Suggested mods or addons for Delta 36-465 contractor saw?

[Josh Reet]

I was given a Delta 36-465 contractor's saw by my father in law. He had a shop of delta stuff and when he heard that I was starting to build some woodworking pieces for the house he sent it all my way.

The saw hasn't been used that much and is still in good shape. A bit of rust on the table, but a bit of elbow grease should clean that up. The fence is the stock one and the wings are stamped.

So what mods or add-ons should I be looking at?

-dust collection?
-PALS?
-new fence?
-link belt? (how long?)
-machined pullys? (do they really make a difference?)
-miter gauge?

I've already got a couple decent blades from my jobsite saw that I've been using. I'd like to buy as many things from Grizzly as possible. They are real close and the guys always treat me right, so I'm partial to them. But that isn't set in stone and I know that grizzly isn't going to have a lot of the stuff that I might be looking for. It's just one of those "If I can do it I will".

The saw has this kind of base with the slanted "dust ramp" or whatever it's called, though it doesn't have the long fence rails, nice fence, or table legs like the photo.

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/images/Tools/Recommended_Tools/Table_Saws/Delta_36-426_Table_Saw_Large.jpg

[tyler mckee]

outfeed table, link belt, pals, work on the dust collection, new fence. miter gauge/build a sled, zero clearance throat plate. I put a delta T2 fence on my contractor saw and have no complaints, accurate and was only $120. Do some searching on this site and you should find anything you need to know about tricking out your contractor saw.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Good blades and zero clearance insert first. True the blade to the miter slots. Get a good miter gauge.

[Harold Shay]

A top blade first then fence, I had a Biesmeyer on mine. The link belt and machined pulleys really made the machine feel like a smooth machine.\
Harold

[Joe Mioux]

your questions could be divided into

gottos

and

wanttos.

Got to's: Dust collection, Zero Clearance Insert. Check the accuracy of the current fence and set the blade parallel to the mitre slot. You might find that your fence is accurate, thus precluding the need for a new one. Make sure your motor is square and the motor pulleys are in-line with arbor pulleys. Once you have an accurate reference, you may want to...

Want to's: add the other stuff if you want to have some personal satisfaction and fun customizing your new saw. I know its fun to tweak equipment and I consider that part of the hobby.

good luck with the new saw, Joe

[scott spencer]

-dust collection?

always a good idea and mods are often cheap/free


-PALS?

Also a great addition for ~ $20


-new fence?

Nice upgrade if necessary:


Shop Fox Aluma Rip Classic
Delta T2
Vega U26 or Pro40


-link belt? (how long?)

Yes, if the stock belt has a zig or a set and is causing vibration, is otherwise unnecessary. Measure original


-machined pulleys? (do they really make a difference?)

A "next step" if the belt doesn't solve vibration probs...be sure they're aligned


-miter gauge?

Incra or Osborne EB-3, and/or a crosscut sled


Also add a ZCI or two. Be sure those "decent" blades really are, and are clean and sharp because the saw's end performance is largely dependent on the setup and the blade choice. How about a Wixey (or equivalent) digital angle gauge for ~ $30...confirms your angled settings as well as your 90° setting in seconds

[Larry Edgerton]

I wear one of those out every few years on the job sites and the first thing I do is buy Browning shivs and a link belt. The standard fence is not so bad and adjusts easily. I have a Unifence on my current saw and wish I had stuck with the stock fence for job site work.

A zero clearance insert is nice, but the stock plates on Delta's are not that bad compared to many saws.

With a proper allignment those saws will do a fine job, but keep in mind that every time you move it it may go a little out of whack.

Enjoy........

[Josh Reet]

To respond to everyone at once:

-Blades
I'm good here at least until I get to the point that I can afford (or need) a WWII. I've got a NIB highly regarded for the money Dewalt DW7657 40T blade and a Freud TK306 40T and TK406 60T (both "made in italy") that haven't been used more than twice. Not top of the line blades, but plenty good for the moment. A dedicated ripping blade might be something to look at in the not too distant future.

-ZCI
I'm in the middle of making a pile of these out of MDF. Not finished yet, but will be soon enough.

-PALS
For $20, as far as I can tell, nobody thinks badly of these. So I figure I'll pick up a set.

-Blade/fence accuracy
I do not have an angle gauge, but I may look into that. I do have a dial indicator that I intend to use for checking everything. But I figured I'd wait until I got a set of PALS.

-New Fence
Haven't checked the accuracy of this fence yet. But if it turns out to not be what I want, I'll probably go shopfox classic or aluma-classic. The Delta T2 just doesn't seem to be around for a decent price any more. And if I'm replacing the fence, I might as well get long rails, which don't seem to be available at all for the T2 these days.

-Miter Gauge
This is a good suggestion. There was a good thread on aftermarket miter gauges here recently, I will have to go back and review it.

-Outfeed table
My homemade workbench is at the same height as the saw for just that reason. Not fancy, but it will do for now.

-link belt/pulleys
I'll hold off on these for a bit until I see how bad the vibration is in use.

-dust collection
Thanks for the suggestions/photos on this aspect. I'm going to have to look into it a bit more and come up with a plan, but you have given me good starting points.

[Josh Reet]

Just a couple more questions:

-Do these saws really go "out of wack" if you move them? And does "moving them" really mean? This saw is on a delta rolling caster set thing, is that the kind of movement (across a concrete shop floor) that will mess things up?

-I've heard people talk about using a sandbag to dampen vibration. do they just sling it across the lower bars of the legs or something?

[Josiah Bartlett]

Don't move it by grabbing the table or fence and it should be fine around your shop. They get knocked out of whack by being lifted by the fence and rattling around in the back of a truck.

[Ken Shoemaker]

IMHO - Link Belt is first. I put one on my Delta Contractor saw and stand a nickle on it's side, start the saw, and shut it down and it still stands. I never got around to pulling on new pullys because this is as good as my skills will ever be.

ACCURACY: I put PALS on and easily alinged the blade making great cuts.

FENCE: Changed the T2 fence for a Bess. Great addition.

DUST COLLECTION: Placed a piece of plywood with a 4" dust port glued in for the dust collector between the saw and the stand. WORKS GREAT!!

WANTTO: Replaced the left wing with a BenchDog router lift and table.

I love this saw....... My pride and joy.

Good luck woith your decisions.... Ken

[glenn bradley]

-I've heard people talk about using a sandbag to dampen vibration. do they just sling it across the lower bars of the legs or something?

You can use a couple thicknesses of scrap of plywood as a shelf across the leg braces. My saw had a shelf there. I wrapped the bag (ready-crete in my case) in plastic and taped it up good. It's amazing how that cement dust will just keep on coming out of that paper sack.

Let's see, on my contractor saw before it was inherited by my dad, I did:
- Link belt / machined pulleys (about $50 for a kit when I did it)
- HF gauge and a shop made alignment tool (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=117955&d=1241992924) ($6 - $8 on sale?)
- PALs (best $20 I ever spent)
- Align-a-Rip fence ($120 or so?)
- Incra V-27 miter gauge ($40 - $50)
- ZCI's and MJ Splitter (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=125494&d=1250441619)
- Paddle OFF switch that I could hit with my knee.
- Put a piece of plywood in the bottom with a hole cut to accept a 4" hose from my DC.
I added a router table extension wing and then it was game on ............

[Josh Reet]

Thanks for all the notes so far. I've got a good idea of direction now.

Router table extension wing...I like that idea a lot. I'm going to have to look into which would work best for me.

[Jeremy Killingbeck]

what do the PALS do for the saw? I also have a newer Delta contractor saw. So far I love the saw, but I just recently started getting some vibration on the saw. I thought about adding a link belt to see if the vibration would go away. Are all link belts created equally or are some better than others?