After review, I wish I had taken more photos along the way.
About a week ago my faithful, dependable, 45 year old table saw, gave up the ghost. This saw was built with a large diameter "flex shaft drive" to power the saw blade. Over the the years it has been noted that this drive system is a week point in the design. So much so that it is the "Achilles heel" for total failure. I say this because there are no replacement parts or suitable substitutes to replace this broken flex drive.
So,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, as I was sitting in the doctors office the other day with time to kill, I checked "market place". It didn't take long to discover a used saw just a few miles from me. Yes the saw had a few issues. (A) the table was rusty (B) the height adjustment barely moved an inch or so (C) the tilt moved even less Despite these apparent issues, nothing looked broken, just gummed up, dirty and rusty. I paid the man and we loaded it up. Getting it home, I then removed the motor to reduce some weight. Got my neighbor to help me carry it into the garage. At which point I started a complete teardown and cleanup. Each piece was cleaned, wire brushed or sand blasted, inspected and then given a fresh coat of paint. Most of the cast iron under-carriage had never seen paint from the factory.
I was pleased to find that indeed everything was actually in working order. I had already allocated for a new Vee belt, an upgrade from aluminum pulleys to cast iron pulleys and new arbor bearings.
The rip fence was not factory, nor was it aftermarket. It is homebuilt, but done in a machine shop by someone who knew what he was doing. Way over built, in terms of sturdiness and dead on, in terms of being parallel to the saw.
All and all, I am pleased with the end result and it will serve my needs quite well. I forgot to mention that this used gem, cost me the princely sum of $65 to which with replacement parts means I have $125 plus sweat equity in my "new" table saw. Another interesting fact, my old saw was 45 years old. My "new" saw is 46 years old, a tag cast into the bottom side of the table top reads "January 1978".
About a week ago my faithful, dependable, 45 year old table saw, gave up the ghost. This saw was built with a large diameter "flex shaft drive" to power the saw blade. Over the the years it has been noted that this drive system is a week point in the design. So much so that it is the "Achilles heel" for total failure. I say this because there are no replacement parts or suitable substitutes to replace this broken flex drive.
So,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, as I was sitting in the doctors office the other day with time to kill, I checked "market place". It didn't take long to discover a used saw just a few miles from me. Yes the saw had a few issues. (A) the table was rusty (B) the height adjustment barely moved an inch or so (C) the tilt moved even less Despite these apparent issues, nothing looked broken, just gummed up, dirty and rusty. I paid the man and we loaded it up. Getting it home, I then removed the motor to reduce some weight. Got my neighbor to help me carry it into the garage. At which point I started a complete teardown and cleanup. Each piece was cleaned, wire brushed or sand blasted, inspected and then given a fresh coat of paint. Most of the cast iron under-carriage had never seen paint from the factory.
I was pleased to find that indeed everything was actually in working order. I had already allocated for a new Vee belt, an upgrade from aluminum pulleys to cast iron pulleys and new arbor bearings.
The rip fence was not factory, nor was it aftermarket. It is homebuilt, but done in a machine shop by someone who knew what he was doing. Way over built, in terms of sturdiness and dead on, in terms of being parallel to the saw.
All and all, I am pleased with the end result and it will serve my needs quite well. I forgot to mention that this used gem, cost me the princely sum of $65 to which with replacement parts means I have $125 plus sweat equity in my "new" table saw. Another interesting fact, my old saw was 45 years old. My "new" saw is 46 years old, a tag cast into the bottom side of the table top reads "January 1978".
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