Portaband housing/frame material?

[Trip59]

Neighbor borrowed a portaband blade this morning, when he came to bring it back, he also had his old portaband in his hand. Frayed cord, wheels all wobbly, bottom corner broken off (like so many of them are...) and generally a sad piece of tool.

Well, I figured I'd take a look at it since he GAVE it to me. 15 minutes and I had fixed the problem with the wheels, identified three other issues and will be repairing them, I have a new cord and the motor is in great shape. I need to buy two new tires and some brushes, but I'm rebuilding the whole thing, getting rid of the gunk and grime, shine it up like new and get another 30 years out of it.

So the main thing, is it a straight aluminum alloy casting? Anyone welded one up before? I'm going to have to graft a piece of AL in place, the plan was to build a few beads on the broken edge, then make a piece to fit, weld it in and grind it smooth/clearance the inside.

Forgot to mention, sorry, it's a Milwaukee.

[zoama]

Sounds like a nice project for the contest. Lots of pictures please.

[Trip59]

Sounds like a nice project for the contest. Lots of pictures please.

Already have one for that category, but yeah, there will be lots of pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take one as it sat when he gave it to me, but I'm snapping pics along the way for teardown and will have before and after shots of each component.

Going to try the cider vinegar test tomorrow to check for magnesium, but anyone who has done repairs on one, advice/info would be awesome.

[Rambozo]

Mag content won't be much of a problem. The real issue is how much zinc is in there.

[Trip59]

Mag content won't be much of a problem. The real issue is how much zinc is in there.

? Enough to be a problem, have you done one before, or is that just the type of aluminum they use?

[Rambozo]

? Enough to be a problem, have you done one before, or is that just the type of aluminum they use?

Just from trying to weld all kinds of die cast stuff like that. Some welds great and some just vaporizes. It's all about what the alloy is, and I don't really know how to test before trying a weld. You will find out real quick if it's unweldable, so it's not like it will get messed up more than it is. If you can weld it, fine. Otherwise make the new piece, and use pins/screws plus something like Devcon aluminum or JB Weld and call it a day. Another option is to see if you can buy the part. I'm often surprised at what is available for old tools and at what price. Of course sometimes I'm surprised at how high the price is, but often by how low it is. I don't think people repair much anymore, so there are lots of parts gathering dust on warehouse shelves.
I went in to a really old Chevy dealer once for some parts, and just for laughs I asked about the dome light lens for a 1962 Chevy truck. The counterman looked it up and a few minutes later came back with a dusty faded box from the bowels of the parts room. I was shocked and happily paid the few bucks for it. So you never know...

[Trip59]

Gotcha! Something tells me this would be one of the more expensive parts... it houses the right angle gears that drive the wheel, acts as a motor end-cover, etc. If it was the other end, it'd be different. I 'could' pin it or attach a guard, but I'd definitely be more proud if it was welded, and since I'm going end to end anyhow...

Ok, so while typing I decided to check. They do have it, it's $50.44 and in-stock. I'd still rather weld it or it'll sit on the shelf till I have an extra $50 (might be a while)

Short of the field and a couple woodruff keys and the rubber piece the cord goes through by the handle, they have every other part for it available, so anything else I can't fix, I can order in.

[aaxiss]

I see quite a few porta band saws on eBay for parts, find one with a shot motor and your set.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Trip59]

Well, for the cost of a worn out one I could buy the pieces... There's the broken out corner, a break by the guard on the other end, and the piece the idler wheel/guard bolts to has a crack on the end and around the tensioner handle.

The good news, I lit up on the edge of the broken out corner after nothing more than a quick sandblast (no cleaning) and it puddled GREAT, like almost as nice as a piece of bar stock from the store. I'm fully confident it'll weld up fine now. I'll probably set it up for the contest (proper heading) etc. even though I have one for the category (they can choose which to count )

On another note, brother's old lady went down trying to learn to ride, several weld repairs came my way from that. He's also my electrician, so now he's fully committed to rewiring my shop next weekend

[Rambozo]

Glad to hear it was nice weldable material. Older tools usually did use nicer metals. But man has that thing been beat up.

[Trip59]

Glad to hear it was nice weldable material. Older tools usually did use nicer metals. But man has that thing been beat up.

Yup, but it's old enough to be quality built, everything looks serviceable with a little TLC and a few repairs.