Tablesaw "tune up" time

oldsaw · May 03, 2009, 11:07:32 PM

So, I've got this 30 year old Craftsman table saw I bought from Dad a couple of years back. He bought it new about '77 or '78, but was never really happy with it. When I first got it the arbor wasn't true, the belt had bad memory "bumps", the fence was worthless, the blade was shot, and it just plain old didn't cut right.

I went to work on it, tossing the stamped pulleys and getting a link belt, tossing the crappy rip fence for a Biesemeyer, truing the arbor, cleaning, lubing, and adjusting. The only thing I never did was to really check the blade against the table. Turns out it was off about 1/32" or so, not much, but enough to cause some binding in thick stock. The motor needs new bushings, but I want to eventually just replace it with a bigger, better one. It was starting to gum up a bit so I tore it down and cleaned it up. When I pulled the motor, I decided this was the time to check the blade to the table.

It took 10 minutes with interruptions, and the difference in the test cut was very noticable. Just loosened the bolts holding the table to the trunnion (well, 5 of the 6) and tapped it into alignment, using a rafter square and the edge of the table as a guide, making sure I was missing any teeth on the blade with the square.

Don't be a bonehead like me, check this out on your table whether it's new or 30+ years old. Not hard to do and the payoff is huge.

Mark

CHARLIE · May 04, 2009, 12:54:48 AM

Wow! That's impressive. I think it is neat that you restored an old Craftsman Tablesaw to better than new condition. You'll enjoy using it just knowing what you did to it. I used to have an early '80s Craftsman tablesaw that was their top ot the line at the time. I always had problems with the pulleys coming loose. I ended up selling it to my son for a dime, which he never did give me. >:( ;D I enjoyed reading all that you did to restore that old saw. Thanks!

LeeB · May 04, 2009, 01:10:38 AM

I had a craftsman of about the same vintage that I bought in the early 80's. I let my dad borrow it once and when he brought it back a couple years later he had burnt up the motor. I never did replace the mototr, but held on to the saw for many years after that fully intending to rebuild it. I finaly gave it away 3 years ago before moving to Arkansas. I don't know if the fellow ever redid it or not.

CHARLIE · May 04, 2009, 01:20:07 AM

If I ever borrow something and it breaks, I'll either repair it or buy a new one to return. I've taught my children the same thing.

LeeB · May 04, 2009, 02:00:28 AM

I recon my dad figured I tore up enough of his stuff over the years that we were even on that one. He never saved a penny and didn't have money to fix it anyway.

SwampDonkey · May 04, 2009, 04:36:27 AM

Quote from: CHARLIE on May 04, 2009, 01:20:07 AM
If I ever borrow something and it breaks, I'll either repair it or buy a new one to return. I've taught my children the same thing.

Dad lived by that rule to, only his brother and nephews never seemed to follow that philosophy. Always brought back stuff broke or worse than it left. Actually, it was more like, had to go retrieve it. :

oldsaw · May 04, 2009, 10:19:02 AM

Quote from: CHARLIE on May 04, 2009, 12:54:48 AM
Wow! That's impressive. I think it is neat that you restored an old Craftsman Tablesaw to better than new condition. You'll enjoy using it just knowing what you did to it. I used to have an early '80s Craftsman tablesaw that was their top ot the line at the time. I always had problems with the pulleys coming loose. I ended up selling it to my son for a dime, which he never did give me. >:( ;D I enjoyed reading all that you did to restore that old saw. Thanks!

I just did the math. I could buy a new one that probably wasn't built as well (outside of $1500-2000 I didn't have to spend), or dump some money into the old one that I knew had some issues, but that was a good foundation to work with. I expected the motor to be better than it was, so eventually that will be replaced. Want to run a couple of 220 runs into the garage/workshop, so I'd like to upgrade to at least a 1 1/2 horse, then still have an outlet for a dust collection system of some capacity. Preparing for the future.
I'm taking the day off of work today, "boss sanctioned" even (he called me this monring and told me to stay home and play).
Mark

DanG · May 04, 2009, 10:26:27 AM

I have one of those old Craftsman saws, and I can't get the pulleys to stay put either. No matter how tight I twist those setscrews, it will loosen in just a few minutes and start sliding toward the end of the shaft. ???

LeeB · May 04, 2009, 12:23:17 PM

DanG, try drilling a dimple on the shaft and putting some locktite on the set screw.

beenthere · May 04, 2009, 12:29:31 PM

I solved the "walking" pulley problem doing what oldsaw did...swapping out the stamped pulley's with machined ones, and getting a link belt. Takes the vibrations out of the system.

oldsaw · May 04, 2009, 03:04:40 PM

Yep, those stamped pulleys are garbage, put them where they belong. I bought the kit from Woodcraft, it wasn't too much money, but made a world of difference.

Worked on some rip fence improvements today. I'll get pics when I'm done. Essentially put a form fitted MDF riser on the top of the rip fence and ran two T-tracks down it. Saw it in a magazine recently and thought it was cool. I adapted my sacrificial fence to it, now need to make a rabbeting hold down and a fixture to mount other crap. Could have used this while making Boy Scout camp boxes a few months ago.

Mark