# Ridgid Band Saw Restoration



## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

So… I saw an ad on craigslist for a band saw for sale. I really have to stop looking at this stuff!!! I picked it up for $100. It was running but otherwise looked pretty dirty and in need of a thorough cleanup. The paint was oxidized and there were a few minor rust spots. The table top was very rusty and appeared to have some sort of oil mixed with the rust. It also had a light misting or some sort of white paint over the whole saw. I figured it was overspray. Anyway, I thought it would be a fun project, and I didn’t yet have a band saw.

Here’s what I got:

























































I did some research online and found that the main complaint about this saw (Ridgid BS140002) is vibration due to the base/stand not being stiff enough. Kind of ironic since it’s called ridgid. I originally planned to give it a thorough cleaning and make new top for the stand. I tried some car polish on the oxidized paint but it was no good. Sanding with 400 grit removed most the oxidation and overspray but went through the paint in some places. I figured it was time to repaint. Since I was not particularly fond of the orange color to begin with, I decided that I’d paint it to match my grizzly table saw and jointer.

I completely disassembled the saw and stand. Every nut, bolt, and part. I put all the little bits into ziplock bags to keep track of everything. I then spent a lot of time at the grinder with a fine wire wheel to remove any rust. I masked all of the safety stickers with blue painters tape but the big ridgid sticker on the front of the top doo was cracking and looked terrible, so off it came. 











I painted all of the parts with Rustoleum Hammered Finish paint. That makes it easy to hide any imperfections. I used “Hunter Green” for the stand, “Ivory” for the frame, “Silver” for the accent part and trunions, and “Dark Bronze” for the motor body. 

I cut a piece of ¾” MDF to fit inside or underneath the top of the stand. The edges were beveled at 5 degrees to match the angle of the sides. I then traced and copied all of the bolt holes and drilled them out using a forstner bit in the drill press. I realized that this new ¾” insert was going to get in the way of the bolts that attach the legs, so I marked their positions and drilled some relief pockets around the edge with a large forstner bit. Here’s what that looks like:




















I cut another piece of ¾” MDF (this one with 90 deg sides) to make a new top. I copied all of the bolt holes and drilled them into the top, as I had for the reinforcing piece underneath. I cut a third piece of MDF, beveled he edges to 5 deg, to make a shelf that could attach to the leg braces. I drilled some small holes in the leg braces so that I can screw through into the underside of the shelf. 











I added the shelf to stiffen the legs but also as I thought it would be useful to have a shelf there. I put a single coat of tung oil on the MDF of the top and shelf to add a little durability to the surface.

Here’s the completed stand:


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

Once I had everything repainted, and that took a few days as I’m kind of slow and methodical, I started to re-assemble everything. I took my time, but I think it came out looking great. Here’s some pics:






























































































One thing that I noticed about the saw when I first bought it, was that it shook/vibrated quite badly. I checked the wheels and found that they were way out of balance. I sanded the tires until they had a crown. I then balanced the wheels using some adhesive weights that the nice guys at discount tire gave me. You can see the weights here:




















I sanded down the table top to get rid of all the rust. Once cleaned up, I put a coat of paste wax on it to inhibit future rust. 











I installed a new Carter AccuRight blade and some “Cool Blocks”. I still need to get a new table top/zero clearance insert.


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

A few more pics:
















































All, said it was a fun project and I think I got a pretty useful tool for a great price. What do you think?


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## J Thomas (Aug 14, 2012)

That's a fine job!! Lot's of attention to the details. Great photography as well.. All the foto-ho's will be happy!!
..Jon..

PS.. How did you figure out the balance points to add the weights & how much weight was necessary??
..Thanx..


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## Fastback (Sep 2, 2012)

If Ridgid paid attention to detail like you did they would have sold more and had a higher rating. How is the saw relative to vibrations now? Great job, I like the color choices.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Wow!!!! I'm in awe over the work you did on it. 
You brought it back to life. 
You did an amazing job. I like the color better than orange. But I'd be afraid to get it dirty. Lol


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## devils4ever (Nov 6, 2012)

Wow! Looks awesome. Nice job. This looks like a clone of the Delta 14" bandsaw, is it?


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## sweensdv (Mar 3, 2008)

:clap:What an absolutely great job you did on that bandsaw, you should be very proud. :thumbup:


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

Thanks for all the kind comments. 

J Thomas, to balance the wheels, I took these steps.

1. Sand the tires until you are satisfied with level of crowning.
2. Make sure that all accumulated saw dust is removed from the wheels. Do this front and back (You'll have to take them off to do this).
3. Put the wheels back on, but disconnect the power train. I don't mean the electrical power, I mean take off the V-belt so that the bottom wheel can spin freely.
4. Spin the wheel and let it stop on its own.
5. With a pencil, mark the bottom of the wheel, wherever it stopped.
6. Repeat steps 4 & 5 for both wheels several times.
7. If your pencil marks keep going in the same place, you've found the heavy spot. If all your pencil marks are randomly distributed around the wheel, you're reasonably well balanced. This is defiantly not as accurate as using a spin balancing machine, but it should get you close enough to eliminate most shake from the saw.
8. Both my wheels were out of balance. To correct this, I added a weight to the rim of the wheel directly opposite where the pencil marks were. The weights that discount tire gave me were in 1/4 oz increments. I thought that was going to be too heavy but figured it was going to be a trial and error process. I added one, expecting to have to remove it and add a partial, but found that it wasn't enough. After adding each weight, spin the wheel a few times to see where your new heavy spot is. I cut a second 1/4 oz weight in half with a hack saw and added one piece to the rim. I spun it again and found I still hadn't done enough but my heavy spot had shifted by a few inches. 
9. Since I didn't want all the weights on one side/face of the wheel and possibly create some new front to back instability, I took the top wheel off and added the next weight to the back. I re-installed the wheel and spun it a few more times. All my pencil marks were randomly distributed.
10. I repeated the process for the bottom wheel, but found that only one weight fixed the balance for that wheel.


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

Fastback,

The saw runs much more smoothly now. I haven'y tried the nickle on its edge test yet, perhaps today. I also still need to make some test cuts. 

Because I added the MDF to both the top and the under side of the top, I had to get new longer mounting bolts. I think that all this extra rigidity in the stand helps. Once I had mounted the motor and the saw frame and tensioned he v-belt, I plugged it in and turned it on. This was before I re-installed the wheels. There was no vibration at all, only a quiet hum. Any vibrations in this thing now, come from the wheels.


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

devils4ever,

I think that it is largely based on the delta design. I think however that it is most similar to the Jet 14" saw. They say that the grizzly riser block kit fits this saw perfectly, so the grizzly saw's guts are probably the same as well, although I cant say that i have looked at one to confirm that. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that they're all made in the same factory but different paint and stickers.


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## Joeb41 (Jun 23, 2012)

Great restoration job! When you make such a purchase you have to look beyond the rust and corrosion. It's obvious you have alot of pride in your work. With a lot of tlc you now have a machine that will serve you well.


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## Joeb41 (Jun 23, 2012)

Great restoration job! When you make such a purchase you have to look beyond the rust and corrosion. It's obvious you have alot of pride in your work. With a lot of tlc you now have a machine that will serve you well.


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## Joeb41 (Jun 23, 2012)

Great restoration job! When you make such a purchase you have to look beyond the rust and corrosion. It's obvious you have alot of pride in your work. With a lot of tlc you now have a machine that will serve you well. :thumbsup:


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## RogerC (Oct 15, 2012)

Fantastic work! I've got this same saw (mine was a CL purchase as well), and like you, I found that it vibrated terribly. I balanced the upper wheel and removed the rubber motor mounts, but it still shakes. I'll be taking a page from your book and making some mdf reinforcements for my stand next, and will eventually get a link belt for it.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Very well done. :thumbsup:

I read the thread title and wondered how much restoration would be needed for a saw which cannot be "old" compared to other restoration threads.

You certainly put in the time and attention to detail to get the best out of this machine.

The Rigid orange does not do much for me. I like your colour scheme better.


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## preacherman (Nov 29, 2011)

Without a doubt best looking Ridgid band saw I have ever seen. Great job and amazing attention to detail.


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

One thing that I did learn while doing this project... I really need to get a respirator! After going through about six cans of spray paint I can attest to the fact that it will give you a wicked headache. Why idiot kids sniff that stuff is beyond my understanding.


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

RogerC,

I have read several places about people getting link belts for their tools. In this case, I can honestly say that I don't think it would make one bit of difference. While reassembling everything, I ran the saw with the motor attached to the main saw pulley via the original v-belt (with out the bottom wheel yet installed) and it was smooth as glass. The vibrations only showed up one the wheels were mounted. I think that if you had a really old or worn-out v-belt, its worth replacing it, but I can't see that it would be be any advantage (at least to my saw) for me to switch to a link belt.


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## Howard Ferstler (Sep 27, 2007)

bpajwhite said:


> A few more pics:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Gee whiz, you did a fabulous job! I own that saw myself, purchased new for about three times what you paid. It had problems (some similar to what you encountered, although at least it was brand new and did not have rust) and I did a review of the saw and my experiences on this site at:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f24/ridgid-bs1400-band-saw-1957/

I put a photo into it after some commenters asked to see it, but I will put an additional one here of the full unit (plus a couple of closeups) for you to look over. Like you, I stiffened up the frame and balanced the wheels. I also got rid of the rubber mounts on the motor, bolting it solidly to the reinforced frame surface. (I used a single mdf board underneath, plus a smaller one under the motor.) I also put it on wheels, so I could roll it out of my small shop onto my adjacent outdoor work deck. I also removed the belt shroud later on, because I wanted to be able to easily monitor the tension of the belt, which was an automotive type purchased at a parts store. I also replaced some of the plastic knobs with ones I machined out of wood. I like the looks of those wooden knobs. One thing I did that I do not regret at all was building a wooden frame around the table. That gave me a bit more working area and leverage and now I do not have to worry about the cast iron edges dinging workpieces as I shuffle them around during my cutting work.

Howard Ferstler


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## bpajwhite (Nov 8, 2006)

Howard,

That looks great. I love the wooden knobs that you made and I really like your idea for enlarging the table top. I have been giving it some thought, and think that I'm going to make something similar. I want to make one that also incorporates an adjustable fence. I'll add it to the to-do list. I also like the idea of putting it on wheels. This thing is a bit to heavy to drag around the shop. 

Thanks for the input and ideas.


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## Anywhy30 (Dec 2, 2011)

bpajwhite said:


> Thanks for all the kind comments.
> 
> J Thomas, to balance the wheels, I took these steps.
> 
> ...


Now that is a great job you have done on this rigid... I have found a similar Craftsman ... Unknown on all details I've worked on motor that works after rewired, blade unknown size & details looks pretty bad inside rusted blade,,,
Everything inside turns ok, broke two of four front cover plate bolt taking off, leaves two to extract?? I've got it at a pretty good price...$20.xx took it home, but got my work cut out for me...years of neglect from a retired woodworkers family is safe to say what happened to this bandsaw.


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