Delta Milwaukee Metal/ Wood Band Saw

[Chris152]

Hi All,

We just bought this metal/ wood bandsaw yesterday. From what I've read on the net, it's Delta Milwaukee (tho badged Tauco) and is from the 1950s. It looks identical to later Rockwell Delta saws, but being earlier has the twist/ push gear shifter (as opposed to the knob on the top pulley on the later ones).

It works fine, but it seems clear that the pulleys have been changed and are wrong. The upper four step pulley is the correct length, but the largest O/D is 4.75" and the smallest O/D is 2". There are 2x four step pulleys and from what I've read:
one pulley (Delta no. 718) should be 3.15" max and 1.75" min O/Ds, and the other (Delta no. 720) should be 4.5" max and 3.15" min O/Ds.

So the upper pulley is wrong, if that info is correct. The lower pulley is definitely wrong as it has only two steps.

I'm looking into trying to get the correct pulleys from the US but don't have much hope.
The alternative may be to buy similar but larger pulleys and turn them down to size, but I'm not over-confident about that. But could that work? Or are there alternative sources for step pulleys of the correct dimensions? Exact O/Ds for each pulley are in the link below.
Final option is to get similar dimension pulleys and work with the speeds they produce.

Thanks for any advice, Chris.

I found the dimension info here: https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forums/topic/29586-delta-4-step-pulley-sizespeedcatno-charts/

 

[frank horton]

just get a stepped pulley and work with what u get.....
better to run the blade a bit/lot slower if u want to cut metal....
My v old German made b/saw has just one speed.....sometime this spring I'll fit the two stepped pullies I got from China..
because the 20mm wood blades I like to run slower than the 10mm ones

 

[Agroshield]

Just in case you might need further info. on the machine, vintagemachinery.org has a lot of literature.

Remember that any US specs. you find will be based on their 60 Hz power frequency, so in effect, their electric motors turn 20% faster than ours.

Bung a cheap three phase motor and VFD on it and have variable speed with what you have. A lot less work.

 

[Chris152]

Just in case you might need further info. on the machine, vintagemachinery.org has a lot of literature.

Remember that any US specs. you find will be based on their 60 Hz power frequency, so in effect, their electric motors turn 20% faster than ours.

Bung a cheap three phase motor and VFD on it and have variable speed with what you have. A lot less work.

That may be a way to go in time, we need to play with it as is and figure out what's best.

The motor that's on it at the moment is this one:

0.7541TPCB3 TEC Single Phase Perm Cap Eletric Motor 0.75kW, 4 Pole, B3, 80 Frame

Single phase AC permanent capacitor IEC standard electric motors are suitable for industrial equipment and domestic applications with a single phase 220/240V supply. Bear in mind that they should never be used in hard to start applications e.g. woodworking machinery, vacuumed pumps, air...

bepltd.com

But according to the blurb describing the motor:
'Single phase AC permanent capacitor IEC standard electric motors are suitable for industrial equipment and domestic applications with a single phase 220/240V supply. Bear in mind that they should never be used in hard to start applications e.g. woodworking machinery, vacuumed pumps, air compressors and high pressure water pumps; instead, it is best that you use capacitor start/capacitor run single phase motors.'

It seems to work fine, but I'd like to know what the issue is/ could be in time - any thoughts?

 

[Agroshield]

Bear in mind that they should never be used in hard to start applications

In effect, that is saying 'do not start under load'.

Perhaps you could alter the belt tensioning mechanism so the motor can come up to speed unloaded, and then you tension the belt (thus switching on the load due to the wheels and band).

I would not think a bandsaw would load a motor anything like a thicknesser with a heavy steel drum to accelerate, so you might be OK.

 

[Chris152]

In effect, that is saying 'do not start under load'.

Perhaps you could alter the belt tensioning mechanism so the motor can come up to speed unloaded, and then you tension the belt (thus switching on the load due to the wheels and band).

I would not think a bandsaw would load a motor anything like a thicknesser with a heavy steel drum to accelerate, so you might be OK.

Thanks. It does seem to start up fine as is.