Delta 28-280 Band Saw

The mother of all 14" band saws. Even Mark Duginske's great band saw book features it. It entered the shop in the 6th season and probably won't leave. It will do decent resawing but Norm has that Hitachi brute, so only once do I recall seeing the 28-280 called into resaw service.

Beginning in the 15th season another Delta 14" saw showed up in the Platinum livery. Still essentially the same saw—slightly different color, maybe different model number. I've noticed in the 18th season that it's been changed again—it's now sporting a tension release lever (as seen in picture at left, below.

I've come to learn that 28-280 may not be the correct model number of any of them. According to Norm's Shop Notes, the original bandsaw is a 28-203. Various combinations of motor HP (and voltage), base, point of manufacture, etc., render different model numbers (I learned all of this when I bought my 46-701 lathe). I initially decided on 28-280 because that's the combination I have, and it's indistinguishable from the one Norm originally used.

I'm not going to change the model number on any past or future appearances, as the basic bandsaw is the same—the minor differences, especially motor differences, are not only impossible to determine, but are unimportant to the task of identifying the general idea of a Delta 14" band saw.

Appearances: Episodes

6. 601, 602, 604, 609, 610, 611, 613
7. 701, 702, 703, 704, 706, 708, 709, 712, 713
8. 803, 805, 807, 808, 809, 813
9. 901, 902, 903, 904, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911
10. 9801, 9802, 9803, 9804, 9805, 9806, 9807, 9808
11. 9905, 9908, 9910, 9911, 9912, 9913
12. 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212
13. 0101, 0102, 0103, 0104, 0105, 0107, 0108, 0109, 0110, 0111
14. 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1408, 1409, 1410, 1411, 1412, 1413
15. 1502, 1503, 1504, 1507, 1508, 1510, 1511, 1512, 1513    Episode 1502 first appearance of new livery.
16. 1601, 1602, 1603, 1604, 1605, 1607, 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611
17. 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705, 1707
18. 1802, 1803, 1808    Episode ? first appearance of tension lever.