Woodfast Junior Restoration - Advice needed
Hey everyone, new guy here looking for some advice.
Putting together a shop for me and my dad and I came across a Woodfast Junior band saw on Gumtree for $30. It was in pretty rough shape but it looked complete and the price was right so I loaded it up and brought it home.
http://i.imgur.com/rwGNnm8.jpg
Once I got home I've started to realise there a number of issues that will need to be attended to before it will be serviceable, hoping you guys can help.
PROBLEM ONE
Didn't realise till I got home but the blade guide is missing the shaft that holds the guide bearings. Whoever used the saw previously didn't care so the guide pins are pretty shredded too. I came across the thread below with someone who needed the same shaft and bearings but it never seemed to hit a resolution unfortunately.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f27/wo...-junior-139445
The pins I can take care of, I'll just get some appropriately sized rod and file them down to size with flat spots for the adjustment screws. The shaft and bearings is where I'm having trouble. Matthias Wandel has an article on a custom guide that he made for his DIY bandsaw (linked below) so that may be an option but I'd like to keep the fabrication to a minimum at this point if I can.
https://woodgears.ca/bandmill/guides.html
http://i.imgur.com/U62u8Xc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jtL69ai.jpg
PROBLEM TWO
This is the angle adjustment mount for the table - 'He's dead, Jim'. Warped completely and the holes for mounting the table have pretty much been sheared clean off. Two options here - lose angle adjustment altogether and shim up the table so that everything is level or find a replacement mount (probably not going to happen). Anyone got any ideas I haven't thought of yet?
http://i.imgur.com/2M2tcgK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/maiwBhD.jpg
PROBLEM THREE.
Yep, there's more! The tyres had completely worn out, they had gone so hard and brittle that I had no choice but to scrape them out. Google tells me urethane tyres are the way to go but it looks to me like the channel will be much too deep, is this assumption correct? The original tyres sat proud or flush with the channel from what I could tell, would love some advice on this.
http://i.imgur.com/99VdN5f.jpg
PROBLEM FOUR.
The poor, poor table. LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE! Not really a huge issue but the photo amuses me. Will probably just file the hole out square with a machinists file and add some plywood or MDF to the top for some added rigidity around the blade.
http://i.imgur.com/0xdiyRP.jpg
So that's about the long and the short of it at this point. I'm thinking the best solution to all these problems is to find another Woodfast Junior and go scavenging for parts but I'd hate to take another one of these beauties out of commission, maybe if I could find one that's already dead? Seems unlikely. The motor runs fine and I've got the machine all stripped down so I'll start prepping for a new paint job soon. Will probably pick up a cheap stand from Hare and Forbes too as it takes up a ton of room mounted the way it is.
Anyway if you've made it this far thanks for reading and hopefully someone can help! I'll keep you guys posted on progress, really looking forward to this restoration. Love the look of this machine, reminds me of the old Delta Unisaws!