Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | May 07, 2007 09:21pm | #1

   Kirtland,

   There are a few places to search for old machine parts, the Old Woodworking Machines site, owwm.com, and e-bay are two on line places to look.  There's also a company in Bethel, Vermont, called Plaza Machinery, that deals in old machinery and parts, they would be worth calling.

   Walker Turner always sold the gears as matched sets so you should try to buy both gears in the set if possible. 

   I believe that, with patience, everything you could ever want eventually shows up on e-bay, but it may not be cheap if you wind up bidding against other people who are also trying to restore a Walker Turner saw.  Set up a search on e-bay and save it as a favorite with an e-mail alert to you anytime a new listing for Walker Turner is posted.  I would use the words "Walker Turner" as the search term, don't narrow it down more than that.

   Gears can be rebuilt, a blank new tooth is built up by brazing or welding and it is then remachined.  A large machine shop that does machine rebuilding can probably do the job but I suspect that the cost would be high. 

   There are specialty gear makers who will make you a replacement gear but I would again guess that the price is very high.  There are a few companies that make stock gearing, Boston Gear, is the best known, a web search should turn them up, but the chances are they won't have a gear that fits in the saw.

   Another possibility if parts can't be found, would be to bypass the gear box if feasible, and use a step pulley arrangement to control the saw's speed.  

   If you match the spring closely for wire size, spring diameter, and number of coils, it will be very close to the performance of the old spring without having to worry about the technical specs.

   John White