Marvel saw maintenance

Marvel series 8 Mark 1 vertical band saw. Next to the hand wheel is the carriage feed worm gear. The operating manual says to check and fill the reservoir annually. It doesn't really give a good description of the desired oil level. Filling it completely as insinuated causes oil to run out around the shaft. Does anyone know how much oil they want? Since the worm is on top only the gear is in the bath unless the reservoir is actually "full". The exploded parts view shows no seal around the shaft.

Thanks, SCOTTIE

the easiest thing is to judge how much it holds before it leaks out from the shaft opening you referr to. The worm is driven by the cork clutch at the opposite end. The gear will carry lube around as it is turned by the worm. If you have a little time to spend, and a little oil to spare, make a cover to match the original out of sheet metal or plastic and cut it in half. With an oil can which shows how much is dispensed, fill the recess until it gets to the bottom of the input shaft. This voulme or slightly less will do the job for you. Swapped out one of the cast iron gears once, it was pretty bad. Until it wouldn't work anymore, I'd say it had no maintenance. Lots of things to do on that saw.

gvasale said:

Lots of things to do on that saw.

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What kind of "stuff"? The manual doesn't call for any maintenance past the worm gear box and a few minor adjustments. I would love to know what to watch for.

Thanks for the oil level info. Since I saw oil come out around the shaft, I feel better about it.

So far, I love the performance and convenience of this saw.

SCOTTIE

well, you have to clean the chip tray if you use the saw for a full shift 6 days a week, or my may have trouble keeping the coolant going through the pipes. Don't know how good the carbide guides are, you'll need to check them. Also need to check the speed adjust, which uses a hex bar in a socket. The saw I worked on was so loaded up the bar got rusted and lost a lot of the hex. Also, the bearing on the drive gear, a staight cut bevel gear had a bearing failure. This gear also gets a lot of chips that migrate through the cover.
Then you have the roller chains which are part of the feed system. These can get very rusty and hang up causing the feed to stick. They are also under the sides of the table. Very nasty to work on. Shop I was at "never" had time to pm the saw until it was broke. Also a pita, the throat adjustment if your saw has any age to it probable goes out of square when you adjust it. I always cut a sample to check squareness rather than just use a square against the blade. Also, the trunions can get really sticky and make it hard to tip the blade over for angle cuts. Look at any part/assembly that moves. Don't be afraid to wash down the saw.

What kind of oil are you using? You may be using something that has a lower viscosity than recommended. In most wormgear boxes they call for an AGMA 7-8A (non-E.P.).