Delta bandsaw mill

[bmyers]

Hi all,
Found this on CL and thought it might fit my small time sawyer aspirations. It's and mid 80's Delta 'Lumber Co' 36-360 bandsaw mill. That's right, Delta. Impossible to find a manual so far due to the age and apparently short production run of this tool. Delta doesn't have the manual online but I did find the patent filing. Unfortunately you have to be Einstein or at least a patent clerk to understand what it's trying to convey. Even then the intended purpose of that document isn't how to use it. The exploded isometric diagrams are helpful though. They describe an add-on kit for it that stands it upright to convert to a vertical bandsaw with a small table (yikes)..

Anyways..

This is a resourceful bunch here so I thought I'd toss it out here and see if anyone here could help locating a manual for this beast..

Thanks,
Bill

Some pics:

[bmyers]

from the patent text.

[bmyers]

i guess i need to buy blades and one of these..

beard from Amazon

[JR]

i guess i need to buy blades and one of these..

And then you would say, "Hold my beer. Watch this!"

That is one crazy machine. I've been trimming pine trees in my yard lately, and would have loved to have that machine available. I wouldn't have needed it, but it would have been a comfort to know it there just in case.

Have you tried poking around at arboristsite.com? I'll bet you'd get some attention there.

BTW - nice to see you posting, bill.

[JR]

Have you tried poking around at arboristsite.com?

A quick search there revealed a member called Tom60 who got a manual for your machine directly from Delta within the last week.

[bmyers]

THANKS JR!


Especially nice to hear from you. I called Delta and said "Any chance I could get a manual for this machine so I don't cut my hand off and blame Delta?" and the support guy said "sorry, can't help"..

I'll go poke around though. Thanks again!

Bill

[pelligrini]

I think the phrasing of the question might have been a problem.

Might contact Tom60 over at the site JR found and see if he'll send you a copy.

[bmyers]

Thanks to fine folks here and the arborist site within about 2 hours I had a PDF manual in my inbox for this beast. Lots of useful info in there so I'm glad I found a copy before I started sawing.

Blades were already on order and they showed up yesterday. Today I'm going to run it over some maple I cut down in the yard and see what happens. Stay tuned..


Thanks again,
Bill

[All Thumbs]

I don't understand how the stand with the crank on it (looks almost like part of a radial arm saw) works? The pic of the lumberjack seems to show it riding on wood rails attached to the side of a log.

And it looks heavy for one guy to have to place on a log and push it through?

[MikeO]

I don't understand how the stand with the crank on it (looks almost like part of a radial arm saw) works? The pic of the lumberjack seems to show it riding on wood rails attached to the side of a log.

And it looks heavy for one guy to have to place on a log and push it through?

I could be wrong, but it appears to me that the stand rides atop the wood rails along with some guide wheels that keep it from shifting side-to-side. The blade passes under the platform. The crank is how you set the depth.

[bmyers]

I don't understand how the stand with the crank on it (looks almost like part of a radial arm saw) works? The pic of the lumberjack seems to show it riding on wood rails attached to the side of a log.

And it looks heavy for one guy to have to place on a log and push it through?

It's exactly like a radial arm saw crank.

The blade does indeed pass under the platform.

There are two small wheels opposite from Newton's (law) to keep the band saw from falling off the rails.

The unit is about 165 lbs. I have no plans on lifting it myself. The specs say it can cut up to a 23 inch diameter log, I ain't moving that by myself either. But I do have good neighbors and a cold fridge, you'd be amazed what gets moved..

I'll take some pics when it's setup. Much easier to understand..


B

[Sweet Willy]

Are your life and health insurance paid? Wouldn't get me to attempt that. Of course, I am 69 years old. Mighta, woulda when I was a younger man.

[bmyers]

Are your life and health insurance paid? Wouldn't get me to attempt that. Of course, I am 69 years old. Mighta, woulda when I was a younger man.

I'm still young and dumb @ 44 yrs old Willy, I'll try anything once..


Bill

[tommyt654]

Hmmmmm , http://lumbersmith.com/

[pelligrini]

I was wondering if the saw could be inverted and the log then passed across the blade on a long roller table. That link that tommy posted might be a more practical adaptation.