Bandsaw "Funny Story"

Dan Mosley

Member
Messages
1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
I wrote the post about buying the central machine 14" bandsaw and got alot of needed help from the folks out there and i really appreciate it.

I Wanted to share a funny story though with everyone......I am self taught from this website and buying a few DVD's on turning (Grumbine, Raffan,Tibs).
There are no wood turners in my area and the good ones live to far away for me to afford to go to for lessons....so i got the DVD's and a book Raffan wrote..........and went at it on my own. I Watched them many times when i got my lathe 7mo ago (Jet 2hp EVS pro) and with the help of these great DVD's i have been really having alot of fun turning when i can........

Ok Now for the funny story.......as i watched the videos i noticed that in Bill Grumbines shop he has a very nice bandsaw and i thought "wow" that would be great to have one of those. But just cutting logs now and then i could not justify the expense. Still would love to have a nice big machine like that.
So, i settled for and bought the central machine (low end i know....) 14" at a estate sale for $100 and recently bought another blade and riser kit............Ok, just before i picked up the Central machine one i went and looked at a guy who had closed down his shop and was selling all his equipment that was in it plus more he had in storage (i think he used to make shutters or something). Anyway, in the storage room he had alot of equipment that had not been used in years. I could tell because it was filled dirt,dust,grim etc....and never touched so it looked and it was as dark as a cave. He had a bandsaw in the back and wanted some really high price ($1,500) for it as well as all his other tools so i just looked and thanked him for showing me the tools.
I left him my phone number in case he would consider selling his finishing materials (stains,laquer,varnish,oils, lemon oil, red oils, on and on...) which the kids will love to use when they turn wood. He said he would think about it but he didnt have the time to look thru them now.
Three days ago he called me and said if i wanted any of the tools he would cut the prices he quoted me in half. I told him i would think it over and let him know. I was working so i never called back.
Yesterday he called and told me if i was willing to pick it up from the storage he would drop the price further because he had to have all this stuff out by the 15th of this month. So i went out and looked at the bandsaw again that was tucked away in the back of the storage room. It Looked as old as time and it was so dirty you coulnt even read the manufacturers name on it, covered in dried greese and guck. I told him i wasnt so sure if i wanted it because of the way it looked. He offered it to me for $175.00 and thru in a tool box of hand tools and all the finiish materials i wanted to take but i had to take it right away.

Can you guess the next step ?

So i took it and gave away the tool chest (stacked on rollers) hand tools to someone that really could use them and kept the bandsaw as a project to fix/restore. The finish materials are all stacked up neatly for the kids to have a ball with when they want to experiment with finishing. There is enough oils,varnishes etc to keep them busy for a year....LOL

After getting the dust off it and wiping it down some i saw the Manufacturer "Davis-Wells, Los Angeles, California" on it.

I posted some pictures of it and im really looking forward to making this machine run again and im sure ill have questions to ask you guys out there as i go along but i wanted to tell you.

Now I have 2 bandsaws and when i started i just wanted one....LOL i just couldnt resist the bargin the guy was offering me.

By the way - telling me he had have everything gone by the 15th may not have been such a good idea because i am going to go back again in a couple days and see if I can get a bargin on anything else left.

ok ill stop the rattling and if anyone knows anything about Davis Wells bandsaws or has one please post i know ill have questions to ask everyone and i thank everyone for all the comments on the Central Machine....

Thank you.....Dan in Calif.........and all the kids that are learning to turn thank all of you to...........LOL see you all soon
 
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Dan,

What size bandsaw and model number, if it is on there and legible? I've found a couple of Davis & Wells bandsaws via a Google search. :type: I've seen as small as 14" to 20" and larger. Sounds like they made nice heavy duty machines, but I don't know more than I just read on the web. :dunno: If it was me, the Central Machine would be kicked to the curb. :rofl: I'm sure the Davis & Wells is much better quality.

For what it's worth.
 
Holy cow!

That's awesome! What great luck! From the pictures I looked at online, the Davis and Well bandsaws look like really nice machines. Can't wait to hear how well it performs! :D

Hutch
 
Welcome to the slippery slope of Old Arn. Davis and Wells is an old name in machines. I have never seen one but there are a couple on the OWWM site. Photos would be nice (hint hint).

What size wheels does the saw have? And BTW your paid a fair price for it. Assuming all the parts are there it will beat the heck out a Central Machine bandsaw once up and running.

Does yours look something like this?


327-A.jpg



Secondly, there are some great old arn machines out there. If he has others you don't want there is a lot of us that will save these machines from the scrap yard. So let us know and I might can get the word out.
 
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I don't know anything about your machine but the story is great. Scrongin' , negotiating, trading is all fun and can be productive. Tell us more about the bandsaw. And, remember, pictures are mandatory.
 
That's great. Davis and Wells is an old name that made industrial quality equipment. You've probably got a great find there.
It's funny, but a similar thing happened to me a few years ago. I was just getting my shop up and running and knew that, at some point, i would probably be looking for a band saw. Fast forward to an estate auction with my dad one fall saturday morning. I wasn't looking to buy a bandsaw, but was just enjoying the sale with my dad - the estate included a barn - lower level wood shop - upper level converted into living quarters. There was a lot of big old rusty equipment there. The machinery went near the end of the day. We had each picked up a few miscellaneous things - enough to have some fun and make the trip "worth the while".
Then came the machinery. An old 36" Yates band saw went for $65. It was long in the tooth, but complete and ready for a rehab. I couldn't believe how cheaply it went. An old claw foot iron mortiser went for $80. A powermatic 18" planer went for $55. The smaller stuff (which i could actually fit into my basement shop was going for peanuts, or not selling at all). Next up, an old Craftsman (Walker Turner made) 4" jointer. Dad saved it from the scrap bin by bidding $1. Sold. After that was an old 17" C-frame band saw - complete but a rusty boat anchor. No one was bidding. At $5 i raised my number and brought it home.
We rebuilt the thing, tip to toe. Dad made a custom lower guide for me (original was M.I.A.) and turned a new upper wheel spindle. New bearings, tires, paint, stand, and a bunch of elbow grease and it was making sawdust. It's an old obscure brand (Bradley), but it works great for light duty cutting.
Shortly after finishing up that project, i was offered a Crescent 20" band saw for free if i could get it out of the basement shop it was in. This saw was complete with single phase motor and a few original "extras" such as the optional fence. How could i turn that down? When we went to retrieve it, a few other things were thrown in the deal - a Buffalo flat belt drive "camelback" drill press, a Duro bench mount drill press, and a JD Wallace bench top shaper. All of the machines have been tuned up and are functioning well.
I keep both bandsaws. I really don't need the Bradley, but i like it too much to get rid of it, and i keep it set up for light duty work. The Crescent is a beast which will cut anything i feed through it.
If you have the space, you might appreciate keeping both saws.
And, if you can post pics of the Davis and Wells, we'd all love to see them.
have fun with it.
Paul Hubbman
 
Bandsaw update

I cant upload the pictures as it keep telling me that there is a error in the upload....not sure what im doing wrong but ill keep working at it

wheel size is 10" diameter
will cut up to 19 1/2 measuring from the bed to the arm
will cut up to 16" in height
 
19 1/2 widest pc you cut
16" tall
10" wheels

i tried to post pics and it says upload fails....tried several times.....ill keep trying to get pics on.......any ideas?

Ps im going back in a few days before he calls the salvage places who pick it up and he dosent have to worry about the moving of the stuff.........ill let you know what else is left.........Dan
 
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I'm guessing the 10" inch might be the radius dimension, not the diameter dimension. That would make a 20" saw. 19-1/2" width of cut would be just about right. Also, i've never seen a 10" saw with a 16" depth of cut. Big resaw machines have larger wheels because the greater stresses work better on larger diameter wheels. Smaller diameter wheels stress the metal blades as they wrap around them.
Paul Hubbman
 
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