I picked up an old craftsman 10 inch bandsaw today. Lots of coats of house
paint, a home brew cabinet/stand that has seen better days. The saw has a
serial number that reads 103.0101. I can find that it was built for sears by
the king-seely company. I cant find a date, but its old. Fairly good
quality. Cast iron clam shell housing, steel (rusty) adjustable table, all
the bearings appear good, but they are bronze. I plan on scrapping the
stand, building a short tube stand and changing out the 3/4 horse AC motor
for a variable speed DC 2hp (or so they say) motor. This way I can get it
down in speed, slow enough to cut aluminum and some mild steel. The blade
tires are shot, but the wheels are very good. The blade guide is cracked,
but I will just machine up a new one (with better geometry).

My questions are

1. where to find a blade. I did the string as well as the math calculations
and figure its 68 1/2.
2. How may teeth per inch. I recall a rule of thumb that at least two teeth
should be in contact with the metal at all times, this could get tough with
1/8 inch AL....
3. Tires. It had a very bad set of rubber tires on the wheels. No crown
left, chunks missing, glue rotted from the inside out. I've read about
urathane tires, but I was wondering what's the general feeling about rubber
vs. urathane. This saw will see only home use every so often.....

any other suggestions for getting this old girl running again, would be
great!!!!

thanks in advance.
bob in phx