I get asked a lot what’s the best way to paint raised letters?
There are as many different ways to do it as there are old machines …. I have used an artist brush, made a stamp out of cork, used a sponge, paint marker, etc. but this is what I’ve found gives me the best results.
First thing is prep the raised letters for paint by going over it with a sanding block and fine sand paper.
(Click on the pics for a larger image)
Then take a paper towel and tightly roll it up, fold it in half and tape the halves together, then flatten the end at the fold.
Now dip the end into some paint and dabb it on some paper to get the excess paint off of it.
Then start dabbing it on the letters.
The more pressure ya push down with the more it will paint around the sides of the letters, just don’t push to hard or you’ll paint parts ya don’t want too.
I push hard enough so it just starts to roll over the top of the letters on to the sides.
Painting all the letters took maybe 3 or 4 minutes. A lot quicker than trying to do it with a brush.
and clean up couldn’t be easier … just toss it in the garbage when you’re done.
I wanted to add a fence to my Enterprise band saw for ripping and re-sawing so I checked online to see what was available. Lots of ads and good reviews for the Kreg fence and Jet fence but I didn’t think they would work all that great on my big saw. The driftmaster fence by Laguna looked nice but at 400 bucks it was too pricey for me.
So I decided to take a stab at making my own. I remembered I had an old fence that came with my Oliver table saw ratholed in the back of the shop. It was a school made fence and was nice and heavy duty but needed some modifications to work on my band saw, so I cut it up, made some modifications, turned a half a dozen knurled nuts on my lathe, and put it back together.
This it what I came up with …
To adjust for blade drift I design it so the rail can pivot in and out from the table by cutting a slot in one of the two brackets. To slide it just loosen the knurled nut that’s mounted under the table and move it into position.
Click on images for larger pics.
Tthe rail will also swing out from the table for changing blades.
Figuring out the micro adjust was the hardest part but I think I came up with a pretty good solution.
To use it ya just raise the fence’s clamping lever and tighten the knurl nut next to the lever so it locks the fence on to the 3/8 inch rod,
then turn the knurled nut on the end of the rail to move the fence closer or further away from the blade. One turn of the nut will move the fence a sixteenth of an inch, 4 turns will move it a ¼ of an inch.
Next I made an axillary fence out of wood that slips over the metal fence.
One side for ripping …
and the other resawing.
The fence works great and the best part is it was all made with parts kicking around the shop. Free is a lot better than 400 bucks 
Enterprise Manufacturing Co. 36 inch Band Saw
Saw Specs:
Manufacture – Enterprise MFG. Co. in Columbiana, Ohio
(no serial # or model # stamped on badge or anywhere else on the saw).
Wheels – 36″ by 2″. Upper wheel is spoke. Bottom wheel is solid cast iron.
Main Table – 30½” by 36½”, tilts to 45 degrees.
Axillary Table – 15½” by 19¼”.
Blade Length – 223½”
Blade speed – 4,244 sfpm.
Cut Capacity – 18″ resaw and 35½” between C-frame and blade.
Blade tension is provided by spring and counter weight.
9″ of travel in the upper bearing housing for adjusting wheel height for shorter or longer blades.
Wheel pulley is 14″, also made by Enterprise.
Overall height of the saw is 96″
Weight of saw with motor approximately 2900 lbs.
Motor Specs:
Manufactured by Westinghouse
3 phase 5 h.p. induction motor
220 volts 13 amps 1740 rpms.
Motor pulley is 3⅝”
Mobile base with leveling screws measures 31″ by 67″.
Purchased for $100
__________________________________________________________________________
As purchased
(click on the pics for a larger image)
After restoration
Passing the nickel test
Wright blade guides. The upper is original, the lower one is one I had kicking around the shop. I also had to fabricate the mount for the lower guide.
Leveling feet made from 7/8″ threaded rod. Fixed knobs and pivoting feet I turned on the lathe.
Shown in the raised position.
I also made a tommy bar to assist with lifting the 2900 lb. saw off the ground.
Square D magnetic starter. Counter weight, which I also turned on the lathe, made from solid 2¾” bar stock.
One thing I thought that was interesting is the 14″ wheel pulley was also made by Enterprise. It has the same casting numbers as the saw which all start with a ★D (star symbol and the letter D).
Rebuilt Westinghouse motor with shop made pulley.
Rear blade guard and push start/stop station.
The front blade guard (which is kinda hard to see in this pic, it shows up better in the first pic) I made from 1½” by 2″ by 1/8″ angle iron.
One more pic so ya can actually see how large this saw is.
As far as I know this saw is one of a kind. I have looked at every single band saw on the Vintage Machinery website, and there are 100s of them, and I can’t find another one like mine.
One last pic showing my band saws.
I am having a hard time dating the saw. It was originally ran with a line shaft and flat belt pulleys so that would make it late 1800s or early 1900s, but unlike the other 100 year old machines that I have restored, this one has hex head bolts instead of square headed bolts.
More pics can be seen on my websiste here.
Thanks for looking,
Shane
Share on FacebookI have 3 handwheels that I need to restore for my Enterprise band saw. I figured I would put together a quick pictorial showing the steps I used to make them beautiful again.
Original condition:
(click on the pics for a larger image)
As you can see in the pic above they are in pretty rough shape .. rusted, pitted, and any original old paint that is left is flaking off.
First thing I do is use a handheld wire brush and remove as much of the dirt and paint as I can. Next I use a wire wheel mounted on a buffer/grinder and remove the rest of the crud and rust, taking it down to bare metal.
After hitting it with the wire wheel it’s looking pretty good.
If the rust was only on the surface then ya can skip this next step, but the rust on these was pretty heavy which caused some minor pitting. I mounted the wheel in my metal lathe and used various grits of emery cloth and sand paper to clean them up. The wheel in the upper right hand corner of the pic above is very pitted and I will need to use a file to get rid of most of the pits.
If you don’t have a lathe ya can build a mandrel and mount it in a drill press or just mount a wooded dowel in a vice, slip the wheel over the dowel and turn it by hand, I’ve done it that way many times and it works great.
Next I use a buffing wheel and load the spiral sewn wheel with tripoli compound and the loose cotton wheel with white diamond compound.
Then start polishing.
Purdy ….
Next give the whole wheel a wipe down with some denatured alcohol or mineral spirits to get rid off any wax residue that may be present so the paint will stick to the bare metal.
Use some masking tape to cover the polished areas
and apply the paint.
Good as new
One down, two more to go.
Looking at the time stamps on the pics it took me an hour and a half from start to finish, not including time spent waiting for the paint to dry.
Hope this helps … Good luck,
Shane
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My new Enterprise Manufacturing Co. 36 inch Band Saw in que for restoration … It’s a monster!
