A number of years ago I was given this saw but I never used it for anything other than cutting paving stones for a project using a diamond blade and a temporary table. This week I finished upgrading it.
The saw was in pretty poor shape, no table, broken guard, no blade , no elevation handle, electronic controls were long gone and the previous owner had mounted a switch atop the arm which was unmarked and wired with a hunk of extension cord tied to the outside of the arm. :nah: I fished out the internal wiring, mounted a new switch box and put the saw on a shop built mobile base. The original setup had wheels only at the back of the cabinet which meant tilting it to move it, a shaky operation at best. :confused_
I got the free safety upgrade kit from The Sears supplier (Emerson) and installed the guard kit and table pieces etc. A collector box was built for dust collection and a piece of sump pump discharge hose connected the port on the guard to the box for what little dust was discharged from the top of the guard. The box had three design parameters, no higher than the arm to enable the rare miter cut, close to the back of the machine since it will be backed against a wall, notched to clear the knob on the guard.
This saw came in two models, I was fortunate enough to get the one that is cabinet mounted. As I get the shop organized I will be putting shelves and/or drawers in the cabinet but for now I just made a box to hold the arbor wrenches which also closes the gap between the bottom of the cabinet and the door.
I checked with Sears parts and a replacement elevation wheel was still available but at $26 +shipping
for a plastic gizmo my frugal nature kicked in. 4/4 pine was laminated, 5/8 socket epoxied to the back and turned into roughly circular configuration.:gar-La; A piece of poplar dowel, misc. hardware and some rattle can paints completed this part of the project. Surprisingly the ancient paint and finish stains on the door cleaned up fairly easily.
The not so good switch and box installed by the previous owner was replaced including better markings and a reminder to me to check the rip lock when starting and stopping the saw.:saw: The openings in the arm where the original controls were have been blocked off and I moved the serial number plate from the back of the machine where it would have been covered by the dust collector box.:eusa_doh:
The guard upgrade kit is a bit of a pain to install, amongst other things the motor has to be removed, new parts installed, and the motor reinstalled, but once on the machine it is a neat set-up. A squeeze handle is at the original handle and raises the guard to clear the fence for cross cuts. When the saw is pushed back after a cut, the guard automatically raises to clear the fence and drops down once the blade is behind the fence thus preventing the carriage from moving forward of it's own accord. There are other safety features for rip cuts but I doubt if I will ever be ripping on this machine. I am pleased with the outcome of this project and with a new Freud Avanti TK 50T blade I am getting accurate cuts :gar-Bi As a side benefit I got use my new lathe !!!! :eusa_danc
The saw was in pretty poor shape, no table, broken guard, no blade , no elevation handle, electronic controls were long gone and the previous owner had mounted a switch atop the arm which was unmarked and wired with a hunk of extension cord tied to the outside of the arm. :nah: I fished out the internal wiring, mounted a new switch box and put the saw on a shop built mobile base. The original setup had wheels only at the back of the cabinet which meant tilting it to move it, a shaky operation at best. :confused_
I got the free safety upgrade kit from The Sears supplier (Emerson) and installed the guard kit and table pieces etc. A collector box was built for dust collection and a piece of sump pump discharge hose connected the port on the guard to the box for what little dust was discharged from the top of the guard. The box had three design parameters, no higher than the arm to enable the rare miter cut, close to the back of the machine since it will be backed against a wall, notched to clear the knob on the guard.
This saw came in two models, I was fortunate enough to get the one that is cabinet mounted. As I get the shop organized I will be putting shelves and/or drawers in the cabinet but for now I just made a box to hold the arbor wrenches which also closes the gap between the bottom of the cabinet and the door.
I checked with Sears parts and a replacement elevation wheel was still available but at $26 +shipping
for a plastic gizmo my frugal nature kicked in. 4/4 pine was laminated, 5/8 socket epoxied to the back and turned into roughly circular configuration.:gar-La; A piece of poplar dowel, misc. hardware and some rattle can paints completed this part of the project. Surprisingly the ancient paint and finish stains on the door cleaned up fairly easily.The not so good switch and box installed by the previous owner was replaced including better markings and a reminder to me to check the rip lock when starting and stopping the saw.:saw: The openings in the arm where the original controls were have been blocked off and I moved the serial number plate from the back of the machine where it would have been covered by the dust collector box.:eusa_doh:
The guard upgrade kit is a bit of a pain to install, amongst other things the motor has to be removed, new parts installed, and the motor reinstalled, but once on the machine it is a neat set-up. A squeeze handle is at the original handle and raises the guard to clear the fence for cross cuts. When the saw is pushed back after a cut, the guard automatically raises to clear the fence and drops down once the blade is behind the fence thus preventing the carriage from moving forward of it's own accord. There are other safety features for rip cuts but I doubt if I will ever be ripping on this machine. I am pleased with the outcome of this project and with a new Freud Avanti TK 50T blade I am getting accurate cuts :gar-Bi As a side benefit I got use my new lathe !!!! :eusa_danc
