck.