What's new
What's new

Rockwell 14” wood/metal bandsaw

Bellaru433

Aluminum
Joined
Jun 8, 2017
I don’t know if I am in the correct category regarding my Rockwell bandsaw but I have a 14 inch Rockwell vertical bandsaw that will cut metal or wood.. it has the transmission type box on the back where you pull the knob out which will change the gears on the inside to speed up the blade for cutting wood or push it in to slow it down.. anyway when I pull it out and start running the machine it doesn’t take long before it slowly starts working its way back in until it literally slips between both settings and ends up in neutral stopping the blade from moving... rather than starting to tear it apart I am hoping someone has some information on what exactly is going on in there causing it not to stay locked into position... I don’t know whether there’s some sort of a Detent inside there snapping the knob into the locked position needed or some other type of mechanism that might be broken allowing it to become disengaged... if anyone has any information regarding this problem with mine I would appreciate it... thank you..
 
Is it a two position hi/lo or a three position hi/neutral/lo?

If it's the former it could be a toggle mechanism. If it's the latter it will likely be a ball detent.
 
I don’t know... there is no settings on this knob that says anything.. it just has two belts in the back end up at the top.. Not the top of the machine but just at the top of the transmission area where the one pulley is directly connected to the lower wheel It’s the larger of the pullys down there and the knob I’m talking about is directly in the center of that large pulley and you can see on the shaft that there is a slot and the knob slides back and forth in that slot and when you push it in all the way the speed is slow and when you pull it out all the way it speeds it up real quick and as it’s in the out position pulled out and when the machine is turned on it runs for about a minute or two and slowly Starts to work its way back in until it’s no longer engaged in between the high and the low setting and basically in a neutral position where the blade stops completely... when I push it all the way in or pull it all the way out I don’t feel it quick and sort of lock itself into position as if there’s some sort of a detent in there and I don’t know how complicated it’s going to be inside there if I start tearing it apart... it’s the same as the Delta machine I don’t know if Rockwell whisper for Delta took over or vice versa but the machines are identical and it’s an older one where everything is solid cast-iron where are the tag on the front says Rockwell international in black with the Rockwell symbol... do you know if any of these parts can still be purchased... A friend of mine sent me a diagram off of the Vantage machinery website where it shows the Rockwell wood/metal bandsaw and inside the transmission area where the shaft goes into the shaft that pulls in and out to change the speed it looks like there’s a couple rings that are inside there it doesn’t say what those parts are it just shows that there’s like three circular type rings that are in there I know this doesn’t provide much information to you but I need to do something here because this is getting to be a real pain in the ass I don’t know how to provide a photograph on this website we’re on but if you could get back to me through an email I can give you my email address and then I can send a photograph to you and even a short video showing you exactly what’s happening as it’s running,, my buddy said that there was an older machine that came right before this one that had a camlock tape set up that he is familiar with but he wasn’t familiar with that design that I have that came after that.. my email address is “ [email protected]
If it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you I can pull the knob out and turn it on and show you what it’s doing and let you see exactly what I’m talking about here.. if you’d rather not I completely understand you are the only one that has offered any help.. I don’t even know if there’s places you can contact that repair these type of machines but opening it up doesn’t seem like that would be much of a problem there’s just four bolts that hold that transmission cover on their Where this shaft runs through and like I said it’s directly behind the center of the lower wheel.. but once again this knob that slides in and out changing the speed moves completely free without any walking into position at all it just slides all the way in and slides all the way out with nothing snapping it into position to hold it there and as the machine is running it slowly works its way back out of position and into a neutral between all the way in and all the way out .. anyway I thank you for your help...
 
To the OP....

I would post your question over on OWWM.org. I would expect you would get more feedback and perhaps after some searching of previous posts, you might find an answer to your question.
 
I don't have an answer for you, but did have the same problem with my Rockwell. I ended up selling it for a 20" saw before really digging into it.
 
There are a lot of utube videos on these saws. I bought one this spring, tore it down, rebuilt it all. Lots of parts for entire saw on ebay. I like it for metal, and the occasional board.

With the knurled knob in, it is in low speed. With knob pulled out, in high range.

Get a manual for it from Vintage machinery site. Will show you everything you need.
 
Send for a catalog from Iturra Design. Louis Iturra. They are a bit hard to find, as I don’t think they have a website. Florida definitely - Jacksonville maybe?

They are devoted almost exclusively to the Delta/Rockwell 14” saws, and the catalog has more parts and information than you will ever need.
 








 
Back
Top