# King Seeley 12" Bandsaw refresh



## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

I bought this 12" bandsaw around 1978 from a neighbor who bought it new in 1950. He sold me just the bandsaw, no stand or motor. 

The very first thing I did when I got it to my shop was to replace the flat thrust roller with ball bearing rollers. Then I build a stand of some wood I had and did my best to make it steady - still works fine. 

I already had a 3/4 HP motor and pulley so that was taken care of. I just had to figure out how to mount it to the stand and make an adjustable motor mount. So, early on in my woodworking career and with very little disposable income to buy anything else for mounting the motor, I made my first torsion box and mounted the motor on a pivot bar (about 1 1/4" dowel rod) and used what I had on hand to tension it - a screen door spring and chain! The motor sort of bounced a little but it's been bouncing from '78 until today when I secured the chain a little better. I started to redesign the mount but it's worked this long and I like the nostalgia so I figured it can stay. The neat thing about it is that I can lift up the motor slightly, slide it over a tad, and go to another step on the motor pulley - no tools and it stays tensioned.

The next thing I needed was a belt guard. So, again early in my woodworking stages, I made a bending fixture and bent the wood for the guard. It's still completely intact today, gussets still in place, no fasteners, just glued.

One day I needed to make some repetitive cuts so I made my first hand cut dovetail on the Mahogany and Walnut crosscut tool to fit the table slot. Again, it still works just fine. It's not adjustable but it is good for right angle cuts.

I figured it was time to do a little refreshing on this little workhorse 12" saw. Took it mostly apart, replaced an adjustment on the top ball bearing roller guide that was limiting resaw capacity. Once I replaced the bolt with an appropriate one my resaw went from 4.75" to just over 6". Then I put Urethane tires on because it still had the original 1950 tires. Not bad to get 64 years out of those! 

Waxed the painted surfaces, set the saw back up perfectly square in every plane, replaced the pulley on the drive wheel (old one had a wobble), lubed the motor, waxed the table, and went back to cutting. It was a good day in the shop doing this and fun to look back on my first hand cut dovetail, first torsion box, and first time to bend wood. 

I plan on getting a Laguna 14 SUV in the next year but I'll always keep this little 12" saw.

Torsion box and pivot rod








Another view of the torsion box and pivot along with the screen door hardware :icon_cool:








Bent wood belt guard








Urethane tires - these just look cool!! :thumbsup:








Refreshed saw


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

And a closer photo of the refreshed saw -


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## rbk123 (Jan 10, 2013)

Looks excellent - just needs a fence!


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Nice, I used to have one just like that, circa 1951. I still have the matching drill press and I think the original owners manuals. Well made tolls back then.
Mike Hawkins


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*me too, mine was a 1960's*

My first bandsaw, in college, no money, no experience, but it worked well right up until I sold it , and there after. I hooked up a 10 to 1 reduction and cut steel with it with the fine tooth blade. 
Nice restore, brought back memories.... :yes:


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

rbk123 said:


> Looks excellent - just needs a fence!


Fence? Fence? We don't need no stinking fence!!! LOL! I have steady hands and a good eye. Oh, and a fence... 

Fence, made a couple of months ago








Thanks for the comments!


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## vinnypatternmaker (Mar 27, 2011)

*King Seeley Craftsman*

Hi!
Ahh..those beautiful King Seeley Craftsman tools of yesteryear :yes:!
Very nice retore, indeed :thumbsup: That's from the artistic era of "post 
*Art Deco *designed" creating form and function blending into a work of art! Don't see much of that anymore :no:. 
Most machines today are too linear to our taste, just like most
of todays autos look very much alike.
If not for catigories (4X4's, pickups, sedans...you get what we're sayin'), we have trouble telling brands apart .
We still use our KS C'man, purchased used back in mid-seventies!
Still works like a charm with the funky unknown motor that tagged along with it :smile:!
Quite a few of our early machines would fit nicely in some sort of 
Industrial Arts Museum (methinks)! Any of you guys out there want to show off your Art Deco masterpieces?
As soon as we get our PC and new scanner going, we'll be posting our nicer arn as well! Finally! 
Best,
Marena and Vinny


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

Nicely restored band saw.


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## Fishinbo (Jul 23, 2012)

Great band saw set up.


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