New (Old) Powermatic 66 Gloat?

[Brian J Smith]

So I think I lucked out a few months ago and found a Powermatic 66 on craigslist.com and was quick enough to be the first person to show up to the seller. I got the saw and 7 various industrial carbide tipped blades and a dado set for $850.00

Its a PM 66, left tilt, 1985 52" 3-ph 5 HP model used in a cabinet shop, The rails are not currently installed, and I have the blade guard and he original miter gauge. I have spent the past 2 months getting it down into the basement, getting 100A subpanel in the basement, waiting for the inspection, running 25ft of 6/4 for a 50A circuit, installing a rotary power converter, re-wiring the saw for a power plug installing an outlet, cleaning the top.

It has been a bigger project than I had expected. (ok much bigger) But the saw finally got running this week and after some adjusting of the top it runs true within .002, and the new Incra 1000SE miter gauge let me cut a 1" block within those .002 and it is much quieter than my crappy 9 year old craftsman saw that I have hated (and been scared of because it was so wobbly).

The rails are pretty cosmetically beat up (as is the cabinet) but they work fine. I am thinking of getting the INCRA table fence so I haven't put them back on yet. I have a few small parts that need replacement (plastic nobs for the adjustment wheels).

But I have three problems that I am looking for advise on:

1. I think I might have to shim the right wing, but not sure because it droops starting from about 2 inches from the right of the blade (not from the wing) (I would guess the droop is 1/16 or less)

2. I can't for the life of me get the blade off. I have already completely destroyed a milescraft blade changer (that was a waste of 12 bucks) and quiet of few chucks of wood.

3. The blade height adjustment has a lot of play in it, I can make 1 or two turns without anything happening going up or down, the manual isn't really clear what you need to do to fix this up (page 13)

Any Powermatic 66 owners willing toss me some advise?

[Travis Porter]

Use a block of wood around 1.5 to 2 inches wide by around 16 inches long to "wedge" the blade from the front and pull the wrench towards you. That way the blade bites into the board helping you with the leverage.

As for the play, maybe a stupid question, but have you ensured the allen screws are tight? If they are, you should be able to adjust the gear mechanisms to get the play out. Regardless, I would clean all the gears/trunion mechanism very thoroughly. Once you have it cleaned up, you can adjust the distance from the handwheel gear to the trunion height assembly with a locking screw that is in it. Like I said, clean it up thoroughly before making these adjustments as the gook in it is probably why it is now out of adjustment.

The sagging wing on the left side is visible from the photo, so it is down a lot. Still, you should be able to shim it with paper, aluminum can material, etc. There should be three screws along it so I would shim/adjust them each individually.

My saw had a Biesemeyer fence on it, and IMO, it helped support the wings. I have no experience with an Incra so I can't say which would be better, but I did have many good years with the Biesemeyer T square fence.

Congrats on the saw. I owned a PM66 for many years, and it was a sweet machine.

[Chip Lindley]

Congrats on your PM66 Brian! A serious hunk of saw there! I love my '97 model.

As said, to get that blade off, wedge a piece of 3/4" x 2ish" hardwood about 18" long in front of the blade, and lever the wood toward you to bite into the front of the blade. Use a long wrench or breakover bar and socket to loosen the nut counter-clockwise.

Sometimes a dip in a CI top can be raised by drilling a 5/16" hole in the top flange of the cabinet directly beneath the depression and inserting a Grade 8 bolt with nuts either side of the flange. Tighten the bolt up against the CI top to flex it upward Easy does it! turn the bolt 1/4 turn and check your progress. I raised a Unisaw top 1/16" in the center of front and back in this manner.

If the CI top cannot be tweaked into submission, consider having it regound. That might be a worthwhile investment.

[Chris Rosenberger]

You have a ,nice saw Brian. As Travis said. use a block of wood & be sure you are turning the nut the right way.

As for the play in the height adjustment. The piece below the blade, with teeth cut in it, is adjustable. The bolts that hold it on could be loose, allowing it to move back & forth. Also there are locking collars on the height adjustment shaft. Those could be loose or out of adjustment, allowing the shaft to move back & forth.

The Incra fence is a very nice setup & works well with a PM66.

Chris

[Neal Clayton]

brian, i have a similar vintage PM66 (i think mine is 1989), and notice with the height change that it will hold a height if you're going up, but won't hold going down (it'll dip again when the motor kicks on). not sure if that's intended or not, but in my case, i just have to make sure i'm coming up to a height, not going down to one, and just live with it. mine doesn't have that much play though, it maybe goes a 1/4 turn before it grabs and starts to go in either direction.