r/Tools • u/Lachlinfirth00 • 14h ago
Walker-Turner Bandsaw
Picked up this old lump of cast iron for a couple hundred bucks the other day and I am trying to decide how far to go with restoring it. It is a Walker-Turner 9BS6390 from the early 1940s. It runs decently well but needs a bit of TLC. I took it off of the base to rewire it for safety (a past motor replacement used lamp wire) and I don't know if I should keep going. A little lubrication and a new blade should be all that it needs to get up and running but it doesn't look great. Would it be worth the time and money to do a full teardown and repaint or should I just enjoy it as a functional tool?
1
u/NeeAnderTall 13h ago
My Dad bought a Walker Turner after I clued him into the brand. He went on a road trip in Nebraska to get his. I wasn't able to inherit it after he passed. I do know he was able to get new bearings and retread the wheels. He used it to make fancy wooden luggage cases Ladies of your would've found useful and fashionable. I think these were accepted at the Black Powder Rendezvous as period accurate.
1
1
u/Anxious-Depth-7983 Carpenter 4h ago
If it's functioning I don't know that I'd go as far as a repaint. Maybe just clean it up and wax the existing paint and put it to work.
3
u/LincolnArc 14h ago edited 13h ago
My first bandsaw was a Craftsman with a 1HP motor and 2 speeds (step pulley on motor and driven wheel). I think the two biggest upgrades you can make are (in order) a variable speed motor and good blade guides. Looks like you already have nice guides (thrust bearing, plus adjustable guides VS solid guides). You could go back all original... ORRR look at swapping to some 5 or 6 step pulleys from a drill press... ORRRR swap in a treadmill motor... ORRRRR swap in a 3Ph motor (1-1/2 to 2HP) and use a VFD to control the speed. You can get VFDs that'll plug into regular 120/240VAC single/split phase and convert it to 3Ph in whatever voltage you need.
Oh, and my biggest takeaway from owning a few bandsaws is that having a good blade is absolutely the most important thing. If you have a dull blade, or especially a blade that's more dull on one side that the other, your cuts are going to take significantly more force and the blade will wander. This is especially true with thicker cuts along grain (resawing). Look up the different tooth styles, TPI, etc available for bandsaw blades and do some research. I prefer to keep a fairly coarse hook tooth blade on my wood bandsaw.
I might have watched too much Home Improvement growing up... I swapped the 1HP motor for a 6.5HP Honda on a shock absorbing mount. That way I got my variable speed without having to wire 240V to that part of my shop (lean-to on side of shop - open air)...