Here we are at the end of my 8" table saw pursuits.
That's an ancient Craftmaster tilting table machine in pieces. I have the makings of a mitre gauge for it, but there's no rip fence. It has new bearings in it, and will run nicely. I'll give its base a paint job to pretty it up some, and put it up for sale on Kijiji for $20.00.
The days of the 8" table saw are over. I can't get a decent price for one no matter what I put into it, so it's time to pack it in as far as 8" saws are concerned. You can scarcely get blades for them anymore.
- - -
Base Painted -- MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2018
That's two coats of Krylon Fusion No. 42521, 'Graphite'. I'm not all that thrilled with it -- too bright. I'd have done better to go with Tremclad's grey. Oh well, it is what it is; it'll do.
- - -
Mechanism Reassembled -- WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2018
- Pivot and bearing points are lubricated with white lithium grease.
- The elevation screw is lubricated with WD-40.
- The pulley is 2" diameter x 5/8" bore. There's no keyway on the saw's spindle. The pulley is secured only by a 5/16"-18 x 3/8" long cup-point setscrew w/5/32" hex socket.
- - -
Table Reinstalled And Mitre Gauge Added -- THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018
The mitre gauge bar is a 16" length of 3/16"x5/8" mild steel stock that I got from the Metal Supermarket. The mitre gauge head, clamp-handle and pointer were salvaged from a scrapped direct-drive table saw. Now it's time for the parallelism adjustment ordeal.
Parallelism Adjustment
Here's my dial indicator rig for finding parallel between the saw blade and the left side mitre gauge slot.
Parallelism in a table saw is a critical, finicky adjustment that's no fun to do. It has to be more-or-less right, else a saw will be a miserable thing to use. I've gotten this machine as good as I can get it, and tightened everything up. It'll do.
The blade that's presently on the saw is a high-end Freud rip blade that I'll put up for sale separately. I'll get one of Busy Bee's combination blades to go with the saw. Once I get that blade, I'll have a few little details to attend to, then I can put the saw up for sale on Kijiji.
- - -
All Done And Up For Sale -- SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
And my 8" table saw days are over.
The absence of a rip fence is a big strike against the saw; we'll see if there's any market for a table saw without a rip fence. The saw did have a rip fence once, but it got stolen. So it goes.
- - -
No Sale -- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018
I had several queries in response to the Kijiji ad. Since I know that people tend not to read ads carefully, I replied to each query with, "Please be aware that the saw has no rip fence." That effectively killed off every possible sale but one -- the last one. I could tell that that guy knew nothing about woodworking machinery from his question to me, "...is it hard to source the motor?" I answered his question, and advised him to go for a low-end, direct-drive saw from Home Depot or Canadian Tire. That was the last I heard from him.
Anyway, it became obvious to me that potential buyers were all looking for a cheap, ready-to-go saw, and that certainly wasn't what I had on offer. So, I've withdrawn the ad, and I'll see about completing the saw with a rip fence, motor and stand. Maybe I'll give the saw to my son when I'm done. I'll never get a decent price for it.
A Possible Rip Fence
I have on hand a rip fence that was salvaged long ago from a Ryobi saw that had been run into the ground and scrapped. Here's a view of that.
Adapting that to work on the Craftmaster will be a challenge. For openers, the rip fence is about two inches too short. We'll see.
- - -
Rip Fence Successfully Adapted -- WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2018
It took a bit of doing, but I've managed to adapt the salvaged Ryobi rip fence to the Craftmaster saw.
I first added a sub-rider to the fence's front rider.
The sub-rider is a 4 5/8" length of 3/16" square keystock that I got from Princess Auto.
Then I added keepers to the rider so that the fence can't possibly be flipped up out of place.
And finally I extended the clamping works at the rear end of the fence.
And here we are with a useable rip fence on the saw.
- - -
Going The Whole Nine Yards -- SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2018
What the hey, I may as well do up the saw with a decent stand and dolly that I have left over from a previous 8" table saw project.
Here are some views of the assemblage so far.
That's a 1,725 rpm, 1/2 hp motor with a 5" diameter pulley on it. The saw's pulley is 2" diameter. Measured no load motor speed with a general purpose blade mounted is 1,760 rpm; blade speed is 4,528 rpm.
A Drivetrain Improvement
A 'web' in the underside of the table was rubbing on the outer surface of the V-belt with the blade fully elevated, so I ground that away with a hand grinder.
Now there's clearance for the belt.
- - -
I have some painting to do now to pretty up the stand's deck and the dolly. Then I may put the machine up for sale again. Or, I may give it to my son. He can keep it in his backyard under a tarp, maybe.
- - -
All Done -- TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2019
The deck and the dolly are freshly painted Tremclad light grey. The machine is as good as it's ever going to get. It's up on Kijiji so maybe I can be rid of the thing.
- - -
Update -- THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
Well, the saw didn't sell the last time, so I dismantled and stashed it. Recently, I reassembled it for one last try, and again there were no takers, so that's truly the end of it. I'll dismantle and stash it again. The saw can go for scrap metal.
- - -
Update -- SUNDAY, JULY 11, 2021
I know what I said in my previous update from a year ago, but I changed my mind and decided to give it another go. Something that influenced me was the appearance of 8 1/4" table saws on the market. Both Ryobi and DeWalt have 8 1/4" machines on offer. I was all but certain that the Craftmaster could take an 8 1/4" blade, making the saw not-so-obsolete after all. To confirm, I went to the Home Depot and bought an 8 1/4", 24 tooth Diablo blade. That blade fits (barely), so I can offer the Craftmaster as an 8 1/4" saw.
A Modification To Better Accommodate The New Rip Fence
Something else I did to improve the rip fence's clamping action was to shim up the rear edge of the saw's table across the centre and the left side extension. Here's a view of that.
The original (stolen) rip fence clamped in place only at the front of the table -- the length of the table and its two extensions was immaterial to that rip fence's clamping action. The modified Ryobi rip fence clamps at the rear, so table and extension lengths are critical. I added lengths of aluminum angle to the rear of the main table and the left side extension, using silicone gasket maker as an adhesive, to make the entire width of the table more-or-less the same length. It's not perfect -- there's a point where the main table and the left side extension meet where there's a slight 'hump', because the left side extension is a bit longer than the main table. But it's pretty good and will have to do.
Sale Effort So Far
It's not looking good. I've had the saw up on Kijiji for about a week. There have been 35 views of the ad and zero responses. That's got to be telling me something.
I really don't know at this point what I'll do with the machine if I can't sell it. I used it a fair bit in the construction of a toy truck recently, and I quite liked working with it. It would be a shame to scrap it.
- - -
A Motor Upgrade -- WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2021
I was ripping a length of 2" nominal dense softwood the other day, and the performance of the 1/2 hp motor was pathetic. I decided that a credible 8" table saw needs a 3/4 hp motor -- there's no getting around it.
I had a 3/4 hp motor on hand. It's a face-mount unit that I had created a cradle-style mount for. Here's a view of it installed.
The motor is 3,450 rpm, so its pulley is 2 1/2" diameter, rather than the 5" diameter of the 1,725 rpm motor's pulley. That necessitated a shorter v-belt -- 35" rather than 40". The saw now has adequate power.
No comments:
Post a Comment