Hello All: Have a 1960's vintage Craftsman belt-drive 9" table saw. The blade tilting adjustment has frozen at 30 degrees, and the adjusting wheel turns to no effect. This model has one wheel for blade height, and then you pull on the wheel and turn to adjust the blade angle. Where to start diagnosis?
flip it over and start disassembling it.
be sure to price comparable saws, as a reality check. it may not be worth repairing.
Hello Bridger: Thanks for the prompt response. The saw was inherited, so has sentimental value. Flipping it over is easier said than done because its in something of a customized cabinet. However, I don't see any alternate way to access the mechanism. If not economically repairable, I'd at least like to get the blade back to 90 degrees.
it'll be a lot easier to see what's going on if you pull it out and flip it over. what you have to do inside could be anything from a little work with steel wool and wd40 to have parts made by a machinist.
I don't have one of those saws, so I won't be too much help with the specifics, but I bet that someone over at www.owwm does have the same machine as yours and even likely went through a similar rebuild. I'd recommend you point your browser on over there and get acquainted- they're a really nice bunch of folks.
and tell keeter hi.
These are ok saws but apart from sentimental value, they aren't much in the value department. I know - I had one also. It had some sentimental value, but eventually I found a new home for it.
You can remove the top by unbolting it from the tin base. If you can reach up inside the saw with a socket wrench you can remove the bolts. Just be careful not to remove the trunion bolts by mistake. It might pay to loosen them at some point and square up the blade to the miter slots, but that's for another discussion. The top will come off with the trunion and the arbor attached and you can clean up the mechanism. They get clogged with sawdust and you'll experience exactly what you are seeing. Clean the mechanism up good and give it a light lube with an oil, not with grease or you'll be doing this all over again pretty quickly.
The knob does get loose and all you have to do is tighten it in place. You'll have to loosen the set screw to remove the know in order to take the top off. After you clean it up, just tighten the knob down well as you put it together.
Post again if you have any problems with the process.
You probably want to look at a parts drawing. If you know the model of the saw use it to look up the parts drawing at Sears. If you don't know anything then go to a Sears store and ask for help. Probably several models are build very similarly or maybe it is unique enough somebody can find the model right off.
In any case, the problem may be as simple as a loose or missing set screw. For example, if that tilt adjustment wheel just spins, on the shaft, the set screw that locks it on the shaft is probably not tight (something could be broken though). Or it may simply be some other nut, bolt, or screw is loose or too tight. You probably want to take it completely apart anyway.
You should always be able to lock the tilt at a specific place, even if you can't adjust it with the wheel. BTW, are you unlocking the the tilt? Most saws have a specific lever to lock and unlock (merely tightens the mechanism) so that it won't move.
I have a 1963 delta saw that the tilt mechanism wasn't working. I took it apart, and did some adjustment. There was a gear that was not meshing with the chassis.
These Craftsman saws like his don't have a lock for the angle. They don't move a degree once you set the angle so there's really no need for one. Hell, I never use the lock on my saw, and it has one. Never had a problem, and if I *did* use it, I'd be cursing every time I went to crank a little angle into the blade and forgot that I had locked it...
Thanks, I don't know that particular saw. Saws with two wheels--height and angle, that I have seen have a lock. Without it locked my saw will gradually move.
Mine has a lock and like I said, I don't use it, but seldom do I make a really large number of angled cuts, so who knows, maybe over the course of
25 cuts it might move if it's not locked down. It doesn't over the course of a few cuts, so I don't use it.Hello All:
This saw does not, in fact, have a lock. The one adjustment wheel controls blade height and tilt. To engage the tilt function, you pull the wheel toward you (away from the cabinet) about 1/2 inch and then turn clockwise to angle the blade to the left. Removing the wheel, the blade can be raised and lowered using a large screw driver on a slot in the adjustment shaft. The mechanism for pulling the shaft forward that 1/2" to engage the tilting mechanism is the mystery. I'm sure it will be more obvious after I can get the saw turned onto its top.
Thanks all.
It will. Go ahead and remove the top and you'll see quickly how it works. Nothing magical about it.
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