1950s Craftsman (King Seeley) 12″ BS ?’s
40 or so years ago, my dad went to a garage sale with his father, and ran across a 12″ craftsman band saw. when he asked about it, the old lady asked if $35 was fair. when my dad tried to work the price even further, my grandpa stepped in and said “if he isn’t going to pay you that, i sure as hell will!”. with that story came this machine, and now it’s mine.
recently i tried to crosscut a dowel in two, and started hearing the thing clunk and shimmy. well, after the approx. 50 year life, i decided it was time to take off the covers and see how things were holding up. after removing a shop-vac full of dust (the only thing not packed was the wheels and the area behind them) i began to realize this machine really was in great shape for it’s age… heck -for any age!. i called up sears parts hotline and ordered new tires, guide pins, and thrust rollers, and now i’m building a new stand for it (remember, these were the days when you supply the stand and motor, they just make the saw). now i’m left looking at the very old motor, trying to decide if i should replace or reuse. in it’s defense, it runs very well, but i wonder if a little more horsepower would be nice (it’s 1/2hp right now).
does anyone have a similar machine, and if so, what have been your experiences with it’s capabilities? for example, i don’t have access to a blade tension meter, and thus don’t really know what i can expect out of it in certain situations such as resawing, etc. i know i could run up a nice bill adding on modern features like bearing blade guides and a little more beefy motor, but if this machine is really only good for little projects, i’ll just wait a few years until i’m absolutely strapped that i can’t go without anymore. (getting into woodworking on a budget is just no fun 😉
thanks in advance, and i’ll nto try to put up pictures tomorrow if anyone really wants.
Replies
Hi tschmaling:
I have my grandfathers 12" craftsman from the 40's (Model 103.0103) which I restored. It was a fun project that took me about 200 hours and several humdred dollars. I now have a saw which is worth easily $100.00 -- Hey, it was my grandfathers.
One improvement I can suggest which won't cost much is replacing the brass guide blocks with lignum vitae (also known as ironwood). Lignum vitae can be run touching the blade just like cool blocks and give the blade much more support. I believe your saw has 5/8" round brass blocks like mine. To fashion the lignum vitae shape it with a knife to close to the correct size. Then drive it through a 5/8" hole drilled in a piece of mild steel.
My saw has been "stretched" so it has 10" of resaw capability rather than the standard 6" and a 1 hp motor. Therefore I can't compre my saw to yours. I would suggest that you try resawing as big a piece as you can and see how it does. If it can handle it, fine no new motor needed. If it can't well -- just remember that its a hundred dollars saw so don't go too crazy. Good sharp blades will probably make more difference that an extra half horse.
I'm pleased that Sears was able to supply you with parts. They couldn't for me.
Well, best of luck with the saw. Let me know if I can help.
Dennis
hi, dennis. thanks for the feedback and info -it's just what i was looking for.
sears was only able to help when i gave them exact part numbers, and their remaining parts are limited. what i did get seems to be things that probably translate to newer models, so that's how i'm guessing i got lucky. i have all of the original manuals for my model (103.24280) along with an exploded parts list with part numbers. i have scanned them and would be willing to send them to anyone who may find them useful, just let me know!
the old guide pins look as though they were brass, but they were also so severely chewed up, i just replaced them with the steel ones sears sent me. i'm going to try the ironwood trick you mentioned, as it sounds like a better system than steel on steel. i'm curious to see how well these old fashoned thrust bearings are going to work, as the old one was "D" shaped after the blade cut through it. one thing i've been reading about lately is the fact that some people glue their tires down. did you do this? i imagine it's probably a good idea if i'm going to be attempting resaw work. what kind of glue is typically used? (i'm really kinda new to this, i guess ;)
one thing that you said perked my intrest... how exactly did you "stretch" your machine to go to 10"? do you have pictures?
here's some pics of it waiting for it's new stand. i still have some work to do resurfacing the table as well as cleaning up the nooks and crannies, but i think it has many years left in it.
thanks again!
tony
Tony,
You can use contact cement to glue the tires. Carefully get a flat blade screw driver under a tire, lift it and insert a short piece of dowel stick between the underside of the tire and the rim - 3/4" to 1 " is good. Rotate the dowel and the wheel will turn in the opposite direction. It's helpful to do this for several revolutions to help even out the tension on the tire. Then apply cement as you slowly rotate.
Nice looking machine.
Rich
Edited 8/8/2002 6:39:16 PM ET by Rich Rose
Edited 8/8/2002 6:40:20 PM ET by Rich Rose
Thanks for the tip -I'm going to try it tomorrow! I'm also building a shop-made tensiometer from a back-issue of FW, so I'll be able to see what this thing can do.
Thanks for the feedback!
tony
Table inserts
Have you been able to find inserts for the table on this bandsaw?
Scanned Manual?
Hi Tony,
I realized it has been quite some time since you posted that you recently scanned the King Seely 103-24280 manual. That is exactly what I have been looking for! I wonder if you would be able to send that to me. I'd really appreciate it!
I just registered as a new user and can't send private emails yet. But hopefully you are able to email me?
Thanks so much!
Manual for Model 103.24280
I saw your request and if you have not gotten the manual, here it is.
R/
Frank Bonadonna
bandsaw
do you still have manual and partslist for sears 103.24280 any info would help
vintagemachinery.orgm,ay have acopy of your manual.
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