Thoughts and advice about Boice-Crane bandsaw

[Skyman]

Hi, all.

Sometime last year, an elderly gentleman gave me this antique Boice-Crane bandsaw. It obviously needs some rehabilitation, and I'd be curious to hear the thoughts about this beast from the brain trust here on the vintage tool discussion page.

TIA for any comments, insights, recommendations, etc.

 

[cvairwerks]

Built stout. Take care of it a little and it will outlast you and your grandkids. Lots of help with them on the OWWM forums.

 

[whateg01]

I love those old saws, but they do tend to require more maintenance. Many used plain bearings, for example.

 

[LopezBart]

I love those old saws, but they do tend to require more maintenance. Many used plain bearings, for example.

They'll want maintenance in the form of a bit of oil or grease now and then. Plain bearings, kept oiled even casually, will last a long time. Oiled when you switch blades, they can easily outlast ball bearings. Why? Because ball bearings have significant contact stresses and resulting strains due to their very small contact patches, and that will eventually lead to fretting and a noisy bearing.