I recently was given a used 14 inch Bandsaw made by a company named Powercraft. The old owner wasn’t happy with the performance of the saw so he decided to give it to me to have the space back. So I took the saw this weekendand have been looking over it and found a few parts that need replacing. Now the problem is I can’t find a website of the manufacturer to order these parts.
Does anyone have any good ideas where I could possibly find parts? The ones that need replacing are the metal brackets which hold the little blocks above and below the table that guide the saw blade, and also the insert that fits into the middle of the table (though that part isn’t that important since I can just fashion an insert myself).
The only thing I could think of is possibly calling a local repair shop on monday and asking if they stock any parts or have a way to get parts for this particular make/model.
From what i can tell it is the following saw
Powercraft WBS141
3/4 horsepower
14 inch capacity
Thanks.
JD
Replies
Isn't Powercraft the name under which Montgomery Ward sold its tools?
It may be possible that Delta or some other manufacturer still in business manufactured it for them and may have the parts you need.
Jeff
Once again, posting a picture really helps.
Jon
Try posting your queston at http://www.oldwwmachines.com there are a bunch of helpful people there.. good luck..
ToolDoc
J Dorn,
Powercraft was the tool line of Montgomery Ward, so that's a dead end since they're no longer in business. Without seeing the machine I can't be sure, but it is quite likely a generic Taiwanese bandsaw painted up in Powercraft colors. Your description of the missing and broken parts makes it sound like a Taiwanese machine.
If the saw was made in Taiwan, you'll probably find it identified as such on the label that has the serial number and model number, you may have to look close, the "Made in Taiwan " was often put in small print or sometimes on a separate label.
If the saw is Taiwanese, you're in luck, since they were and still are nearly all identical. Jet, Grizzly, Sears, and Ridgid all still import these machines, parts from any of them will probably fit your saw.
Replacing the entire upper and lower guide assemblies may be easier than just replacing the block holders and will guarantee the parts work together. Several companies in Taiwan made the guide assemblies, individual parts from each company might not be interchangeable, but they all had the same size bolt holes where the guide holders attached to the saw frames. If you replace the entire assemblies I'd buy the Ridgid brand, they work nicely and don't need Allen wrenches for any of their adjustments.
I'd take the parts you need to replace down to the local Home Depot (Ridgid brand tools) or Sears and compare them to a machine on display, you'll probably find that the parts on the new machines will closely match your's.
Both Sears and Ridgid have good parts networks. If you find a saw that matches your's for parts, get the model number and serial number off the floor model, and use those numbers to tell the parts service what machine you are getting the parts for. I haven't looked, but both companies may have online parts ordering, possibly including parts diagrams which will make ordering easy. The manuals for both Ridgid and Sears tools have parts diagrams in the back, if you can get a look at them in the store your problem will be solved right there.
If your machine is American made, and it isn't a Delta,and I doubt that it is, you are probably going to have a lot of trouble finding parts. Your best chance then would be if Sears distributed the saw under it's name some time in the past and you can identify what the Sear's model number was.
Recently, there was an article in Fine Woodworking about tuning up 14 inch bandsaws, the machine in the article was a Delta but the Tawanese saws are just clones of the Delta, so all of the information would apply to your saw. The issue you want to look at is #157, August 2002.
Good Luck, if this helps let me know with a posting.
John W.
Edited 5/4/2003 9:42:48 AM ET by JohnW
JohnW, thanks a ton, i'll go down to the Home Depot today to check it out. The saw is made in Taiwan so it fits your description, i forgot to mention that in my earlier post.
Here are pics of the two parts that need replacing.
JD
Also here's a pic of the label
J Dorn,
Just edited my first post to mention the article in Fine Woodworking, and I saw the pictures you posted. You must have a very early model of a Taiwanese saw, It must be at least 20 years old. The lower guide assembly can probably be replaced easily with parts from a newer Taiwanese saw but replacing the upper guide may be a problem.
From the picture I can see that the guide post for the upper guides is hex shaped. Delta at one time used a hex shaped rod but they dropped it a long time ago in favor of a round rod, (Delta purists are still angry). I never saw a Taiwanese saw with a hex rod before, but they were obviously copying the Delta part for part. Taiwanese makers never duplicated the Delta for the lower blade guide assembly, which was very complicated and too hard to manufacture.
It should be possible to fit a modern Taiwanese upper guide assembly, made for a round rod, onto the hex rod but you may have to do some filing or shimming to get the parts to fit together. The blade guide rod on the modern Taiwanese saws is about 7/8 of an inch in diameter.
It is also possible that the blade guide assembly from a Delta saw will fit the hex rod on your saw. The Delta rods were about 15/16 ths of an inch across the flats. If the rod on your machine is the same size, or smaller, you could use the Delta part with shims if needed. Oddly, modern Delta bandsaws still have a hex shaped hole in the upper blade guide support casting, the round rod just slips in between the flats.
If you have a lot of problems getting the fit right let me know I could possibly do the work in my shop if you ship me the parts.
(I just went to post this follow up and saw the picture of the label with what looks like a 2000 date on it, so I'm all confused about the age of your saw, you've got a real oddball. I thought I was familiar with all of the modern Taiwanese tools but I'm wrong. I'm not sure, but I think the Montgomery Ward machines spelled Power Craft with a "K" i.e. Power Kraft. If you could learn more about the machine, I'd be curious to know.
Just did a web search for Power Craft and found some small power tools they make, same logo. Apparently they're a bottom of the barrel tool importer, couldn't find any stationary tools only cordless drills and angle grinders. Your machine may not be worth putting much money or effort into, it may not be made too well. Your chances of getting replacement parts from them are probably close to zero. What I did find was at an outfit called Boston Industrial.)
John W.
Edited 5/4/2003 10:37:34 AM ET by JohnW
Edited 5/4/2003 11:09:06 AM ET by JohnW
Yeah i found that same website and couldn't find any info on this saw. I'm gonna go check out home depot today just to see what i can find. Like i said i got the saw for free from my friend since he was dissapointed in it. Like you mentioned it does seem to be a bottom of the barrel import. The table tilting guage is way out of wack, and squaring up the table was more difficult that I though it should have been. One thing to note is that while the guide rod is Hex shaped, the hole that it mounts in is actually round, rougly 7/8 inch around. Perhaps a regular round rod from a more main stream model would still fit it.
With the guide broken it is still usable, but keeping it tracking a nice straight line is near impossible. Thankfully I don't do alot of bandsaw type work currently so its not really a big deal. The upper guide is still functional, i just can't tighten the block holding bolt very far without bending out that crack in the picture. But the bottom guide really should be replace, without the 2nd guide block the blade slips behind the bearing all the time if you are attempting to do any type of curve at all. I'll go to a local repair shop this week and see what replacing that 1 part would cost. It'd be nice to have a semi-servicable bandsaw in my shop while i save up money for a good one, especially since i'd like to purchase a Planer before i get a newer bandsaw.
Though I have been looking around at 14" bandsaws and was wondering if I were to go buy a new one what does this community think of Grizzly's "Ultimate 14" bandsaw". http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G0555 It looks very nice and i've read a few articles that recommend it for light duty bandsaw work, (one in Popular Woodworking Oct 2002). It seems to be only 375 without shipping which is quite respectable for cost when compared with alot of the other 14" bandsaw's i've seen.
Any opinions on that saw?
JD
Edited 5/4/2003 12:10:02 PM ET by JDorn
Edited 5/4/2003 12:14:21 PM ET by JDorn
Edited 5/4/2003 12:15:53 PM ET by JDorn
JDorn,
This is too funny. Just look at the pic (note the cracks in the same places!). And PLEASE reply. As far as replacement parts go. I could probably come up with some sources, but they would all be of the same [poor] quality. But it would get you up and running.
But...
"i'll go down to the Home Depot"
You're a brave man. You might get a kick out of the post that I started in Breaktime a few days ago. ('Tavern)
Jon
Edited 5/4/2003 2:05:43 PM ET by WorkshopJon
Edited 5/4/2003 2:12:45 PM ET by WorkshopJon
Well i went to the home depot here in town and they don't carry any of the rigid bandsaws, so i'll have to just go to the one down in Lincoln later this week.
JD
The saw that I took the pic of was purchased from Harbor Freight ~12 years ago. I took a look for the owners manual as they it had part #'s for the individual components, but could not find it. It definitely appears to me to be the same made in Taiwan model.
I've never attempted to order a replacement part from them, but they do still seem to sell the same saw as I received a catalog from them recently, You might want to give them a call and see if you can get them to send you an owners manual so you could order the part.
FYI, that bracket broke in the same place years ago, and it has held up well simply being bonded back together with metha acrylate adhesive. I only use the saw to cut up fire wood though.
Jon
Well i finally got around to going into the big orange box and comparing parts. And i'm 95% sure that the parts are compatible, 100% sure the upper assembly will fit in my saw and pretty sure about the lower one, they didn't take kindly to me asking to disassemble it in the store to compare :)
So i send Rigid an email today with the part numbers in question and am waiting for a reply with a "cost" figure for them. Anyone ever replace a guide assembly before? If so how much did it cost, assuming you replaced all the parts from the depth adjuster bar all the way down.
100$ might be an acceptable figure if i could get this saw into what i consider to be working order, but anything higher and i'd just as soon get a new saw.
JD
What a screwy set of guides! I agree your chances are zero but I would call Iturra at (888) 722-7078. This guy does nothing but bandsaws and has all sorts of replacement parts.
I'd recycle the stand; use the blade for cutting sandpaper (there was a nice jig design for the same a couple of years ago in FWW; the motor could run a nice grinding or polishing set up; and toss the rest.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Well it was $55 to have the complete lower guide assembly shipped to me and about 80 for the upper one. So i decided to have the lower one shipped and i'd see if it fits, if not, i'll chalk this one up to the woodworking gods and just go get a new 14" grizzly.
JD
Where did you find the parts? Just curious.Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
I ordered direct from Ridgid.
http://www.ridgidwoodworking.com
you can lookup their 14 inch bandsaw and they have a parts list with prices on it, then you just call their number and place an order.
Now i'm commencing the "hoping" that they actually fit.
JD
On a good note, my parts came in from rigid today and while they aren't exactly the same thing as the ones on this generic saw they do fit.
I attached pics for anyone who might be having the same issue with a taiwanese saw. I'll probably order the upper guide system now that i'm sure the lower one fits and works.
Edited 6/25/2003 10:30:07 PM ET by JDorn
whoops, forgot to resize attachments
JD,
(After looking at the picture of your new guides) One thing that will help your saw work more smoothly is to remove any factory paint from moving surfaces. Specifically, the trunnion support bracket (that cradles the trunnion itself) is almost completely covered in factory green paint. This won't allow for the smoothest repositioning of the table, and it will actually allow a certain amount of vibration to occur. (It's not a perfect metal on metal contact with paint in between the surfaces.) The paint should come off easily with a sharp utility razor knife, just watch that you aren't scraping out metal along with it! When the paint is gone, run a light grit wet/dry sandpaper over the trunnion and the trunnion brackets to remove any burrs. Coat everything with your favorite lubricating grease (no WD40 or 3 In 1 oil), and you'll find that the table move almost effortlessly.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask!Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Sounds reasonable, i'm going to be taking the whole saw off its stand this weekend to build a wooden stand to help reduce vibrations so maybe i'll do it then. That sheet metal stand its on is a big piece of crap, vibrates if you look at it funny.
One thing to note though is I don't move the table out of 90 degrees flat to the blade because the guage on the trunnion is about 5-6 degrees off, and no degree of shimming has been able to get it to where it should be, it simply looks like it was machined very poorly. Like i said early on, it looks like this saw is an old Harbor Freight knockoff that my buddy got on sale somewhere so i'm not expecting alot from it, but if I can get it to where i can use it to cut curves and small pieces i'll be quite happy to put off buying a new bandsaw until i can afford it, i'd love to throw a Delta 14 or a Grizzly 14 in my shop. Hopefully if i can get this guy reconditioned enough to be usable i'll at least be able to get $150 for it if i ever sell it which should cover what i've put into it, or i can keep it as a spare bandsaw and leave a specific blade in it if I have room when i move to a new shop.
Another bandsaw question: Last night after installing the new lower guide i had the covers off and was running the saw just to see if i had the tracking setup right and i noticed that the wheels had a bit of wobble in them, is that normal? I assume not right? I did tighten them down to their respective axles and that helped quite a bit, but it still did not remove all the wobble. I guess I want to know if replacing the wheels will help or if its a problem elsewhere. The saw seems to funciton correctly even with the wobble, but it is a bit noiser than other bandsaws i've used before.
JD
JD,
The wobbling wheels are not a good sign, and there could be any number of things that could be causing the problem. Before you look into buying new wheels, the saw should be taken completely apart and inspected for any adverse wear and tear. The bandsaw is a fairly straight forward machine, and can be dismantled with a basic set of wrenches.
You will probably run into bolts not being tightened down, and other parts being nonaligned. It sounds like this saw was either never set up properly to begin with, or the previous owner(s) never tuned it up correctly.
For the kind of saw that you have, its age, and current condition, I'd recommend sinking as little money as possible into it. Replacing the broken guides was a must to have a functioning unit, but you may find yourself replacing enough parts that it would be worth it to buy a new machine. (New wheels mean buying new bearings, and the wheels will need new tires, and the tension spring should most likely be replaced... you see where I'm going with this.) Grizzly has a solid 14", 1hp band saw that retails for $375 (model #GO550). This is a good option to step into a saw of lesser cost, that will give you years of good service.
A possible fix to the table shimming dilemma would be to lay an auxiliary table over the existing one, and to shim that one.
If you need any help with tuning the saw up, or with any other question, please feel free to ask.
Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
My thoughts exactly Jackie, i'm putting about 150 into replacing the guides to get a functional tool (got saw for free) and i'll spend 20 more building a solid base, and maybe another 20 building a melamine top with some t tracks in it for jigs, but aside from that i don't wanna put any more money than i need to into it.
I've had my eye on that Grizzly for some time now. Just a matter of having money, and I think a Planer comes earlier on my list than the Bandsaw if i can get this one into working condition.
JD
The wobble is likely to be harmless and you may be noticing the motion of the inside of the rim or the side of the wheel rather than the surface of the tire which is the only surface that counts. The tire surface, being rubber, may have some high and low spots that even out under the tension of the blade. Replacing the wheels combined with the costs of the guides would probably cost more than just buying a new machine.
Noise and vibration could be caused by a number of things, stiff or worn out belts, cheap pulleys, motor vibration, or badly balanced wheels are all on the short list of possible causes. If the bolts holding the wheels on were loose, I'd pull the wheels off and make sure the axles were clean and burr free, but as long as the bearings are good there isn't much else you can do to eliminate vibration in the wheels.
The pointer on the lower half of the trunnion should be adjustable to make the scale read correctly when the table is square to the blade.
Issue #157 of Fine Woodworking has an article on tuning up a bandsaw that would probably help you out at this point. Issue #159 has plans for a base for 14 inch saws.
John W.
Well all the repairs have been completed and i think i got it into working shape. It resaws about 500% better now not to mention with a small blade i can make nice curves as well. All i'm waiting for now is the bandsaw fence i ordered from garret wade, here's some pics of it after the refurbishment if anyone wants to see.
The list of repairs was as follows
~$100 for parts for upper guide arm, table insert & pin, and dust chute
~$50 for parts for lower guide
~$25 for a new link belt
~$40 for cheap sheet of oak plywood for base
~$90 for Fastrack fence + resaw guide (not installed yet)
~$19 for a new heavy duty tension spring
~$15 for set of Cool Blocks
~$15 for 1/2 inch Olson blade for resawing (6 TPI)
~$15 for 1/4 inch Olson blade for regular work (14 TPI)
The only think i "may" do still is pickup a 1 horse motor to replace the 3/4 horse one and a riser block, but for now i have no need to resaw large pieces so they are not necessary. And if i come to a point where i need to i will probably get a "big" (16-18) inch bandsaw to take care of that. But i'll keep my eyes open for auctions where i might be able to score a motor for next to nothing.
So technically in the end i spent about $370 over a few months rehabbing the saw which might seem excessive since a new Grizzly 14 is only about $375 plus shipping, but the experience of tearing the thing apart and rebuilding it from ground up was definately worth it. I learned more about now to tune a bandsaw than i'd have ever learned from a new saw, and now the saw feels like a part of my tool family more than ever. Plus i figure if i ever do get a nicer 14" delta or something the fence can come with me, and blades were gonna be an expense no matter what (still need a few Timberwolf ones).
I will be building a large drawer to fit into the base to hold blades, fence parts, and other accessories if i can ever get the sewing table i'm building for my wife finished. I will say that this is the first "project" i've worked on that really forced me to learn HOW to care for a tool which is something that'll stay with me forever. And now i can see why sometimes you guys talk about how enjoyable it is to take an old rusted/non working tool and turn it into something useful.
JD
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