Boice-Crane TS users
fisabel
Hello:
1- Need feedback about Boice-Crane 10" TS wih 3/4" arbor. Heavy duty
cast iron all around. If somebody in this group can provide his-her
experience with this saw will be of great help for a rockie in
woodworking like me.
Thanks,
Dave Oliff
HEY!
Hello there!
I thought I was the only one in the world that had an old Boice-Crane
tablesaw!
Mine is'nt running right now, I bought it with the intent of totally
rebuilding it. It's still in peices on shelves.
I did do some research though, some time back, and what I found was a
little interesting.
(I'll dig up the facts and report back to you and the group)
I was just telling someone yesterday about this old saw and its
peculiarities. Apparently, they designed this saw for an eight inch blade
with a 3/4" arbor. I didn't know this when I bought it.
I did some research on the company and came up with a trail that led me
to an elderly gentleman that was said to be handling all the old
Boice-Crane saws. I finally reached the man and talked to him at great
length. It turns out that he was working closely with the Boice
brothers(I believe he said) when and where they were building the saw(s).
They came up with this design that they liked, and it worked fine for
them. The saw was robust and simple, which would provide good service.
However, at that time there apparently wasn't much in the way of industry
design standardizations as far as the tablesaw was concerned.
Probably everyone building woodworking equipment at that time had their
own designs. Well of course you know, that the eight inch blade with a
3/4 inch hole is not the popular 'standard'. I believe you can get these
blades though, I think I saw some at a discount store somewhere, I'm not
sure about the arbor size. If you know any one building saw blades, this
is not a problem.
Anyway, the gentleman(I'll see if I can get his name for you later)said
that he had worked with the company for a long time and then the company
changed, or he changed companies or something , eventually the production
stopped or maybe even the company stopped,- can't remember the details.
He went on to say that he had always stood behind their product and that
it was always a good saw, and that when he began to see MANY years later,
that people were still using their Boice-Crane tablesaws, he decided to
get into the business of supporting the market with as many parts as he
could. He began making and supplying parts as his capabilities allowed. I
had obtained documentation(photo-copies)for my saw from him, and a part
for the elevation or angle adjustment assembly - the brass nut that looks
like a post with a cross-drilled and tapped hole. Cost me five dollars or
so for all, could've made it myself, but why not? I enjoyed talking to
the man.
All this was ten or twelve years ago, and I'm not sure the man can even
be reached. -Might like to know myself. As for the arbor, I'm dead set
against modifying any saw blades(and I COULD do it right), and I'm not in
favor of doubling up my saw blade inventory. So what I had decided to do
was turn the spindle down to (what, is it 9/16" or 5/8"?)the standard
dia. and rethread an appropriate left-hand thread(but just because I can
-this could be expensive to have done) . The remaning problem would be to
modify the entire mounting so that a ten inch blade would retract
completely into the table. Did you know that a ten inch blade would fit?
And now it's time for me to confess something. I've never cut more than a
few feet with this saw, so I can't tell you anything from an operational
perspective. I remember thinking that I would improve or replace the
power switch mechanism for safety's sake. Oh, and having the table insert
just sitting there by its own weight kind of scares me a little, seems
there could be some minor improvement there. I am intrigued by the
sliding drive-pulley on the motor shaft -that's a cool(neat)design. Any
body ever had any problems with that part? My saw didn't have the
original motor, and some yahoo had dirt-daubbered the
Boice-Crane-designed brackets right onto one of those practically
disposable motors, just to unload it onto some poor soul(who then sold it
to another poor soul,...me!). I've been sitting on this project and many
others like it(waiting for a shop) because it is worth having in my
opinion, and I have the capabilities to completely rework this machine if
necessary.
I also remember looking up the bearings for the spindle, and they weren't
too expensive. I think they were double-shielded and possibly
double-row...no...wait-a-minute!
(shuffle....dig....drag out.....restack.....aha!)
Here they are right here!
It seems these were sealed AND shielded (Ithink that was special), and my
original bearings are:
HOOVER # 88504 (~3/4" ID)
which (as of 2-18-91) cross-references to:
FAFNIR #204KLL2
20mm ID X 47mm OD X 18mm W
$15.30 ea from Dixie Bearings
in Thomasville, Georgia
Wow! I just may revive this old project!
If any one else out there has any personal experience with this saw,
please contact me as well. I really need to see a clear picture or
drawing of the original motor mount arrangement so I can get that
straightened out like it was supposed to be. I'm being a purist about
some things but not others, I just admire the saw, but I want it to suit
MY needs as well. My fence was also incomplete, and someone had ruined
the teeth on the advacing knob and just ground them off to keep it from
binding -yuck! I'm not even sure if I have everything I'm supposed to
with this saw, were there any special features or peculiar appendages?
**I promise to look up what information I have on the saw and post the
balance of the pertinent facts to the group and e-mail, until then e-mail
me with any specific questions .
I hope this helps you and I hope we get some more responses.
Dave Oliff
Dave Oliff
fisabel <fis...@mhnj.sbi.com> wrote:
>Hello:
>
>1- Need feedback about Boice-Crane 10" TS wih 3/4" arbor. Heavy duty
>cast iron all around. If somebody in this group can provide his-her
>experience with this saw will be of great help for a rockie in
>woodworking like me.
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>fis...@mhfl.sbi.com
>
>
Boice-Crane cast iron tablesaw.
The fellow I reached back in 1987 : Myron H. Buehrer
c/o Boice-Crane Industries
P.O. Box 2632 Kenwood Sta.
Toledo, Ohio 43606
419-531-1113
He sent me three pieces of information:
1) a Catalog sheet from: Gothenburg Manufacturing Co.
P.O.Box 308
Gothenburg, NE 69138
The header reads: "Power Tools For Wood and Metal Working"
It shows: "Boice-Crane Oscillating- Rotary Spindle Sander"
"Gothenburg Mfg. Co. Belt-Stroke Sander-Finisher"
"Boice-Crane 26" Scroll Saw"
"Boice-Crane 10" Sup R Cap Tilting Arbor Saw"
"Boice-Crane Clipper Radial Arm Saw"
"Boice-Crane Press Brake"
....and gives all the specs. for each.
2) "Instructions For Setting-up, Use, and Care
B O I C E - C R A N E
No.2500 Tilting-Arbor Saw "
(three sheets, front side)
3) " Operators Manuul & Repair Parts List"
Set-up Nos.
Use B O I C E - C R A N E 2550 - 2554
Care Tablesaws
(ten sheets, 4-1/2 text, 3-1/2 parts lists, 2 photo-diagrams, front side)
(the picture on the front page shows what looks like my saw, and is
captioned as being the "no. 2554 saw")
- This document is kind of a re-cap of doc.#2 listed above, but has
attached several sheets containing phots and corresponding parts lists.
The prices shown were all drawn through of course. I think this is a
copy of THE ORIGINAL documentation for these saws.
I can't find anywhere in my notes where there is a date of manufacture,
but all along I seem to recall Mr. Buehrer telling me this was a 1952
model, and I do see a suspicious number at the bottom of one of the
pages: " BC-527"
maybe "Boice-Crane" and July of'52 ?
*In my original post yesterday I described the spindle bearings as having
an I.D. of ~3/4", when in fact the shaft measures .788" O.D., and it will
be a tight fit to the bearing.
*In the sales flyer from Gothenburg Mfg. they show a model 3000 10" saw
which specifies an arbor size of 11/16" "at bearings", and 5/8" "at
blade".
Hope this helps someone , maybe this should go to the FAQ for this group.
Maybe it already is, I didn't look.
Dave Oliff
fisabel
Hi Dave:
Thanks for your reply. You make me understant a little more this saw,
because as you say, it is a little peculiar.
1- The saw that I bought is fairly complete. It have the fence, very
similar in design than the Delta JetLock fence. The fence lock in place
very well ad it is heavy, maybe in the 15 to 20 pounds range. The only
defect found so far is that the back rail in a little bended, like if
somebody try to cary the saw using this rail that is no more that a L
type steel bar.
The arbor is 3/4 and the blade that was installed when I did the
purchase is a 10". I was able to order a Forrest II blade and they (the
factory) are going to bore it to 3/4. ( The blade that was installed is
a 16 tooth Sears carbide that produce a very rough cut ).
The motor installed is a 1 HP sears with a nice slide drive-pulley. I
don't know if this is the original motor or it was installed after. I
have a spare 3 HP Century motor that I am thinking to use with this saw.
Somedody else in the Net that was a owner of a B-C still have the
original manual and offert it to me. That will be a lot of help !!
I have been able to find a phone for company that will build parts for
this saw. I will give you the information in my next post, because the
phone is at my desk at work and I am writing this response from home.
If you are interested I can make some drawing of the motor mount in this
saw or maybe send you a picture.
My next step, as soon I receive the new blade, is to do some aligment
and cut some wood, thing I have not done yet.
I will keep you posted of my progress.
Thanks again,
PS: Sorry for my writing that is very poor. My original language is
Spanish and at this moment, I am just starting to get better in English
ANNE B. WATSON
In a previous article, fis...@mhnj.sbi.com (fisabel) says:
>The motor installed is a 1 HP sears with a nice slide drive-pulley. I
>don't know if this is the original motor or it was installed after. I
>have a spare 3 HP Century motor that I am thinking to use with this saw.
I was interested in your pulley concept. I bought an old Delta that used
that same slide drive-pulley . It is a little noisy but seems to work
just fine.
Don't apologize. Your English is just fine.
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