Browse through Amazon or your favorite Woodworking supplier to find a good fence for not a lot of money (comparatively speaking). The Delta T2, and Shop Fox Classic are both very popular options.

While riving knives are a very good thing, a decent splitter can do an excellent job as well. I don't know if it is available for your model, but you might look into adding a BORK (Bolt On Ripping Knife) which is essentially a bolt on riving knife upgrade for a not RK equipped saw…

Zero Clearance throat plates can be made out of appropriate thickness materials a drill, and a router…. There are lots of videos on YouTube on how to do that…. Just use your stock throat plate as a template… And new saws don't come with them either…

If you are any good at metal fabrication, Lee Styron has a pattern for a splitter for that saw… It's designed to work with his Shark Guard design, for which you can get a radically improved guard, anti kickback pawls, etc…

So long story short, If I had that saw, and things like the cast iron, the motor, and the arbor were good, I would try to restore it. That is the kind of machine you can be proud to have in your shop for another 50 years!

 

for that price, and that saw, i'd say restore it. that is a nice large saw (very nice - what a cool "vintag" machine design!). the process of refurb will be enriching, and probably pretty easy. that fence looks kind of short anyway, so getting a new one wouldn't have been out of the question to begin wit. also, have you tried taking a good look at the fence itself? there could be something wrong, or a part missing, that's making it so far out of alignment.

 

hey, my vote would be to restore it. Did you look for the manual, maybe all you have to do is tune up the fence? I restored my g-pa's '54 craftmans TS:
http://lumberjocks.com/Neodogg/blog/8851

 

From your description it sounds like it's not quite full size? A standard full size contractor saw is 27" deep. If this one is not, it might still be worth upgrading a little, but you'll still be dealing with a smaller table. You can add outfeed tables to any say (recommended), but increasing the operating space in front of the blade gets tricky. Table size may be a consideration for a fence upgrade. If it's full size, no worries.

A good blade is always a good investment on any saw. Does it take 10" blades? (Amazon has a good selection of smaller size blades from Freud, Forrest, & CMT). A custom ZCI and a splitter are good investments. Microjig makes the "MJ splitter" that fits just about any saw, but will double the cost of your saw .

If the miter slots are standard size, a decent miter gauge is always worth having. The Incra V27 is one of the better values. You can make a cutoff and/or miter sled for your saw too…regardless of the size of the miter slots.

Get it aligned well, and it should serve you nicely!

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/3971720900_c2607d5a13.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2548/3971721264_75d31de100.jpg
This saw is just a little older than yours, restored, up graded fence, motor, and zero clearance inserts. The table top is 24"W X 27"D with a wing on each side 12"W. Had to drill and tap the 1" cast iron to to attach the 7' Shop Fox fence rails. Upgraded to a 2 hp Leesom motor with machined pulleys and link belt. This was my grandfathers shop saw and it weighed a ton before the mods, now I have it on rollers and a reinforced stand so I can get it in position. When I retired, we down sized our house, which meant I lost my shop. We moved to a smaller home, no room for an outbuilding shop, so I am learning how to share a garage. I have other restored equipment. I think the older stuff is just as good as some of the new stuff (not all of it), if not better(in some cases).

A good source for info and parts is Old Wood Working Machines.org, if you restore.

 

WOW! I really wasn't prepared for the overwhelming response to restore this saw. After seeing some of the restored saws you guys posted it gives me hope for what this saw could look like. I guess I'm going to start sanding today!

 

You got a great buy, I'd restore it.

After you've gotten into woodworking longer, you'll no more about what you need in the line of what saw you may want.

 

I am sure you will enjoy restoring that saw. Please keep us in the loop as much as possible. We look forward to seeing your progress.

As you have discovered, if you need help we are only a posting away.

;;
J

 

I started the deconstruction today on the oldie-but-goodie. Here's my progress so far(see below) http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2003335800085114583cSuXek(Table saw in parts in my garage) I'm off to go find a sand blaster to take care of the old paint.

http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/45299/2003335800085114583S600x600Q85.jpg[/IMG][/URL[/URL]]

http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/45299/2003335800085114583S600x600Q85.jpg

 

I'm looking for a little help locating something on here. I saw a post last night but now can't find it again. There was someone who had an old Craftsman TS like mine that had built an entire cabinet around it. The saw loomed restored also. Any ideas?

 

 

Could this be it?

 

It looks like a consensus. Your gonna have to restore it now, or face the wrath (haha). Like Union Lable said Old Wood Working Machines (OWWM.com) is a great source of information and parts. Here's a pic of your model, restored.

http://www.owwm.com/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=6137

I have the shop fox fence on a grizzly machine and it's dead on, and stable. It's cheap enough you could resell it if you find an original fence.

 

baby steps so far…keep us posted!

 

Dick, & Barb Cain - that's exactly what I was looking for. For now all I'm going to do is restore the actual saw itself. As you can see in the picture above, it's all taken apart and ready to have the paint removed. I was thinking of sandblasting or using a wire wheel. I'd prefer sandblasting, but can't find anyone near me that has one for me to use, and I'd like do things myself as much as possible. As this is my first restoration project (and first major piece of woodworking equipment) if anyone has suggestions for me along the way I'm all ears - especially if it's something that I'll have to do now to prepare for something later.

 

I think I have officially abandoned my sand blasting idea. I couldn't find anyone in a 40 mile radius where I could use a sand blaster or suction blaster. Since I'm still a college student, I didn't want to purchase too much equipment right now.

I also started thinking about how I am going to finish the table. At first I was thinking of hitting it with some primer, then enamel tractor spray paint. Then I thought about powder coating. However, my buddy who has powder coating equipment is now about 9 hours drive away. I could pay to get it done, and pay for the sand blasting - but that defeats the purpose of this DIY project. I want to do as much of this myself as possible.

SO, I bought a few different size wire wheels and some spray paint at my local home store this morning. Now it's out to the garage to start my messy work!

 

Here's another type of table saw storage table.

 

Hey Bues, I just got out the random orbit sander and a few different grits of papers and removed all the rust and old paint of my TS. I then went to Ace(Hardware) and got their "Grey Ford" Tractor/Implement spray paint enamel, took about 2 cans for all the coats and stand.

 

Dick, & Barb Cain - that's another good looking table. That one looks like it would work best if the saw already had a table attached. Maybe I would be able to modify the plans to make it work for me.

Neodogg- I plan on doing about the same thing. I'm actually thinking of going for a charcoal color instead of grey to offset the aluminum front plate. We'll see though. Did you need to prime the metal first? I was planning on it at least.

 

nothin feels better than brand new!

 

I didn't prime it, just did a couple coats, that the beauty of machinery grade paint

 

If I were you, I would restore the vintage saw, then let me display it for you in my shop. How about that? lol

 

Thanks for the updates Bues. It's looking like you are making great progress. What classes are you taking in college?

Bothus

 

flyforfun - thanks for the vote of confidence! Hopefully the end result is as good as how I am picturing it.

Bothus - Progress was going well, but I was out of town for the weekend. I'm anxious to get back to work on it. I actually not taking any classes anymore. I'm working on my doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota - specializing in biomedical device design. Hopefully, I'm done by the end of the school year, but we'll see.

 

Re: Sandblasting

A few years ago I took some truck wheels to a monument company (they sandblast grave markers, etc.) and he cleaned up 4 wheels (15×10 spoked steel) for $50.00.

So, you might see if any of your local boys would do it.