Thread: WIP - Restoration of an 1960's (?) Toolmac 14"" Taiwanese Bandsaw

Originally Posted by vk4

If worst come to worst , you could have the bolt hole machined into a slot, to give some adjustment.

Jeff
vk4

Yes I have been thinking that Jeff. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I wanted to restore/upgrade the saw rather than do a dodgy fix. In fact, I might try that in the first instance and keep my eye out for replacement parts on e-bay or something. At the moment when the blade runs on the correct spot on the top wheel, the guides are positioned towards the back of the blade, which is not good.

I don't have a mill, but I can drill a series of holes and connect them with a file or a saw like is done with a mortise.

Thanks for the encouragement, I will keep posting.

We have started to stock the Carter guide systems

These are after market guides that can be fit onto most bandsaws.

We will be demonstrating these at the Melbourne wood show this weekend and it will be late next week before we can get them onto the web site.

These guides are really cool.

We have set up 2 completely different bandsaws with the stabiliser gudes on an old 1998 carbatec bandsaw which takes similar guides to yours and a late model Trupro with the new guide system and can now rip 1mm thick slices.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

We have started to stock the Carter guide systems

These are after market guides that can be fit onto most bandsaws.

We will be demonstrating these at the Melbourne wood show this weekend and it will be late next week before we can get them onto the web site.

These guides are really cool.

We have set up 2 completely different bandsaws with the stabiliser gudes on an old 1998 carbatec bandsaw which takes similar guides to yours and a late model Trupro with the new guide system and can now rip 1mm thick slices.

I gather that when you say "we" you mean Carbatec right Jim?

I've been looking at the Carter guides but they are a bit pricey for a saw that's only worth about $200... and shipping from the USA adds another $50... Also the blade guard seems to mount onto a separate support which then robs you of ~25 mm of cutting depth. I'll still keep an eye out for these in the catalogue.

But hey! it seems that you have some old 1998 Carbatec bandsaw guides that are going cheap!

Today I cut a slot into the guide support as Jeff suggested and actually it looks pretty good! Can't wait to give them a go later in the week.

So I took a step back and instead of spending $100s on new blade guides I decided to try to fix the existing ones. As mentioned in an earlier post the blade guide support on the top blade guide assembly had simply been bolted on, and this provided no possibility of adjustment. When the blade ran on the proper place on the top wheel the guide blocks were towards the back of the blade.

Encouraged by Jeff (vk4) I decided to widen the existing hole into a slot. Basically I drilled several holes and connected them with a hack saw blade and then filed everything smooth. Doing this on the aluminium cast guide block support was easier than I originally thought it might be. I had a wing nut lying around so I fit the guide support bracket onto the top guide assembly using that so I don't have to use a spanner anymore. It turned out pretty neat if I may say so. See Pictures 1 and 2.

While I was at it I used a disk sander to grind the face of the guide blocks which has saw tooth marks on them. I then polished them a little using emery paper. I grew bored of doing this as you can see - there are still disk sander abrasion marks on the blocks, but the are much better than they were, and I don't think this is that critical (?) See Picture 3.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to try it all out. I adjusted the blade tension and guides in the way that Alex Snodgrass suggests in his video. and then proceeded to cut ~ 1.5 mm wafers (I took Jim Caroll's post here earlier as a challenge! ) out of a 32mm T x 130mm W x 150mm L scrap bit of Victorian Ash, with the blade running through the 130mm width. The result is shown on the last picture two of the wafers are perfectly uniform in thickness right through and along the cut!!! See Picture 4. Another two wafers are pretty good but not perfect - but i think that that's because of the quality of the fence - which is just a small length of slotted angle.

I am just so chuffed with the result! I carry those wafers around and have been using one as a coaster so that I can keep picking it up to admire my achievement - I love the possibilities that that wafer represents! Lute making here I come!

A good quality, rigid, tall, square fence is the next job for this saw. I have a little bit of marine plywood that I can use to make one.

Guide Support (C).jpgGuide Support S (C).jpgGuide Blocks (C).jpgWafers (C).jpg

WELL DONE, THE WAFERS LOOK GOOD, THE MODIFICATION IS EXCELLENT,

enjoy the Band saw, and have fun.

Jeff
vk4

GarciaJ,
Good fix you have done.
I had a similar saw and replaced those blocks with wood. Any hard wood will do but harder the better. I have used jarrah and spotted gum. Leave them extra long as this makes it easier to square the ends from time to time on the disc sander. Saw runs very quiet. You do have to square the ends more often than the metal ones but I reckon it is worth it. My current saw has roller side guides and while good makes a bit of noise. Cant fit wood blocks to this one but I would if I could.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by orraloon

GarciaJ,
Good fix you have done.
I had a similar saw and replaced those blocks with wood. Any hard wood will do but harder the better. I have used jarrah and spotted gum. Leave them extra long as this makes it easier to square the ends from time to time on the disc sander. Saw runs very quiet. You do have to square the ends more often than the metal ones but I reckon it is worth it. My current saw has roller side guides and while good makes a bit of noise. Cant fit wood blocks to this one but I would if I could.
Regards
John

Hi John and Jeff - thank you for the comments an encouragement.

John,

I've seen similar solutions to what you have suggested in the internet and elsewhere in this forum- Graphite guide blocks, and even polyethylene which is a bit soft, but very slippery so it could be good. Might give it a try one day.

There is one website where someone describes making the whole guide assembly out of wood... now that's a thought! using your bandsaw to make bandsaw parts!