Thread: Need some photo's of a Rong Fu RF-115 bandsaw

ive got one pics tomorrow if its not too hot i just replaced the pinion shaft in mine i cant see any reason to change the back lash because the motor takes that up as soon as it is in drive mode . maybe you are thinking of the rf 25 or similar mill
john

Thanks John.

It's going to be hot, so no rush.

I thought I read a thread back aways, where the backlash could be shimmed out with a bush or some such to prevent the gears tearing themselves up when they got sloppy.

I will remove the cover and have a look at the setup.

I have to strip it down pretty well anyway.

Those metal saws would have to be one of the worst things I've ever loaded/unloaded off the ute tray - weighty, narrow wheels, top heavy, pivoting arm that springs up, all waiting to catch you out.

Had a bit of an incident unloading it, yep turned ugly, and it sustained a bit of damage.

He He it nearly got me.

Rob

Hi Bob,
I am pretty sureyour BS is the model the Chinese copied and H &F sell as the BS4E or B002.

The Jaw is 65 H x 55W x 95 L and about 8mm or therebouts in wall thickness. There is slot 43L x 15W on centre in the bottom part of the(55W) jaw. The same Vertical and falat jaws are strengthened by end gussets. Its about an hours work once you get your angle iron to make it from.

Your saw rust and all, is about 10 times better than the one received from Hafco this week. Where yours has knobs mine has hex head bolts. Tell me does yours have a solid sleeve bush bearing in the non driven pulley? .Mine does,it reeks of cheap & nasty. What other pics or specs are you seeking, drive belt cover may be?

Grahame

Hi Grahame,

I haven't had a close look at it yet. Where is the non driven pulley ? Do you mean the one on the gearbox?

I'm not worried about a drive cover.

Rob

Mine looks pretty much like that one. I got it about 20 years ago in much this state. Been running ever since..... You may well find that the 1/3HP motor is ample. I have never stalled mine, but when overloaded, the blade comes off.... The way to confirm the size is right is feel the temperature while cutting something really big - near the capacity of the saw.
By the way, if you take the entire vice off and clamp a workpiece to the bed, you can just fit 190mm wide plate or 175 x about 75 stock!
Well done with your purchase!

PS: if you still need photos and dimensions of the missing part, PM me.

Rob, you will find the current motor is suitable for what it does. Never had a problem with mine.
Spend a bit of time setting it up though, and you will find it will cut accurately. I used a builders square to get the blade true. Just takes a while.
I also flicked the stand. Very poor, and made my own from RHS.
Have used it for man years. Lots of work during that time. More than happy.
Local engineering works has one near his steel racks.
Keep a check on the oil level.
Get my blades from McDinen Saws. McDiven Saws P/L specializes in all types of bandsaws
Good quailty and will make to any size. Generally much cheaper than your local stores. Will get the size in the morning if you wish.

Regards,

John.

Originally Posted by nearnexus

Hi Grahame,

I haven't had a close look at it yet. Where is the non driven pulley ? Do you mean the one on the gearbox?

I'm not worried about a drive cover.

Rob

Its the other end.I am sure earlier ones had a ball race, not a steel bush.

Thanks
Grahame

Pics of Rong Fu jaws
plus a switch and the bushed wheel

B002 Bushed Bsaw wheel.jpgB002 switch.jpgB002 jaw 2.jpgB002 jaw 1.jpg

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

The picture I really wanted is how the threaded shaft attaches to the movable vise jaw, under the bed.

Does it screw into a pivot of some sort to allow the vise to turn?

Regarding the motor, I may try it first as is. I have a 1 HP motor under the bench doing nothing.

I will see how that pulley is mounted Grahame.

PS What speed do you run these at with a coarse and fine blade ?

Cheers

Rob

Rob, there is a 4x6 Bandsaw Group on Yahoo with loads of pictures and mods, also if you do an Image search on Google for "4 x 6 bandsaw" you will get a load of images of all aspects of this saw, as well as mods.

To answer to your fist question, the bolt going down through the movable jaw screws in to a threaded collar on the threaded rod operated by the handwheel.

I have modified both my jaws to be both higher and longer as well as incorporated an adjustment screw in the movable jaw to keep it straight for short pieces.

Will take a couple of pics today and put them up later.

ROB here is a parts list you may still be able to get the spare part from hare and forbes in melb or syd (thats where i got the spindle shaft)
document.pdf......... part number 34
if you want to go the diy way get a piece of at least 10mm thick angle iron and cut it down to about 70 mm X 50mm and add some gussets for strenght the slot is probably not neccessary if you dont have those capabilities
suggest you make it a bit longer and add the jack screw for cutting short pieces as shown in posts previous
john

Thanks guys, this is all good stuff. Appreciate the effort.

I will fabricate something and incorporate those features.

I joined the yahoo 6x4 group last night - those groups are really great.

I checked the BS over this morning and it is really in excellent condition. The pinion gear (bronze) looks like new, oil OK and right up.

The motor sounded a bit suspect in the bearings so I swapped over the 1 HP I have and another pulley and got some heavy water pipe to try it out on.

WOW.

That about sums it up. Went through that in very little time.

Here's some photo's of it now.

bs1.jpgbs2.jpgbs3.jpgbs4.jpgbs7.jpg

In the last photo you can see that after the cut the blade moves about 1/8" away from the stock - does this mean I should move the blade in a bit on the adjusters?

For $85 I'm over the moon on this one - awesomeness

Cheers

Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

In the last photo you can see that after the cut the blade moves about 1/8" away from the stock - does this mean I should move the blade in a bit on the adjusters?

Simply out of alignment and needs adjustment. The blade guide bearings on either side of the cutting section are adjustable, up and down and they also twist. With a small G cramp, I attached a light metal strip to the blade at 90 degrees and with a square on the base plate, adjusted them until the blade was exactly at right angles to the base. It will take a little while, but a must. Also, make sure your blade is in good nick. A crook blade will run off.

Regards,

John

Good score, use a new blade to set it up, I learnt the hard way when I bought my saw second hand.
The old blade in mine cut off to one side no matter what I tried and after fitting the new blade all was fine.

Dave