Is my TS broke?

[RayV]

I have a Jet contractor saw that recently started vibrating. I can see the belt bouncing when the saw is running. I had never replaced the belt after about 4 years of moderate use. I thought the belt was bad because it was worn enough that it was sitting low in the pulleys and everything appeared lined up well. Replaced the belt with the correct sized green belt, for mowers and the like, but no improvement.

It was then I notice that the motor mount bracket *may* be bent. It is a stamped steel bracket that hangs on the bottom of a cast iron mount. Just past the mounting pin the steel bracket has a slight bend to it, about 5 degrees. I don't recall if this bracket is supposed to be bent or the weight of the motor has bent it.

Is the steel bracket that the motor bolts to supposed to be bent slightly or should it be straight? The bracket that I am talking about is #113 on page 18 of this manual:

it should be straight I can probably straighten it and reinforce it with some angle iron.

Are the link style belts that much better than a standard belt? (the belt I just bought was $12)

[Charley]

Not familiar with your specific saw, but I would NOT use a lawnmower belt on a table saw. It is way too stiff. You want a very flexible (bendable) belt that does not go into an oval shape by itself when it is removed and you lay it on the bench. The green belts are very stiff and will likely want to remain oval shaped for their entire life. A segmented auto type fan belt works pretty good, the link style belts work much better. A slight bend in a bracket is less likely to cause the vibration as it may even belong there, but the pulleys need to be in alignment with each other. You should be able to put a straight edge along the side flange of one pulley and it should touch (or very nearly so) the same side of the flange on the other pulley if the flanges are the same thickness. This alignment isn't super critical, but it can cause problems if it is way off (i.e. more than 1/8"). The blade could be causing the vibration too. Try running the saw without a blade or with a different blade. Some older saws had 1/2" arbors. If your saw is one of these and you put a blade on with a 5/8" arbor hole in it without the special 1/2-5/8 insert adapter, it will cause an incredible amount of vibration. It will also be very dangerous to use this way.

[Max Mahanke]

[RayV]

Great idea Max!

Just got off the phone with Jet. They said the bracket should be straight asked for my address and said I should receive the new bracket in a week or two. Never even hinted that I should pay for it.

I'm shocked! I didn't know companies cared about customer satisfaction anymore.

In this instance Jet came through and is taking care of it.

[Juergen Hannappel]

Check the bank accounts of your TS, the you will see if its broke...

[B A R R Y]

Green belts are actually pretty soft. I have one on a drill press.

[Bob]

"Check the bank accounts of your TS, the you will see if its broke...

-- Dr. Juergen Hannappel

[e-mail] Phone: [phone] FAX ...

7869 Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany CERN: Phone: [phone] Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

Upon inspecting my old 1953 Sears Craftsman table saw inherited from my father I discovered

9 neatly engraved numbers on the side. Wondering if they might be a secret bank account for my table saw I contacted Low and behold I discovered they were indeed a Swiss bank account now worth over 2K $. I advise you all to check your older table saws for your account..you might be as surprised as I was. I'm buying a Powermatic with this money as soon as Amazon has it for under $800 with a Dust Collector thrown in.

[Enoch Root]

Shipping $1200, I suppose?

er