Another Craftsman 113 10" table saw upgrade question

[jason mowery]

You folks have given me tons of great advice, I thought I'd poll you again for more. I've finally gotten my Delta Unifence and extension table system working on my older Craftsman 113..... table saw, and that's a huge improvement. -I also made the Delta extension table considerably longer, and now I can rip a full sheet of plywood in half, which is nice. Anway, the stock hand wheels are absolute crap on this saw, the little knobs that are supposed to spin with the wheel don't, and they're really small compared to the some of the new saws I'm seeing. Has anyone upgraded their handwheels? Is this even possible? If so, does anyone have any recommendations? My good friend Google didn't have any suggestions, so I thought I'd see what you guys think. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Jeff Willard]

Try McMaster-Carr, MSC Direct, Reid Supply etc. They all carry handwheels. From little plastic ones to big iron ones. Be ready to drop some coin for big cast iron cranks tho'. Or you could try Grizzly, they have a few, and prices seem reasonable.

I just replaced a star knob with a handwheel, that should have been there to begin with, on a Laguna B/S. Nuttin' to it. Measure the shaft, mark the center, bore the hole, and paint it. You'll have to check out what form of attachment your saw uses. Remember though, even though a supplier may picture a handwheel with a handle, they often are not supplied with them. Must be purchased seperately.

[jason mowery]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check those places out today!

[Jim A. Moore]

I'm in the same boat Jason. Could you let us know what you find out?

Jim

[glenn bradley]

Pay attention to knuckle clearance when deciding on your new wheel's diameter. You don't want to get a cool new wheel and find that you bang your hand every time you use it ;-)

[jason mowery]

Will do Jim, and Glenn, thanks for the handwheel/knuckle busting consideration. I might take me a day or two too figure out what kind I need and what supplier has the most reasonable prices, but I will post my findings.

On a somewhat related note, does anyone know of any add-on/aftermarket splitter or riving knive options that exist for Craftsman 113 contractor saws? I've been working with some highly figured walnut, and it's been closing it's curf up scarily tight, and I had a near miss yesterday. The factory blade guard/splitter on mine is horrendous, it just steers the workpiece away from the fence and makes me crazy.

Sorry to divert the thread, actually I meant this to be the part 2 of the original question and forgot.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Jason, isn't the stock splitter adjustable to line up with the blade?

Perhaps it just needs adjusting/shimming to be usable.

regards, Rod.

[jason mowery]

Yeah, it is, and I plan on fooling with it soon, but I though maybe there would be a better system out there. You're right, it might be more serviceable, if not ideal, with a little tweaking.

[Jeff Willard]

The most economical splitter would be a piece of hardwood, the same thickness of the blade, glued into a kerf directly behind the blade in a zero clearance insert. Then there is the MJ Splitter, about $15, available from Woodcraft, prolly others too. At the high end is the Delta/Biesmeyer snap-in splitter, IIRC, about $140. All would be very effective at keeping the kerf open.