Acorn to Arabella - Journey of a Wooden Boat - Bonus Content: Big Beautiful Bandsaw Restoration 2

[@barefoofDr]

Nice restoration of a beautiful fine old bandsaw.

[@RowdyLowdy]

Beautiful work guys. I love going back and watching these old videos from the very beginning of your journey. It lends a relative timeline to everything you’ve accomplished and adds a level of complexity that’s difficult for a new sub to really grasp. For some, this band saw restoration alone would be considered their “finest hour” but you guys accomplished this as a relative side project. Just one of many in what’s been a highly interesting and entertaining channel. Good luck with everything you still have to accomplish. ⚓️⛵️⛵️⚓️

[@AcornToArabella]

Thank you for your kind words, and for watching!

[@Jake_The_Snek36]

Beautiful piece of equipment and very glad to see it up and running and looking wonderful again.

[@AcornToArabella]

That it is! Thanks!

[@joelpayne9582]

First off I love the beard... Next it is fantastic that you recycled old and made it new even more awesome is that you called yourself the current caretakers I just love what your doing and how you just keep moving forward even when anyone else would say you took 5 steps back it all adds up to a great story and a Crap ton of experience when you get all done and you start sailing I hope to talk you into stopping by Florida ...keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more and longer episodes they get better every time

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! Stoked to hear you have been enjoying our journey! If it's meant to last longer than your life then you are a caretaker of it for the next generation, tools, houses, land.... The band saw is around 100 years old and if looked after will easily go another 100. Glad to hear the videos keep improving, Alix works unbelievably hard on them and is still learning the process, it's a steep learning curve!

[@scottmaschino1927]

Great job on the restoration. It always good to see someone that gets an old tool take the time and effort to make sure it runs the way it should. I think the upgrade was a great idea, and am sure you will like it.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! So far we like it a lot. Have some balancing work to do as there is a little vibration when it runs but otherwise it works like a charm! They sure don't make em like they used to!

[@meetim6271]

Watching this prompted me to go out to my shed & keep fixing my own bandsaw :-)

[@AcornToArabella]

AWESOME!!!!

[@matsworld9386]

Great job you guys, Happy to have come across you to follow you on your adventure! Beautiful bandsaw! I'm sure it'll serve you for many years ..

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks Mat! We are happy to share the adventure! And yeah we are really happy and grateful for the bandsaw, it was an excellent find and will definitely be a huge help throughout the build.

[@leatherface711]

I just wanted to let you know guys know that the bansaw is a beautiful reincarnation of that machine. From a mechanics perspective awesome job.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks!

[@stevei996]

Love that restoration. Wish I could see some closeup of it running. The motor assembly and the blade. Amazing stuff. Motivated me

[@AcornToArabella]

She runs real smooth. I'll try to get some footage of it in upcoming videos as we are using it.

[@bertski60]

cool to see people who appreciate old solid machinery and go to great lengths to restore it. big thumbs up.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! They don't make em like they used to and once these machines are gone they are gone for good, no one is ever going to cast iron like that again for a band saw! It will help us immensely with the build but it's also about saving a piece of history.

[@bertski60]

so...have you given any thought to where you'll mount it on the boat when it's done? :)

[@AcornToArabella]

Hahah We will have to find a new care taker for it, along with many other tools and equipment we have acquired.

[@timokkhan9020]

It is always good to see big old tools being brought back to life. Good job guys! Not a hind sight this time I hope, but a recommendation for any further restoration. Have a try at electrolysis rust removal. Plenty of help can be found about it on the net. I love this method because it's the one that is the less aggressive both on the piece that you are trying to restore and the environment. Not only it removes the rust, and only the rust, but it also helps removing the old paint! And did I mention it's extremely cheap? The only limit is the size of your water tank where you will have to fit your metal pieces in. It might have been difficult for some parts of the band-saw, for example. I am using electrolysis at the moment to restore an old 1934 lathe, it's very good.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! and thanks for the tip!

[@bobstienke178]

Bruce was great to allow you to the next caretaker of that bandsaw! Good job!

[@lawr46]

Beautiful machine & restoration! I especially like that bentwood oak top wheel.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! We hope that saw goes for another 100 years and helps to build/restore 100 more boats! It was used to make cedar strip canoes for years before it fell into disrepair. So it was already a boat building saw =)

[@samrodian919]

Thanks Bruce ! Lovely old machine!

[@kevinmcneill468]

Absolutely brilliant, somewhere in New England there must be an ancient ship saw that you can restore and which would make your life even easier

[@AcornToArabella]

Since we are steam bending the frames we don't really have a need for a true ship saw.

[@VinceW187]

Awesome Saw! Bruce is a good person, to few left of his kind

[@AcornToArabella]

That he is! We have met a few more like Bruce through this project so far, there are a lot of good folk out there in the world.

[@chrishachet8622]

Love the channel. Run a VFD myself on a vintage three phase bandsaw.

[@OOGKAUWGUM]

Beautiful machine, great restoration!

[@richardbohlingsr3490]

You did a really nice job cleaning her up. It should really help during the build. Big boats = big tools.

[@brainclerk4431]

great job .and its so cool to refer to yourself as the current caretaker.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! That's how we see it for the band-saw, Victoria, the land/timber and Arabella when she is done. They should all outlive us many times over if we do our part to keep them going. We would not have any of them if someone else had not been a steward for them in the past, we are all just caretakers of this world and all that is in it.

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

Beautiful machine and restoration. As you say it will make things so much easier and will be in use a lot. Andy

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! We felt taking a couple months off the build to give the saw a makeover would be paid back later in dividends. The band saw has already paid for itself and it's just the start! Like the old saying goes "If you have three hours to cut down a tree spend the first two sharpening your ax"

[@PlanetMojo]

Kudos for keeping the old machine from becoming a lawn ornament.

[@AcornToArabella]

She is a beauty and the corner stone of the boat shop!

[@aserta]

I'm really digging the interview style narration :)

[@aserta]

Back in the day when these were new, they were ran by line shaft and belt. Which, by operator skill, is essentially a soft start as you apply tension on the belt, so yes, the VFD was the correct choice. Plus, the motors today are better wound, thus, more bang for the buck as it were. Old motors are nice and all, but truth is, they are not worth the effort in most situations, you'll grow more white hairs than need with them. I donated all of my motors to museums upon purchase of the machines, they were quite happy to receive them.

[@AcornToArabella]

That was our suspicion of how it was originally set up. The beauty of the machine is you could run it easily off ANY power plant. Gas/electric/PTO/water/bicycle/horse... endless options. It seems to be very happy with the VFD and 3hp motor. Time will tell, it has miles upon miles of timber to cut in the coming years!

[@Purplekiwiseed]

youre awesome!!!!! truly inspiring

[@clemm17]

I just bought one very much like yours. It is an America 30". It was stiff but I dumped some oil in and it freed right up. I was going to put it to work - but then my brain kicked in. I have decided to tear it down, make sure the shafts are clean and smooth. Fix whatever needs fixed and get it working / restored properly......

[@AcornToArabella]

Congrats on getting the saw! That sounds like a good decision. We spent close to two months worth of nights and weekends restoring our saw but are glad we did. They don't make tools like that anymore so the existing ones are worth taking care of!

[@samrodian919]

Mike Rippey that is the way to go!

[@jackpatteeuw9244]

I can't wait to see it in action !

[@AcornToArabella]

We use it a bit in some later videos but the bulk of work is yet to come. Ripping the frames is going to be one of the first real big challenges for the old saw!

[@cliffordlogan7507]

I am going to guess that this band saw motor was/is three phase. The start-stop switch is classical for three phase motor control. The starter has an electrical coil which is energized when you press the start button. The coil closes four contacts, three of them supply power to the motor and the fourth one keeps power on the coil. When you want to stop it, you press the stop switch, which is the bottom one and it drops the power to the coil and shuts off the power to the motor. I restored a 36" Crescent which was built around 1910, still had the leather drive belt pulley on it. I went single phase, 5hp, rather expensive, but when the day comes when I have to sell it, it'll be worth a lot more money, because less people have access to three phase power. VFD and phase converter solves the three phase problem, however I would be nervous about using a generator for power, because the VFD drives act funky sometimes with fluctuating power, however, being able to control the blade speed for re-sawing would be a huge help. Is there a tag on this saw? Who built it? And the fact that the top wheel is wooden is very cool, haven't seen that. My son and I sand blasted mine. Dirty, nasty job, but with fresh paint it still looks really cool and gets a lot of attention from visitors to my shop. These band saws were built to last several life times. If you have the balls to hold it, it'll cut anything you push through it. I love mine. Keep up the work, wish I lived closer.

[@AcornToArabella]

That sounds correct, you described the Frankenstein like box fairly accurately. It's a Clement I believe from Rochester New York. Getting a 220 line to the boat house for the planer, welder and band saw is on the to-do list but the wire and electrician to get it all hooked up ain't cheap. So far even with the 3hp is has cut anything we threw at it, it's slow with the really thick stuff but that is fine with us.

[@cliffordlogan7507]

And that is why I said I wish I lived closer. I am an electrician and for me, running, wiring and getting power to your boat shed would be all in a days work. And as a serious woodworker, I'd be very happy to help you guys out. After watching your videos I am a hopeful for our world. There are still people who do. Most people just sit around and talk about what they would like to do. Somewhere in your DNA beats the heart of a Viking.

[@MarcusLobenstein]

@@AcornToArabella wiring is extremely easy to do yourself but you may be need to have it certified by a pro. I would do it yourself and let the pro sign off on it that's much cheaper!

[@geoffhalstead1811]

Nothing to beat VFD control! All of my 5 metal working machines are controlled that way making it so easy to set the speed for the material being machined.

[@AcornToArabella]

It is handy!

[@almath9987]

Very nice great job

[@lincolngrove2808]

That's beautiful

[@thomasarussellsr]

Looks great. I saw in another comment below that you have installed some guards. Great, that blade won't mess around if anything gets too close to it. And heaven forbid the band snap while anyone is anywhere near it. Of course if it is running, someone will be near it. I hope you used metal for the guards.

[@AcornToArabella]

We used oak and lexan. We broke a few bands and threw a few bands on the band saw sawmill and they don't come off as crazy as one would think. Dangerous for sure but stitches at worst not missing limbs.

[@StortWeldingCoLLC]

Great Channel.from Jim at The Tradesman Channel,, Great Find!!

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! We recently found out about The Tradesman and are psyched to watch his videos when we find a little down time.

[@johnhenderson3646]

Such a beast!

[@billwilson7782]

Great effort.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks! The saw was very deserving of the work!

[@bobuk5722]

Hi. Bit late, but to pick up on Clifford Logan's comment below. The old motor plate (it did have one did n't it!) would have told you if it was three phase, which with something this size is very likely. If so, and the motor was healthy, it could probably have been wired to a suitable vfd if your single phase supply has enough 'oomph'. You're not going to get a 3 phase motor to run directly off single phase without a lot of jury rigged capacitors - it can be done, but is less than ideal. However, I'm confused. Three phase motors have three power wires plus an 'earth'. It should have been obvious if it was single or three phase. Cliford is describing the 'no volt release' safety arrangement in the relay box as well. Very important. If the supply fails and then comes back on it stops the machine from just starting up again all by itself. The wiring is fairly straight forward - but only if you know about it! Like everything else you're so brilliantly doing, it's easy when you know how. Three phase motors give a completly smooth rotation - single phase suffers torque variation on each rotation. That's one reason 3 phase is used in industry. Also 3 phase motors are more compact for the same power output and much less complex than single phase ones which need start up windings, centifrugal switches and capacitors. I'd urge you to make sure you have no volt release switches fitted to all your machine tools as a matter of operator safety. I'll also add that I stand in awe of what you are doing. It's fascinating and covering an enormous skill base. Cheers! BobUK.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks for the knowledge! The original motor was single phase with some sort of soft start mechanism for it that was no longer working so when you flipped the switch it went from 0rpm to 3,000+ in a split second. We ended up putting on a 3hp 3 phase motor with a VFD to convert our single phase power to 3 phase for the motor, lets us control the speed on the fly and has a soft start/stop feature. I can't claim to understand how it works, I can only say that so far it seems to be working well! A chap from Germany on the Wooden Boat Forum helped us sort it all out.

[@sigguy1361]

I'd add another support to the middle of that dolly - it was sagging already. Great restoration, was really looking forward to seeing it in action. Suggestion? More video of working during your narration. Cheers

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks for the suggestions! The dolly is just used to move it a little ways then it's set back down on the ground. So although it sags a bit it's not a big issue, the saw rarely moves and never very far!

[@mbatson13]

Very interesting project... how about showing it to us in operation?

[@AcornToArabella]

Thanks!There will be plenty of video of us using the saw in due time. Stay tuned! =)

[@nickpelletier3056]

would have been cool to convert it to run directly off a small gas engine, since its running off a gas generator anyways. Awesome machine, awesome job

[@AcornToArabella]

We thought about that, or the PTO from the tractor =) The electric motor seemed to be the best option since we do hope to run a 220 line to the boathouse.

[@charles.neuman18]

Where did you get the rubber tires from? Is that a part you can order, or did you have to make them somehow?

[@gentbar7296]

great !

[@davidwilburn6314]

Man-cave saw! :D

[@pneumatic00]

In the final scene it appears that you fabbed some sort of guard for the back side of the blade going back up to the top of the top wheel. And that's a good thing even if it's just a plywood box because that blade coming off the tires during operation could cause one horrific operator injury.

[@AcornToArabella]

We did put some guards around the band/wheels and still need to do a little more work on them to finish covering a couple more hazards but if the band breaks or jumps the wheels it can't go far.

[@TarmanTheChampion]

How do I get on the list for being the next up to borrow that band saw lol?

[@robertbeckman2054]

What do you mean by "old world meets new world technology"? Band saws still use ball bearings, wheels, tires, tension springs, etc, right? So, the only new technology is the phase-3 motor?

[@bobbystanley8580]

Where did you get the motor and tires from. I loved the video and the saw!!!

[@AcornToArabella]

Thank you! The motor we ended up sourcing on Craigslist and the tires we just bought online.

[@seventeenfeet]

Great video...where did you guys buy the rubber tires?

[@robertfoedisch9322]

I am surprised you haven’t used a band saw tensioning gauge.

[@glennmoreland4336]

Greetings from England Let's be having some guards on that blade boys before you use it please. Apart from that nice work. I've a lot of vintage & antique machine tools myself...so it's nice to see something being brought back into use...

[@AcornToArabella]

Greetings! We did put some guards on the saw once it was operational, the most dangerous parts are covered. We have a bit more work to do in that dept but we are using the saw very infrequently right now and will finish those up before we get back to cutting out molds. We love the older tools, so strong and simple!

[@jeffmedina43]

I wonder if it could be converted to 110/120 volt? For standard house US current

[@AcornToArabella]

Maybe but it really needs 3-5 hp to run well and we have not seen too many 110/120 volt 3-5 hp motors. It takes some juice to turn all that cast iron and the 18' blade cutting 18" thick oak! =)

[@christinewiddis6595]

hey just bought one day!e model I'm restoring it this summer like

[@danielbowman4819]

What size of motor did you use?

[@AcornToArabella]

3 phase, 3 hp. It runs great with that motor, no complaints so far. Will happily cut through 12" thick oak, alibi slowly which is fine for us.

[@FailedRorschachTest]

focus

[@christinewiddis6595]

I had to unload mine with a backhoe

[@AcornToArabella]

Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. =) They sure don't make machinery like they used to! Best of luck in the restoration. If you have any questions during the restoration feel free to send us a email, we learned a lot restoring ours and would gladly pass on what we learned.

[@toddbailey5198]

Nice job! There is a spelling error in the title.

[@AcornToArabella]

Hi Todd! Thank you for the comment! Let me know where you see the typo and I'll see about going back in and fixing it.

[@toddbailey5198]

In the title, Bansaw instead of Bandsaw. No biggie.

[@AcornToArabella]

Thank you for catching that Todd! I was looking in the actual video. All fixed!

[@PJoverland]

looks risky

[@LovelyKauai]

GD not into candid camera? 😝

[@dakotamax2]

Anyone else feel like he should face the camera during the talkie segments? We are sitting in front of the screen, not in the ironic chair 5 feet left of center.

[@skipperup]

Welder,you are not! ;)

[@AcornToArabella]

Nope! Can get two pieces stuck together but that's about it. Wait till you see the ugly welds on the smelter tank! hahaha We will leave the quality metal work to Doug and SV Seeker, we are much better with the old tree carcass as they call it =)

[@skipperup]

Me too, but I'm awesome with a grinder!

[@williamhamill813]

VFD and phase converter nice but you loose around 40 percent of the power

[@AcornToArabella]

Didn't know that. Thanks for enlightening us! She cuts plenty well for us even at 1/2 power. Once all that cast iron is up to speed it takes a lot to stop it. =)

[@frankpratt529]

With some phase converters you loose power, but not with a VFD. As long as it's sized properly, you'll get 100% power out of the motor.

[@AcornToArabella]

Nice! Good to hear! It seems to have plenty of oomph with the 3hp motor on it, if the motor was loosing substantial power I don't know if the remaining horse or two would be enough to get all that iron up to speed.

[@seventeenfeet]

Cool! Where did you get the variable frequency drive and phase converter?

[@area85restorations75]

Richard Lubbors, I dont know where they got theirs, however, ABB Baldor and TECO have them available. I was a project engineer for about 3 years and I used to buy VFDs and phase converters at least once ever other month for my projects.

[@tiwariratre2853]

Are bhai hindi me bholo

[@alecmcjarison999]

Oh I understand, they're hipsters

[@AcornToArabella]

Blahahahahaha! Funniest comment yet!

[@craigclemson9642]

Lose the beard not working

[@cranki6316]

Seriously?

[@patmatt975]

Gay fake beard pirate.