The following is a writeup I prepared 2 or 3 years ago when I made my first old arn acquisiton and decided to rebuild it and document the process while I was at it. I have since received dozens of requests for this information and have mailed out packets to many. I am finally going to simply put the paper online so anyone can look at it when they wish.
The Assembly of Wallace
It is my estimation that only about 6 people in the known world happen to be proud owners of the 16" J.D. Wallace Bandsaw, therefore I do not delude myself that this document will receive wide circulation. It is for those fortunate few who do possess a Wallace that I write;if anyone else cares to read about this supreme happiness, seeking simple vicarious thrills, then they are welcome to imbibe. I begin with the assembly process, seemingly ass-backwards, because I find myself with a shop floor full of scattered Wallace-parts; I am not exactly clear on how I came to this pass. 'Man is born to problem solve,' I tell myself as I roam the clutter, sorting and shuffling, and studying bolt hole alignment patterns.
Arn enthusiats will surely understand the fervor and glee with which I brought Wallace home, and then immediately began to pull him apart; first this gets unscrewed, then that, and a further look ensues to see what is under here, or connects there. It is a seemingly innocent progression; it is a disease. Veteran arn restorers may mutter in disdain that no loose parts went into ziplocs with notes; no pieces had numbers taped to them; no sketches were made or photos taken. No, all was entrusted to the crumbling edifice of an evaporating and creaky memory. May I here warn you about ignoring my cautionary comments? Do not do what I did. Do it right and see that careful order is at least as important as enthusiasm. Luckily a bandsaw does not have an inordinate number of parts; it is, in fact, a fairly simple machine for a first restoration.
As I go through the assembly process I will attempt to explain the order and manner in which parts might best be fitted together, and I will give you some casting numbers and other info. The "Direction fo Setting Up and Operating the Wallace Bandsaw" is a single large page which I found glued up inside sheet metal bottom wheel cover (30). Numbers in parentheses will be references to numbers on this chart. Since you may be using this guide to dissasemble just go slowly backwards. Sort of a Zen thing.
Weighing in at 340# Wallace is too heavy in his fully realized state to be easily dealt with by a single person, but he can be broken down into several smaller pieces. Each of these can be handled by one person. One caveat here is that it is very difficult for one person to install the motor alone as it requires holding it in place while starting a bolt; the motor is heavy. The same would apply to removing it.
The base is composed of a pair of nearly identical halves (1). Some of Wallace's other machines seem to be on this same base, and a single piece base also appears to exist. The halves are held together by 4 bolts, 2" x 1/2" and 12 tpi. A square head nut and washer go on each bolt. In each corner are numbers near the bolt holes, 1 - 4. Casting number of the base halves is 501.
The next logical piece is 500, seen to the right. It sits directly on top of the bolted-up base, being held on by the 3 bolts shown: 2" x 1/2" by 12 tpi. The bolts are sitting near their respective holes. In this pic the front of the saw is to your right. The machined ring you see is where the gear box will fit.
As seen from the other side 500 shows a similar ring; the motor will mount here. You can see that the rings are offset.
Below is the immovable bottom of the table tilt mechanism, 506. It mounts onto 500 with 3 bolts: 1" x 3/8" and 8 tpi.
The 2 top bolts show in the pic; the third bolt is down inside. The bolts are in slots so some alignment of the table is possible to get the blade to center in the throat.
On the right is 332 in place atop 506; it is the moving top part of the table tilt mechanism. Machined rails set into matching grooves to allow 332 to rotate in a 45 degree arc while attached to 506. A lockdown clamping bolt, not shown holds the two pieces together to stabilize the table. The table bolts to 332 with 4 flat head bolts The original table that came on these saws is 19" x 20" and made of 1/8th " plate.
But before you set 332 in place the lower set of guides must be attached. Look at the yellow arrow above and you will see a hole in a wing down inside 506 that accepts the guide rod shaft. And right is the guide inserted into this hole.
On the far left is the body of the guide, with thumbscrew: #520. The thumbscrew is 3/8" dia. with 3/4" of threads and is 18 tpi. (Other thumbscrews on Wallace differ only in length.) The piece to the right is 521. If you flip it 180 degrees toward 520 it then slides inside in an arch under the thumbscrew. This puts the machined sides parallel and the blocks go in between. Blocks are in the lower left of the pic. The rod has a ball thrust bearing pinned in the left end; I have put a red dot over the pin to help you see what is there. This rod slides in between 520 and 521 and under cutting pressure the band, blade, will push back and ride the circumference of this bearing. The other 2 pics show the guides assembled.
The guides are simply steel blocks and will work fine. They get chewed and may need to be resurfaced.
On the left the gooseneck, 502, is in place. It bolts to 500 with three bolts. The pattern can be seen above on 500.
The grey-looking stripe right of the yellow arrow is actually just primer showing through from inside. At top and bottom are 1 1/2" x 1/4" and 18tpi machine screws that hold a piece of wood (17) here. The blade runs down behind it, so it is a primitive sort of guard.
On the right a blue arrow points to a steel rod (16) which is the hinge pin of 509, the top wheel cover. It slides thru obvious cast ears on 502 and 509. It will rest on top of the wooden piece (17).
And the locking T handle to secure the table is now in place on 506 and 332.
The upper guide is next. The 2 rods, 11 1/2" long, must pass through the holes provided in the top front of the gooseneck; on the left they are just started to show you the placement. There is a metal plate, 1/8" x 2 7/8" x 1", that must be held behind the rods as they slide down. It is sticking out, blue arrow, so you can see where it goes. The problem lies in holding the plate there while slipping the rods down while they are in their casing, 510, shown to the right. I finally taped the plate where I wanted it to stay. Fingers just don't get it. Scrape as much tape as possible out afterward.
So, right the rods are in place inside 510, the plate is in place, and the upper guide has been put in. You can see that the guide is locked in position by tightening the thumbscrew against the plate so it compresses the rods. With the upper guides fully raised there is 7 3/4" clearance.
Left, the upper bearing housing (9), # 513 is next. It mounts to the top of the gooseneck, see right, via 2 fulcrum pins (11), yellow dots. Cotter pins (10) keep the fulcrum pins in place.
The framework, 513, as seen at right, holds the upper bearing in place by way of the 2 steel dowels which drop right down through the bearing assembly: see left.. On the right it is all assembled.
Left you can see the tension adjustment mechanism. The long threaded pin, red dot, is held against the upper wheel bearing by the spring (7) and the height of the wheel is adjusted up and down by turning the handwheel (22) on the bottom of the pin. see right. It threads through the collar just at the top of the spring. A thumbscrew (23) tilts the entire setup on the fulcrum pins to adjust the band on the upper tire. (On top of the upper bearing is a threaded lug, blue arrow, that was for greasing the old bearing which I replaced.)
The upper and lower wheels are identical sheet metal constructs. They are, for me, the worst of Wallace. Mine seem to be neither true nor round; I plan to make new ones of aluminum as soon as I learn to cast. The wheel has a hub bolted into the center and the hub has a tapered hole that receives the tapered shaft from the upper bearing. On the bottom the shaft comes out of the gear box, but the principle is the same. A single center nut pulls the hub onto the shaft and the taper locks it into a running unit by friction. The wheels are removed by use of a proprietary puller (14), and I might never have figured out how to get them loose if .
I had not had the chart that shows 14's design. It is actually quite simple and I made one up out of a piece of scrap lawnmower blade and 3 bolts.
Left is the side of the wheel which will be facing away from the upper bearing, or gear box. I have put an arrow on one of the holes into which the puller will bolt. There are 2 such exactly opposite one another. Right is the other side of a wheel showing the hub bolted on.
Below left is the homemade puller. Three holes are drilled into the plate. The one on each side takes a bolt which matches the receptacle in the hub. It is a very standard size and pitch. The third hole, in the center, takes any bolt large enough that you can put it against the the shaft end, lock it with a nut, and simply screw it down to pull the wheel back away from the shaft. I have to warn you that it really is a good idea to remove the nut on the shaft first and that when it does all pop loose it comes suddenly and sounds like a .22 going off. Nothing really jumps much; it is just startling.
Right is the side of the upper bearing toward the wheel. You can see the tapered shaft that the wheel will set on here with the nut in place. One of the dowel pins that hold the bearing housing is seen: red dot. And the tension adjustment pin is there: yellow dot.
Let's look at the motor next. This is another of Wallace's deficits. To visit history for a moment: J.D. Wallace introduced his machines as some of the first that ran indepent of a line shaft drive, i.e. they had their own motors. The motor is direct drive and it is only, on mine, 1/2 horse. If the motor goes you will not find a replacement. What you can do is contact Dave Potts at www.owwm.com and ask him about altering Wallace to a belt drive and then you can use any motor you like. The half horse is not really sufficient to do much ripping. 4" of oak is a slow go with a sharp blade.
The motor simply mounts on 500 with a few bolts. A gear on its shaft sits inside and turns the gears in the gear box; The mounting holes are offset so the motor gear sits above the gear box gear. Careful when removing this motor; it is heavy and when you pull the last bolt it is suddenly all there in your hand. The gear box, removed from inside 500, is much lighter and easier to handle. Each of these units had a fiber gasket and no sign of any cement. Easy to cut you own if needed.
I am using the old toggle switch which is inside the round piece just above the electrical cord.
I wasn't sure about oil and put Mobil 1 SAE 75-90 into the gear box. The sump is filled through the spring-loaded filler cap just below the motor: blue arrow. I wasn't sure about quantity either and so filled until oil ran back out. Then I found that when I started him up and then turned him off the oil that had been circulating suddenly began to come back out the filler hole in great quantities until the level was right. Have a can handy.
I hadn't run Wallace prior to disassembly and didn't know how he should sound - beeeeg mistake. So the first sound I got from the rebuilt Wallace was a low, throaty growl which would abate momentarily to a high whine. By keeping the sump overfull I could get rid of the noise, but, as I pointed out, all the oil would come back out as soon as I shut him down.
I pulled the gear box out and saw that I had put him together with the the gears no longer meshing as they had previously; this was apparent from the old wear-patterns. The gears had been removed when the bearings were replaced and not put back on quite the same. I used a bearing puller to move the gears until they meshed as before. This relieved almost all of the noise. So, on gears, look at old wear patterns and match them up on reassembly. It wasn't that the gears showed a lot of wear, they didn't, but they had grown accustomed to one another's company in a certain way.
Even though Wallace is a 16" machine I found the wheel circumference to be 15 1/2". Suffolk made me tires of this size at no extra charge.
Here he is all done up. The table is an oddity, being just a piece of plate, and you might think someone had made it in his garage. Not so; it is original. To put a real fence on it you would need to drill the table along the near margin and bolt a piece underneath: wood, steel or aluminum would all work. A rail could then be attached for a fence to run on. You could bolt it to the far side and then not have it in the way when changing the band.
I don't have the data on the bearings as I had them done in a shop. The fellow had no recollection of what he had put in... I know that sounds flaky, but that is the sort of shop it is and the guy does know his stuff and his prices are good. The tiny ball-thrust bearings that are in the guides came off the shelf at a bearing supply house for $5/pair.
You can see here that I have replaced the steel guide blocks with oak. I don't know that this is any better than the original. Some think highly of the steel.
It has taken me many, many hours to put this together as I had to redo all of it and pull pics with the scanner, and I am generally not real apt at this stuff. Hope this is of use. Write me if you need.
This page was last updated on: August 14, 2006
Below is an old Wallace ad with the famous 'you can plug it into the overhead light socket' pic. Note that this is the other style of upper wheel cover, not the X type.
