Walker Turner 16" Band Saw

by John
(Allenhurst, NJ, USA)

What a great tool! I purchased it about twelve years ago in a local tool shop. It was badly out of balance and had some make shift blade guides. The original motor and stand were missing. In short, it neeeded lots of tlc. I restored the machine and balanced the wheels with lead solder and epoxy which, although its not the recommended method, worked very well and yielded no noticeable unbalance. The original motor was not with the machine but it had been replaced with a 1.5 horse power motor which handles anything that I've asked it to cut regardless of the thickness. I improvised to make the blade guides work for about nine or ten years but then found that "Carter" makes a ball bearing guide set for the 16" w/t band saw. Of course, I could'nt resist the opportunity and the addition of the ball bearing guides have added another dimension to the capability of the machine. By the way, I built a wooden base for the saw which closely resembles the original and filled it with sand. With all of the mass up above I needed a substantial base to keep it upright.
What a tool; it takes about a minute to stop turning after the power is shut off.