The Bible of Power Tool Maintenance

Many years ago, some testing done by my high school counselors suggested that I had a high degree of mechanical aptitude.  They encouraged me to put that aptitude to good use by becoming an engineer. But, whatever mechanical aptitude I had was offset by an equal amount of ineptitude for mathematics.  Accordingly, I chose an education in the liberal arts and squandered a life of certain mechanical brilliance (*snark*) to instead, write about my travails in refurbishing heavy rusty things with moving parts.

But, every now and again, I still need a little bit of help...

Running like a top...

I spent a couple of days in the garage with my Craftsman Table Saw (Model No. 113.298720) and made some headway refurbishing it.  In fact, I think that I've pretty much got it where I want it to be! The table saw was bumped to the head of the pack due to some upcoming projects that require it to be in service sooner than later.

Things my dad taught me...

Today is my father's 90th birthday and that seems as good a time as any to reflect on my forty-eight years with him and the many lessons that he has passed along to me. 

12 Posts - 1,200 Views

Just wanted to say "thanks" to everyone who has stopped by for a visit and offer an apology for not getting more content online.  Things are progressing slowly and work keeps getting in the way of my efforts to spend more time in the shop.  I've done some recent work on my Craftsman Table Saw and will be posting some additional pics and information soon.

Please feel free to join up as a member of this site or leave a comment. I appreciate your continued interest in my meager efforts and wish you happy and safe woodworking!

One of my favorite reads...

Shortly after buying our home (an old Victorian with all of the usual ills in tact), I began collecting tools (mostly out of necessity) and became insatiably interested in the art of woodworking and the science of construction.  As my interest grew, so did my ever-expanding library of resources.  Somewhere along the line, I picked up a copy of Jeff Taylor's wonderful collection of vignettes, entitled "Tools of the Trade."

As this book is still one of my favorites, I thought I'd share a recently discovered  book review that I penned many years ago along with my best wishes for happy reading...

Abby Someone...

Sometimes a couple glasses of wine is bad medicine to take before tackling anything mechanical.  Sometimes it's just what you need to screw up the courage to do something you'd rather avoid.  Following up on my last post, I've entered the "Dr. Frankenstein" phase of restoring my Delta Rockwell 11-280 Radial Arm Drill Press, in that, I have begun switching parts over to it from the cannibalized 11-100.

Never ask a cannibal "what's for dinner?"

Although eBay can be a great source for replacement parts, you can often leave your life savings behind when dealing with the one person on the face of the Earth who has exactly what you need.  Another great source for parts comes when you're lucky enough to score an identical (or close) machine for a few bucks. Junk shops, flea markets, garage sales and Craigslist can  provide just the opportunity to acquire an entire machine for parts at a fraction of the cost of a single component, if you're lucky.

Anyone seen pawl...

One of the biggest challenges facing anyone who wants to restore vintage tools is the lack of availability of replacement parts.  Manufacturers of woodworking equipment from about 1950-1980 did a fairly good job of keeping replacement parts in stock, but those days are long since past - the victim of mass consumer loyalty to  "Walmart Nation" and the flood of cheap, disposable plastic crap from China that passes for "tools" these days.  Why repair old when you can buy new... again and again and again?

Liquid Wrench saves the day...

Restoration can be a painfully slow process when life keeps getting in the way!  Work piling up at the office and grass growing like crazy due to an early spring has kept me away from the toolshed, but I finally managed to get back to the DeWalt 780 and try to figure out a problem that I was having with the miter function.  Try as I might, I couldn't get the miter lock to release so that the radial arm could be rotated on the column.

Although I have a photocopied version of the DeWalt Instruction and Maintenance Manual for this saw, the photos leave a lot to be desired and the instructions just didn't seem to jive with any of my attempts to unlock the arm.  Further complicating matters, my manual lacked a parts list or schematic, so I had no corresponding visual representation of how the component parts were supposed to function.

A missing part found...

In my post of February 11, I discussed one of the problems that I was having in restoring my DeWalt Powershop 780 12" Radial Saw...that being, that the height adjustment mechanism needed to be reworked in order to prevent it from turning inside the main column.  I had to dismount the saw from the stand in order to get  thing home and assumed that I had lost a critical piece in the process of doing so.

Craftsman 16" Scroll Saw - Model No. 113.236110

Manufactured: 1986 (est.) / Acquired 06-12-2011.  It's always refreshing to buy a tool that has absolutely nothing wrong with it mechanically...especially when it's cheap - or even better - free.  I've always thought of the scroll saw as being more in the realm of "toy" than "tool" - a saw designed for making crafts and not one particularly suited to the needs of a serious woodworker. My opinion changed the first time I used this one.

A product that delivers...

The folks at Boeing market Rust Free in conjunction with their wonder lubricant, Boeshield  T-9 (more on that later.)  After reading a number of favorable reviews about these products, I decided to give them a try  Unfortunately, I didn't catch them on sale and paid nearly $30 for a combo-pack at Sears.

Although a bit pricey, this product does exactly what the manufacturer says it will do...it removes rust from metal, does so quickly and is a terrific aid in the restoration process.

Craftsman 10" Table Saw - Model No. 113.298720

 

Manufactured: 1987 (est.) / Acquired 02-04-2012. The purchases are getting newer and more expensive...but relatively so.  This one set me back $100, but was a steal at the price and again, my bargain hunting was aided by a very poor Craigslist ad comprised of two very dark and out-of-focus pictures of something that resembled a rusty truck bumper and some text describing this as an "old table saw" that "runs good."

DeWalt Powershop 780 12" Radial Saw

 

Manufactured: 1980 (est.) / Acquired 01-19-2012.  I'm still "on-the-fence"about this purchase...but sometimes, you buy something for the component parts that make up the whole and not for the whole as assembled.  In its day, this was a top of the line radial arm saw sporting a full 12" (rather than the more common 10") blade.  Again, the reputation of the manufacturer (DeWalt) factored into my decision to part with $50, but it was not the deciding factor.

Rockwell Delta 11-280 32" Radial Drill Press

Manufactured: 1973 (est.) / Acquired 09-06-2011.  It’s not going to be the prettiest tool in the shop, but I can’t wait to get this one up and running.  After scouring Craigslist for months looking for a good, cheap floor model drill press only to show up "one caller too late" to the guys who bought the ones I wanted, I hit upon the ad for this one at 8:30 in the morning before heading into the office.