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Thread: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

  1. #1
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    I have been very close to pulling the trigger on the Harbor Freight 14" bandsaw, but I just spotted this old Craftsman on craigslist. I know very little about bandsaws (other than bigger seems to be better). Description says 16.5" throat, but I read elsewhere that this model is 18". 220v and works great according to listing. Price is $400 (so basically the same as the new Harbor Freight 14").
    Does anyone have any experience with one of these? Any thoughts on the Craftsman vs the Harbor Freight one?
    It's about 2.5 hours away, so I'd basically be making an offer sight unseen. Pics below.

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  2. #2
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    It's even farther away from me or I would say "stay away from it! It's trouble!" and then go buy it myself. (I could use another bandsaw about that size.)
    Since I'm so far away, I'd say grab it! At $400 it's a steal, IMO.
    I would not consider a Harbor Freight tool at a similar price if I had the choice between it and this one.

    I don't know who made that saw for Sears, but it looks like a good, heavy old tool. Probably in need of quite a bit of set up work, but if well set up, should be a strong, reliable, accurate tool.

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  4. #3
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Thanks, John! That's endorsement enough.

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    Kelley Mandolins Skip Kelley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Walt, John is spot on! It looks it needs cleaning and some set up but, it will be a great saw.

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    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Thanks, Skip. Unfortunately, I emailed him last night and it's already gone. This seems like one of those deals made for people who check Craigslist every few hours.
    Now I have to figure out whether to wait and see if another similar one will pop up. I've been looking, off and on, for about six months, and these old big bandsaws seem to be rare. I guess people never let them go unless they absolutely need the shop space.

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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    You could look for a 14" Rockwell-Delta woodworking bandsaw (one speed, no gear box - for wood only). I bought mine in 1971 when I was building guitars and doing repairs in my store. They are bullet proof and, with a 6" riser you can re-saw 2 X 10's. Mine has a 1/2 hp Baldor motor and I run it on 240V.

    In nearly 50 years of use, I've spent less than $50 on it for two new motor bearings and a set of rubber treads for the wheels. I use 3-4 skiptooth blades on mine.

    They can be found used in the $400-500 range.
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    I think many of them come up for sale because the owner has passed. People tend to not get rid of tools like that.
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    'Can't get enough old bandsaw stories!
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    Henry Lawton hank's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Whoa! James What a bandsaw, your giving me BAS again. Matt, I had been trying to snag a nice old saw like that but the same thing happened to me. I just missed them or they were too far away or in such bad shape it would take a lot more than a setup to use. I finally bought a new Jet JWBS-15-3. 3hp on sale for Christmas at $1529.99 from CPO Outlets at Amazon. They have since gone up to $1800. I don’t know how much more these trade wars are gonna increase this price but anyone one the fence might take that into consideration.
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Quote Originally Posted by Zigeuner View Post
    You could look for a 14" Rockwell-Delta woodworking bandsaw (one speed, no gear box - for wood only). I bought mine in 1971 when I was building guitars and doing repairs in my store. They are bullet proof and, with a 6" riser you can re-saw 2 X 10's. Mine has a 1/2 hp Baldor motor and I run it on 240V.

    In nearly 50 years of use, I've spent less than $50 on it for two new motor bearings and a set of rubber treads for the wheels. I use 3-4 skiptooth blades on mine.

    They can be found used in the $400-500 range.
    I lucked out finding a Rockwell for $250, a new blade and some setup and I was in business with accurate cutting with no vibration. Now it looks like I'm going to be replacing bearings, a new experience for me.
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  18. #11

    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    I love big ol' shop tools, too! I just missed out on an old California-made drill press that was about 6 feet tall, too late again. A Packard, I think....

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  20. #12
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Mine was made by King-Seeley, it was a 1953 Craftsman bandsaw. Not such a heavy duty saw, it was a 12" throat, but cast aluminum IIRC on a stamped steel cabinet.

    It was a workhorse and provided what I needed at the time, and I kind of miss that old saw.
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Old band saws are worth restoring if need be. Check to see if the blade tracks well, that the bearings run true, and that the motor works. Im a retired shop teacher and always had a Delta in the shop. With a little work you can get these things humming. I bought myself a Delta X5 band saw a few years back and it was a piece of crap. It took a lot of work to get it working well. The upper casting was machined wrong and I had to shim the upper wheel to run true. The warranty wasn’t worth much, and if I had to do it again i would look into a Jet or a Powermatic.

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  24. #14
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Out of nowhere an old Rockwell Model 14 was just posted on my local FaceBook classifieds for $100. What are the odds? Just offered him asking price. It was listed 10 hours ago, so hopefully it's not already spoken for.

  25. #15
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    The Delta / Rockwell 14" bandsaws are a classic- they were in production with almost no changes for almost 50 years, so parts are readily available. Check out Louis Iturra's aftermarket catalog for lots of extras and info.

    In the smaller bandsaw category, my number one favorite is the Walker Turner 16". It oozes with art deco style and has a 12"+ resaw capacity, so for most people it is all you will ever need, and they regularly sell for about $600 or less on the used market. Assembled, they weigh in at around 700lbs, but you can take it all apart and fit it into the back seat of a Subaru. Even though I have that giant Yates Y30 for my bass building needs, my 16" Walker Turner my favorite daily driver...especially on the days I have to buy blades- wait until you see the sticker shock of $250 for a 204" fancy carbide blade on the big saw!

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  27. #16
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Well, I missed the old Rockwell too! I replied 10 hours of the listing posted and I was still too late. I might have to take a more active approach to this, like checking out estate sales, etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by grandcanyonminstrel View Post
    In the smaller bandsaw category, my number one favorite is the Walker Turner 16".
    James, that one looks awesome! I saw some smaller Walker Turner bandsaws on Ebay that look really neat. All local pickup of course, and way too far for me to think about driving.

  28. #17
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    OK, a Walker Turner was listed 2 days ago and it's only about two hours from my house. I just emailed the guy, so if my lucky streak continues it will have been sold moments before he reads my email.

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  29. #18
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    That's the one to go for. Early circa 1939 square label, slow speed motor, war tag.....facetime me and I'll walk you through every thing you need to get it in top shape.Missing blade guard is easy to fabricate, single or three phase is fine as you can swap them out or add a vfd for 3 phase and then you'll have an unlimited speed control ( like on my big saw)....heirloom bandsaw.... I can resaw 12" on mine and with an $8 metal cutting blade I can cut 8" aluminum I beams; on the other end of the spectrum, I use a 1/8" blade for delicate scroll work.

    If that one escapes you, head over to the owwm.com forum- a very nice group of old woodworking machinery nerds who can find anything for you at very reasonable prices, often right in your local neighborhood. I get 90% of my machines from folks I've met over there and almost all of the spare parts I need or other advice on rebuilds.

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  31. #19
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Quote Originally Posted by grandcanyonminstrel View Post
    That's the one to go for. Early circa 1939 square label, slow speed motor, war tag.....facetime me and I'll walk you through every thing you need to get it in top shape.Missing blade guard is easy to fabricate, single or three phase is fine as you can swap them out or add a vfd for 3 phase and then you'll have an unlimited speed control ( like on my big saw)....heirloom bandsaw.... I can resaw 12" on mine and with an $8 metal cutting blade I can cut 8" aluminum I beams; on the other end of the spectrum, I use a 1/8" blade for delicate scroll work.
    Thank you, James. I spoke to the owner and I'm picking it up on Saturday!!! I'll definitely take you up on your offer to FaceTime. I'll PM you once I get it back home and get some time to start working on it. My father-in-law (who'll be using the band saw too) is a machinist by trade, so he should be able to fabricate missing parts. I appreciate the help!

  32. #20
    Henry Lawton hank's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Congratulation nice saw Walt. I remember from my failed search an EBay store called Ozark Woodworkers that sells antique machinery shop manuals. Thank you James for the information and link to OWWN. I’m trying to get a slight shutter out of my used 14” Rigid. I added a 3/4”plywood table top to the base stand, a new belt and pulley alinement and cool blocks guides. I’ve been roughing up my little Rigid for the last year cutting metal in a van refurbish and it needed it’s own refurbish. The lower bearing replacement is next. So far the best blades for me have been TimberWolf silicone steel low tension blades for woodworking.
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    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    As a teenage kid I used to work at an old marina that specialized in ancient mahogany Chris Craft style boats and they used to build their own ships. I though to own a bandsaw meant that everyone had a giant old Crescent boat builder's angle saw, like the one shown below. Remember- that is a 9 foot tall, 2000lb machine, not some cute desktop. I still lust for that even though I have the old Yates Y30 with snowflake guards and I have no reason for the tilty. The Yates came out of the WACO biplane factory; approx. 3200lbs. Dale has the 20" version of it, at a cozy 1200lbs! Where is John Hamlett on this thread? He's an old tool nerd with a very cool big old American bandsaw; Spruce Bruce too.....

    Old tool acquisition can be a dangerous slope, but the prices are still wonderfully low like buying a vintage guitar back in 1978. I bought a very cool art deco 1949 Delta Unisaw today, complete with the goose egg motor cover and all the goodies, from a guy a few blocks from my house, for the price of two decent sets of upright bass strings. Even with my $4k fancy sawstop, I still like having a vintage unisaw around. 'Seems like the only time I blow the sensor cartridge on the sawstop is at about 3am on Sunday when I desperately need to get a job finished and there is no help in sight until Monday, so the '49 is my backup and I'll use it for fret slotting and smaller blades instead of that crazy sawstop small blade flying antenna sensor bypass hack I showed off last year. My plan is to bolt the two tables together and gang them as one giant unit with two separate blade stations...
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  36. #22
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Quote Originally Posted by grandcanyonminstrel View Post
    ...Where is John Hamlett on this thread? He's an old tool nerd with a very cool big old American bandsaw; Spruce Bruce too.....
    I'm up there with post #2 of this thread!
    I guess I need to take some more pictures of the 1927 Yates American bandsaw. I can't find the ones that I used to have.
    My Unisaw is not so old. IIRC, the serial number is from 1957 or '58, but it's basically a collection of chosen parts from 3 or 4 Unisaws that I've owned.
    Still haven't set up the new-to-me old 12" Crescent jointer. What a chunk of cast iron that thing is!

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  38. #23
    Henry Lawton hank's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Must be too early. I was thinking of the angle set at Chris Crafts big saw for boat building was something like you would need for a giant staved bowl-back layout. I better get some coffee. I think I’m connecting the wrong dots.
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  40. #24
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Quote Originally Posted by grandcanyonminstrel View Post
    Old tool acquisition can be a dangerous slope, but the prices are still wonderfully low like buying a vintage guitar back in 1978.
    You're not kidding. I found the original catalog for the Walker-Turner bandsaw, and now I want to track down one of these to match:

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    I'm heading to Jackson, MS tomorrow to pick up the bandsaw. The owner said something that leads me to believe that there is some more older equipment out there. I'll try to post some pics.

    James, that Delta unisaw looks killer. I love that art deco styling.

    Does anyone have caster recommendations?

  41. #25
    Registered User Walt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Old Craftsman Bandsaw

    Speaking of boat-building saws, I came across of a video the other day showing the restoration of a giant ship saw. Pretty interesting stuff.


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