Ridgid 14in Bandsaw Restoration & Upgrade Part 2

Installing the Riser Block

I managed to get the riser block kit installed by myself without much trouble.
I used my HF 1 ton chain hoist to hold the upper part while I removed the large bolt holding it together.

 You have to make sure to support both sides of the upper assembly or else it will tip over as soon as you remove the bolt (which I found out the hard way).

Even though this was a Grizzly riser block, it fit perfectly on this Ridgid. You can buy the Ridgid version, but it costs like $170 which is a bit ridiculous to me. It looks like everybody has made direct copies of these 14" saws so the parts are pretty much interchangeable. Heck, if you want roller guide bearings, you just have to order the parts from Grizzly and install them.










One thing in the instructions that wasn't mentioned is that to install extended bar that holds the guide assembly, you need to take care not to lose the spring and steel ball that keeps the bar from falling out when you loosen the knob. As I pulled the bar out, this shot out. That fact that I still managed to find it in my mess of a workshop still baffles me.
The blade guard in the kit appeared to be bent at the end where the screw slots were. A bit of finagling and bending got it back in shape so that it could be attached to the guide assembly. Here's what the extension looks like installed.




Cleaning Up the Cast Iron Top

The top had a couple splotches of brown glue (at least I hope its glue) that I was able to scrape off with a putty knife. To get rid of the rust, I used a bunch of wet/dry sandpaper that I got from Harbor Freight. I have to say that the HF paper is horrible. All the grit seemed to come almost immediately off and the resulting slurry barely scratches the cast iron. Maybe it was my technique of using WD40 as a lubricant. I managed to get it to look like this with about 2 hour's worth of hard work. This prompted my purchase of Mirka wet/dry paper (to qualify for free shipping) for when I get back to the planer project. I then used mineral spirits to clean off the residue. Next I put on 3 coats of SC Johnson's Paste Wax, letting it dry and buffing between each coat.

Removing the bottom axle
I can't seem to remove the bottom axle. I managed to take off the wheel, pulley, and e-clip, but any attempt to bang the shaft either toward the wheel side or toward the pulley side was futile. If anyone knows how to remove this, I would be greatly thankful.