- Joined
- Oct 30, 2019
- Messages
- 225
2.5 years ago a table saw came up at a local auction. I couldn't tell if it was bigger or more powerful or more feature-ful than our modern 10" contractor saw we have, and bought it for $20. It ended up being a 10" Rockwell contractor saw, with a nice cast iron table and original motor.
It ended up being in rough shape as it looked, worse internally. Everything was clogged with old grease, sawdust, and lots of rust. This seemed like it sat behind someone's shop or in a leaky barn for a while. For the crank mechanisms, parts that were supposed to rotate inside of bushings or castings were seized, some of which needed to be heated up red-hot and hit with the air hammer to separate them, clean them, and have them function as-expected.
Fast-forwarding past the repair work (it could be its own post, tore the whole thing down, fixed seized parts and bad bearings/bearing surfaces, ultrasonic+evaporusted all the parts including the gorgeous cast iron table), the saw was in excellent working condition.... but realistically:
Here's a shot of the hanging assembly after cleaning and reassembly, during reinstallation. buttery smooth.
I figured ok we'll just sell it.... but nobody will buy a table saw without a fence, which this didn't include. So either I need to make a fence, or buy one on ebay.
I went to ebay and bought one that seemed right, but turned out to need 1-3/8 guide rails instead of this saw's 1-1/8. This fence was not cheap, I think it was like $125, I would end up losing probably $35-40 on fees/shipping if I just resold it. So... adapting it?
I considered making new rails, but the new ones likely would not end up with inch markings.
What about sleeving the fence to fit the smaller rails?
This sat in the back of the garage (getting moved out of the way monthly) for approximately 2 years until I dealt with it.
----
I ordered some 1.125 ID x 1.375 OD aluminum tubing, bored it out to be a sliding fit on the 1.125" rails
Milled a slot in the side to turn it into a "C" so that it cleared the standoffs that mount the fence rails; also milled the window for the needle that points to the inch marks on the fail.
To retain the sleeve, made 2 end plates out of aluminum scrap. Drilled and tapped the fence casting for 2-56 UNC since I had those on hand (figured I could drill larger for 4-40 if 2-56 didn't work out or the tolerances were too tight on everything).
For the far end of the fence, basically the same thing. Small sleeve with 2 collars that set-screw onto it. So far I haven't needed anything to keep that from rotating and jamming against the standoffs but I may figure out something to effectively pin it from rotating, prior to selling this.
A few more pictures
all the parts:
Works great, is 100% rock solid when clamped.
One of the guide rails was bent slightly, so things were binding up. I used the little hydraulic press from https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/benchtop-bottle-jack-press-from-scraps.110785/ to straighten it. Then it still was binding, because while it was straight - the point that it bent was ovalized around a hole where one of the standoffs installs. I was able to use the press to make the area perfectly round again just by squeezing it with the press on the long dimension of the profile.
Ultimately I'll at best break even on selling this saw, but the time and challenges involved in repairing and improving it, and adapting the fence - all should make it worthwhile.
It ended up being in rough shape as it looked, worse internally. Everything was clogged with old grease, sawdust, and lots of rust. This seemed like it sat behind someone's shop or in a leaky barn for a while. For the crank mechanisms, parts that were supposed to rotate inside of bushings or castings were seized, some of which needed to be heated up red-hot and hit with the air hammer to separate them, clean them, and have them function as-expected.
Fast-forwarding past the repair work (it could be its own post, tore the whole thing down, fixed seized parts and bad bearings/bearing surfaces, ultrasonic+evaporusted all the parts including the gorgeous cast iron table), the saw was in excellent working condition.... but realistically:
- It is a 10" contractor saw, just a decent older one
- But no safeties/guards which we do want
Here's a shot of the hanging assembly after cleaning and reassembly, during reinstallation. buttery smooth.
I figured ok we'll just sell it.... but nobody will buy a table saw without a fence, which this didn't include. So either I need to make a fence, or buy one on ebay.
I went to ebay and bought one that seemed right, but turned out to need 1-3/8 guide rails instead of this saw's 1-1/8. This fence was not cheap, I think it was like $125, I would end up losing probably $35-40 on fees/shipping if I just resold it. So... adapting it?
I considered making new rails, but the new ones likely would not end up with inch markings.
What about sleeving the fence to fit the smaller rails?
This sat in the back of the garage (getting moved out of the way monthly) for approximately 2 years until I dealt with it.
----
I ordered some 1.125 ID x 1.375 OD aluminum tubing, bored it out to be a sliding fit on the 1.125" rails
Milled a slot in the side to turn it into a "C" so that it cleared the standoffs that mount the fence rails; also milled the window for the needle that points to the inch marks on the fail.
To retain the sleeve, made 2 end plates out of aluminum scrap. Drilled and tapped the fence casting for 2-56 UNC since I had those on hand (figured I could drill larger for 4-40 if 2-56 didn't work out or the tolerances were too tight on everything).
For the far end of the fence, basically the same thing. Small sleeve with 2 collars that set-screw onto it. So far I haven't needed anything to keep that from rotating and jamming against the standoffs but I may figure out something to effectively pin it from rotating, prior to selling this.
A few more pictures
all the parts:
Works great, is 100% rock solid when clamped.
One of the guide rails was bent slightly, so things were binding up. I used the little hydraulic press from https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/benchtop-bottle-jack-press-from-scraps.110785/ to straighten it. Then it still was binding, because while it was straight - the point that it bent was ovalized around a hole where one of the standoffs installs. I was able to use the press to make the area perfectly round again just by squeezing it with the press on the long dimension of the profile.
Ultimately I'll at best break even on selling this saw, but the time and challenges involved in repairing and improving it, and adapting the fence - all should make it worthwhile.
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