Band saw repair with help from a friend

Have you ever wondered how butchers cut a steak or pork chop, making them so even, even while cutting through bone? We use a tool called a band saw, which is exactly what it sounds like, except bigger and made of stainless steel. The band saws I was used to as a kid were tabletop tools that my dad and grandfather used to shape wood. This machine weighs hundreds of pounds, and it's used for cutting through meat and bone efficiently.

A Repair That Didn't Go Right

At the end of last season, I had to do a repair on our band saw, which involved removing the motor and the gearbox housing. When I reinstalled it, the saw didn't work quite right. In preparation for pork processing, I took this all apart. I took a hard look at what was going on.

The problem was that the band saw blade was riding too far forward on the bottom pulley, such that the teeth of the blade were grinding into the wall of the pulley, whose job is to keep the blade from popping off. You can imagine the finger devastation that might happen if it did. It gives me shivers. It would be an understatement to call this machine dangerous, and we treat it with the utmost respect.

A Call to an Old Friend

After calling the manufacturer and asking them for help, which they told me they would not do, I remembered I had a friend who used to repair restaurant and food service equipment. I was pretty sure he was retired at this point, but I still had his cell phone number, so I gave him a call. He answered his phone right away, gave me great advice, and asked me how my father-in-law, John, was doing.

Mind you, this is a man I hadn't talked to in a couple of years. And he remembered not only me and the equipment we used, but also John, who I sent on many a mission, bringing him equipment to look at and help me fix. Thanks, Eric, for all your support.

Back on Track

Below is a picture of the top bearing on the band saw, whose tilt I was able to adjust, finding just the right track for the blade.

Here you can see the blade on the bottom pulley, riding just where it's supposed to. Before the fix, those teeth were right up against the right hand side of the pulley.

Your Farmer,

Nathan Henderson
Reber Rock Farm
Essex, New York