Its sounds like the successor to what I bought in 1984, Model 113.298032. I think it will be a 113.298762. Mine has steel wings and not cast iron. Anyway if its belt driven then its a great saw. They did start to produce a direct drive model around then that you should avoid. Some people up grade the fence, but I have had no problems with my fence. My wife wants to buy me a new saw but I am resisting.

 

Your wife wants to buy you a new saw???

And you're resisting???

 

They did start to produce a direct drive model around then that you should avoid.

If it's the one I think you're referring to, it was actually a flexible shaft drive that made a 180º loop from the motor back to the arbor. I wrote about in another thread, but I bought one in the '80s, and it was beyond a dog. Sounds like a cool idea, but with that shaft out in mid air, when the saw would get under much load, it started wobbling like crazy. Pretty scary actually.

 

The ones with the cast iron tables and belt drive aren't bad saws. My dad had a similar one. Far better than the plastic bodied contractor saws being sold today.
I had an aluminum tabled direct drive saw (not the flex shaft saw). I'd avoid those. After I upgraded to an early 40s Walker Turner cabinet saw I've never looked back.
Rodney

 

Let us know what shows up. I have a Delta contractor's saw on wheels and like it. I don't really want a bigger cabinet saw because of the weight and space.

 

Does the saw have a splitter or a riving knife? I personally would not use a saw that does not have a riving knife (or one that cannot accept an aftermarket one), and most saws from that era use splitters.

The table saw is the most dangerous item in almost every workshop, and kickback causes the plurality of TS injuries. If you are not even sure that you need a TS, don't bother getting one that cannot meet current safety standards.

I'm relatively new to woodworking, so take my advice with several grains of salt, but I would make sure you can at least retrofit that TS to have all of the new safety features.

Out of curiosity, does the saw look like this?

If so, I'm pretty sure Combo Prof is right about it being a 113.298762 made by Emerson. You might search around the web for reviews of the saw.

 

Boy, am I going to take some flack for this.

But, anyone who understands the potential injuries that a table saw can inflict, and how those accidents are caused, is safe from injury if they use their head. I use no safety guards, other than my push sticks and my GRR-Rippers. After decades of cutting on my saw, I've never had an "oh sh**" moment. I think the miter saw is more dangerous, and I never make a cut without looking down to see where my fingers are.

The nastiest kickback I've ever experienced was routing an edge against a template and trying to go against the grain on a curve. That piece shot across the room. I ponied up the $40 to get a bit with a double bearing.

Edit: I do love the MJ Splitter to keep the piece from drifting away from the fence. It doesn't save my fingers, but has kept me from having to toss a board that was gouged.

 

Couple of points… first, those Craftsman contractor saws were made for decades and span a lot of different model numbers (and at least two different manufacturers). It is almost impossible to just look at one and say 'that is a model xxxx'. They were all very, very similar in design, but there were changes made to them over the years that might not be immediately obvious. Broadly speaking, there were two basic models - the ubiquitous belt drive version, and the not so common flex-drive version - both of which had the motor hanging out the back - and therefore actually require a bit more floor space than a hybrid or cabinet saw.

Secondly, pretty much any used saw you will be looking at will have left the factory with a splitter and blade guard. It may not have one when you get it, but it did at one time. and another one can always be fitted to the machine. There are of course plenty of after-market alternatives as well. Somewhere in a dark corner of the globe there has to be a huge pile of old splitter/blade guards, jointer pork chop guards, and cabinet saw motor covers, just waiting to be unearthed.

I agree with Rich… if you understand the potential and take precautions, the chance of injury diminishes substantially. I have several other tools in the shop that I consider much more dangerous than the table saw, and treat them all with the respect they deserve.

Cheers,
Brad

 

Once again I forgot to put a watch on this thread. So a series of responses now.

Your wife wants to buy you a new saw???

And you re resisting???

- ColonelTravis

(1) Yes. I like my little 113. It does not take up much space. works well enough for my purposes. Any new saw of equal or better quality would cost around $2,000. She was thinking I should have a SawStop so $4,000. I think I'd rather have a full set of hollows and rounds. But I would consider a vintage upgrade. I would not consider a saw that does not have a cast iron top. But having said that, maybe I will look in to it.

(2) I agree with Rich and Mr. Unix and disagree with Vindex. After trying to use the splitter and blade guard that
came with the 113 they were removed and stuck in a drawer with in the first year. (I think every body did. There were proposed solutions.) I have had the 113 for 33 years and operated without riving knife, splitter and guard, without injury. To avoid injury if you are uncertain of the safety of an operation stay out of the line of fire, i.e. out side of the miter slots. Use feather boards. Don't be stupid. Never operate the saw when drunk or angry.

(3) Portable power tools (chain saws, reciprocating saws, circular saws, ladders) are much more dangerous then a table saw.

(4) put a thin kerf Frued blade or similar on it. The motor I have is 1 or 1.5 hp . The thin kerf blade helps a lot. Later models have a 3hp motor so maybe a thin kerf blade won't be necessary.

(5) There are plans all over the place for upgrading this saw. It was the standard back in the 80s-90s so magazines like wood magazine published plans for upgrading it. (Ok they never said it was for the 113, but that was the saw aways in the picture.)

 

Use my 1953 model 113 something for a rip saw. Used to do every thing hand tools only.
Long rips its handy. I've plenty of old/sharp cross cut saws.
If you have the room, use a thin kerf rip, fine tooth, and a splitter to keep the kerf apart.
I took off the left extension table to save space.
A piece of masonite with a fitted frame to cover the saw top, makes a handy glue up table.

 

^ I just drop down the saw blade and set a section of old laminate counter top on the saw for small glue ups. You can scrape off the glue drips with an old chisel.

 

A lot of us grew up on saws without riving knives (never even heard of them until a few years ago). We did okay. My dad did acquire a serious wound on a borrowed saw, and still had the scar 60 years later. I have never had a tussle with a TS. Like most, I habitually toss the blade guard off a new saw, as most of them are poorly designed and interfere with many operations. I have no confidence in anti-kickback pawls, as most of them look really flimsy. Not having a riving knife, the next best thing is a splitter. You can make your own, or buy one.

That being said, I like my riving knife very much, and feel naked when it's not in place (even more so if I'm not wearing any clothes).

I disagree about using a fine tooth blade for ripping. One with fewer teeth (around 40 or so on a 10" blade) works better for ripping. Fine teeth are best for crosscutting.

 

I use the freud 10" thin kerf 40T diablo blade for both rip and cross cut on the 113 and it works really well.

 

A full size 113 contractor saw in good working order should be fine once aligned and equipped with a decent blade. The original steel fences were kinda lame, but can be made to work, and can be upgraded. All have pretty much the same guts as the Ridgid contractor saws.

None of the 113 saws had a riving knife, and none can be fitted with an aftermarket riving knife that I know of. Since a good splitter and riving knife essentially perform the same task, there's no reason to pass up a perfectly good quality saw at the right price because of the lack of a riving knife IMO….just install a good splitter, get the alignment and setup spot on, and use a sharp blade that's suitable for the task, along with safety devices like feather boards and push shoes.

 

I love it when people complain about safety features like riving knives. I suppose you don't buckle your seatbelt either?

Safer is safer. Riving knives are unequivocally safer than old style splitters, which are unequivocally safer than nothing at all. Giving us some anecdote about how you've been woodworking for 324572 years and haven't amputated any fingers yet does not help your argument.

Wood does funny things, and I'd not want to rely on the pure chance of avoiding a horrendously destructive, expensive, and most importantly dangerous situation purely because I am too dumb to use a safety feature.

Practicing safe habits at the table saw lowers your chances of something terrible happening, but nothing that involves an exposed, razor sharp blade spinning towards you at thousands of RPM is ever going to be 100% safe. Stack the deck in your own favor by using safety features when they're available.

 

Appreciate the input. Heaviest part of the saw arrives via UPS in a few days, though I won't be able to use it for a couple weeks the in-laws drive with the parts they didn't ship. They didn't want to drive out with the entire thing in the car, which is understandable. At least I'll know exactly what saw I'm dealing with soon.

So used to not having one, now I have to go out and get a bunch of stuff - mobile base, blades, miter gauge, etc. Free saw is gonna cost a lot of money!

 

Appreciate the input. Heaviest part of the saw arrives via UPS in a few days, though I won t be able to use it for a couple weeks the in-laws drive with the parts they didn t ship. They didn t want to drive out with the entire thing in the car, which is understandable. At least I ll know exactly what saw I m dealing with soon.

So used to not having one, now I have to go out and get a bunch of stuff - mobile base, blades, miter gauge, etc. Free saw is gonna cost a lot of money!

- ColonelTravis

P.M. me with your email address and I can send a pdf of planes for a mobile base I downloaded. I was going to build it this week, but I decided to build something else.

 

Free saw is gonna cost a lot of money!

Be glad it's not a free horse. That thing cost me thousands.

 

Boy, am I going to take some flack for this.
But, anyone who understands the potential injuries that a table saw can inflict, and how those accidents are caused, is safe from injury if they use their head.

Not from me! I also use my saw without any of that useless safety crap! So did my granpaw, so did my father - both of whom died with all 10 of their fingers.

Wood does funny things, and I'd not want to rely on the pure chance of avoiding a horrendously destructive, expensive, and most importantly dangerous situation purely because I am too dumb to use a safety feature.

Yeah, it does. But it always gives you lots of warning, too. The worst piece I ever ran into starting binding the sawblade long before it became dangerous. If you are aware of what the saw is telling you and you don't discount the warnings, you will stop long before things become dangerous. I'll trade any amount of protection from the sh!t you mention for the extra visibility and view of the blade path without them! Know your tools, know how to set them up and use them - everything else is just to compensate for that lack o' knowledge!

My grandpaw especially was a big one for jigs - he would think for hours to make a special jig to remove all the danger to make a 10 second cut that was safe. I learned from him.

Read any of the descriptions of accidents here on this board - virtually every one of them starts with "I was in a hurry"...

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the most important safety device is right between your ears!

 

I suggest to check with Walnut Acres to see if they have a BORK (bolt on riving knife) that will work on that saw. Also check with Leeway Workshops (Shark Guard mfg.) to see if Lee might have something. Might not be quite a true RK, but should be better than an ordinary splitter.

 

I suggest to check with Walnut Acres to see if they have a BORK (bolt on riving knife) that will work on that saw.
- runswithscissors

Unfortunately, I don't believe that will be an option now, or in the future unless someone takes up the challenge. See this thread: Mr Ross passed away

As for the free saw costing money… I've always said that it's the missing bits that bite you in the wallet

However, that saw probably already has casters on the stand, so a mobile base might not be needed. If it doesn't, you can get a mobile base from HF for about $30. A good combo blade will cost about the same (just ask Scott!). And I'd probably forget the idea of getting a miter gauge - those things are notoriously sloppy and cause more grief than anything else. Just make yourself a sled or two and bypass the aggravation!

Cheers,
Brad

 

I love it when people complain about safety features like riving knives. I suppose you don't buckle your seatbelt either?

That argument is completely ridiculous. The seatbelt does not restrict how I drive. I'm not talking about riving knives here, but those cheap over-blade contraptions don't work, the little toothed anti-kickback devices aren't effective, and get in the way.

I use lots of safety devices, from push sticks, feather boards, GRR-Rippers, to MJ Splitters because they do their job and don't get in the way.

I know what I'm doing, so I don't need phony, useless "safety" devices designed simply to keep the ambulance-chasing lawyers at bay.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the most important safety device is right between your ears!

That's why we EEs know what we're doing.