How to Put Rails Back on Powermatic 66

[Steve H Graham]

Here's an embarrassing question.

I put my new old Powermatic 66 back together and got the top aligned. Now I am not sure how the rails go back on. Should the left end of the front rail be pretty nearly flush with the edge of the left wing, or what? Do you have a choice where you attach them? Can you put the saw more toward the middle of the rails?

I looked at methods for getting the wings level with the table, and I tried one, clamping pieces of wood to each joint to force the wings to the same level as the main table. Didn't work well at all. I got better results taking the clamps off and banging on the wings with my dead blow hammer.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Assuming that you have either a Bies., or clone, the notches in 2 X 3 angle line up with the miter slots. Tube is usually centered on angle.

[Dewey Torres]

Steve,
This saw has been giving you a fit!

Have you downloaded the pdf manual yet? If not do a Google on your model for that fence and start there. WMH tool group may have it but I have never searched for an older saw like yours. If it is an aftermarket fence you want the manual to the fence itself.

[Doug Shepard]

In checking dimensions for a TS extension with a router opening I happened to notice that the rails stick 5" beyond the RH end of the current extension. I didn't think about this at the time but the 5" seems about right for the width of the fence head and putting the LH face of the fence just barely still over the table for the RH rip capacity spec. This is an Accufence BTW.

[Steve H Graham]

Thanks for all the help. I had no idea what those notches were for. Now it seems obvious.

The saw isn't really giving me fits; it's just that I know very little about woodworking tools, so sometimes I have to ask questions that are very easy for everyone else here to answer. I got it back together, and I replaced the plug with one that will fit my existing 220 receptacle, and everything looks fine. The only remaining challenges are to get the rails on, put an extension between them, add support, and throw on some wheels. I couldn't put the extension on until I knew where to put the rails.

The saw's previous owner broke a number of the rail screws, so I have to go buy replacements. I guess the first move is to put wheels on this thing so I can push it back out of the way when I'm done making the extension.

I did find the PDF manual. Thanks for asking.