Restoring a 36' Bandsaw for the Boat Shop

Rebuilding a Hall and Brown #2 bandsaw. This saw is about 105 years old, classic old American iron. A variable frequency drive (VFD) is used for the 3-phase conversion. This is not a museum style restoration, the saw will be a daily user in the boat shop.

[Rebel]

Babbett bearings can be quite reliable if the drip oilers are working properly. There's a lot of stationery steam engines still around that can attest to that.

[pauliunknown]

great project! hope you do more things like this in the future

[ingmarzz]

Right on! The "Fireball Tool" YouTube channel dude has got a great video of restoring a giant bandsaw, and he builds a beautiful blade guard for that saw.. Cheers, Ingmar

[wafflebeaver]

Seriously though. Great explanation and documentation of a big ol bandsaw. Very cool tool to have and the VFD makes that thing work really well.

[shortypalmer]

I have a very similiar bandsaw. Mine was forged in Philadelphia. The blade is 210 inches long.

[DiabloSpearguns]

Beautiful bandsaw! I just completed a restoration of a 26”.

[georgepeatiearth]

band on the run.... beautiful. recycling. 👍💪

[vincentduchatelet]

Hi, perfect tool ! What power is the motor? Have you the reference of your VFD ? Thanks!

[bobstephens]

Please put some guards ( oops, just answered my post). Are you the Madison on Wooden boat forum that was building the “ Maid of Endor “ in Oregon ?

[atg.studio]

You didn't address the loose tire in the video so I'm posting here just to inform. Rubber tires need to be glued down to prevent slinging the tire like that off the wheel, which can lead to throwing the blade. Urethane tires don't need to be glued. One more thing, using a VFD and the braking feature you will have induced current from the spinning wheels essentially turning the motor into a generator. You need to find a way to cope with this excess current by putting a resistor in line. The same places that sell VFDs should also sell these resistors. I have a 36" Yerkes & Finan that I will be restoring. I believe these two companies are closely associated with Hall and Brown purchasing Yerkes & Finan at the beginning of the 20th century, around 1911-13.

[АлександрМожайский-ци]

In Russia about such as you speak: "Clever fingers, diamond head!"

[tayyabsafdar]

It's a great machine but I wonder about the safety, but surely the guys who made it were not fools, they were better craftsman than us may be we are machine shy and they weren't. Sure there weren't too many accidents or else the covers could have been easily added. It's a question not answered yet, such balanced so lovingly made machine with out gaurds.

[bendaves]

I'm surprised that you have chosen to invest your time in a old classic wooden sailboat rather than building your own from the keel up.. I can imagine that the final product would be a functioning work of art..

[joschmoyo]

Sometimes those old machines are probably not worth fixing unless you got it for free. Even then, no trunnions to tilt the table. I've used a lot of bandsaws over the year's. Rarely if ever are they looked after very well. It seems to be the curse of every bandsaw with a few exceptions. This is a shame because properly maintained and adjusted they can do so many things.