Photo Index - Sears | Craftsman - Craftsman-Companion Line

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Sears | Craftsman
Chicago, IL

True Manufacturer:
Walker-Turner Co., Inc., Jersey City, NJ; Plainfield, NJ

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Band Saw
Machine Size:	12-inch
Submitted By:	Bruce Howard

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Craftsman-Companion Line
Date of Manufacturer:	1935
Serial Number:	Similar to WalkerTurner BN725
Last Updated	7/29/2009 2:21:04 PM

Comments:

A friend picked this up at a garage sale and sold it to me at a reasonable price after I saw it in his garage and started bugging him for it.

Sold by Craftsman in the mid to late 1930s as part of its "Companion Line", the true manufacturer was Walker-Turner, who also marketed a very similar band saw as part of its "Driver Line." In fact the drive pulley on this machine says Walker-Turner Mfg., The Driver Line. While the decal on the cast iron body of the saw said Craftsman. I'm not sure exactly which year this saw was built but it matches the pictures in both the 1937 and 1939 Craftsman catalog.

After completely dissasembling the saw and replacing about 2/3s of the bearings, I repainted it. Fortunately I found an off-the-shelf auto touch up color that was almost a dead ringer for the original color. I wire brushed virtually all the steel parts and was pleasantly surprised at how well it cleaned up.

The old tires were completely shot so I replaced them with neoprine and put a low-vibration link drive belt on.
Still ran a little rough, and I discovered the top wheel was warped. From e-mails I've received off this posting the warping seems to be a common problem. My theory is that many of the stamped metal wheels on this vintage have been sitting in basements and dark shop corners with the blade tension cranked up full for years on end and have just been pulled out of true. I built a plywood "sandwich" for the wheel, stuck a long piece of pipe through the axel hole and popped it back into shape. Very unscientific approach but it worked, and kept me from having to go to a non-original wheel.

Made by Walker Turner for Sears, it was part of the Craftsman "Companion" Line...which was their version of Walker Turner's "Driver" Line. This machine is, for all intents, a twin of WT's BN725 except the WT had a quad cutout on the wheel guards.

I have been using the saw for many years now and it hums along just fine.

Photo 1:

Comments: 1939 Craftsman Companion 12" Band Saw
Source: B. Howard photo

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 2:

Comments: 1939 Craftsman Companion 12" Band Saw
Source: B. Howard photo

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 3:

Comments: 1939 Craftsman Catalog
Source: B. Howard Photo

Direct Link
IMG Code