Craftsman TS questions

[Chas Fuggetta]

Hey all,
I've been working on my dust collection for my open base TS. I'm going to have 4" port in the base of the saw and a 3" run to the top but don't know if I should run the port up through the bottom or if I can run it in through the side. If I run through the side I've got a pretty straight run from my DC which I prefer for better flow.

Also, I've re-aligned the fence and got it at +.010" wider at the back. Is that enough or too much to help prevent kickback?

And finally...does anyone know where to get parts for the Craftsman 113.298762? I need a few pieces to get the blade guard installed...and a better belt...and and and. :D

Regards,
Chas

[Chuck Isaacson]

Hey Chas, I think that the .010" is a little too much. I keep mine pretty close to zero. If you want to open it up, I think that you would only need a few thou. maybe .004" or so. I could be wrong though. We'll see what the others say.. As for the belt, I would just put a link (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=6040&filter=link%20belt) belt on it. I am going to put them on my saw soon to help get rid of a little vibe that I have.

[George Sanders]

I have an old Craftsman saw that I put link belt on. I also added machined steel pulleys. There is so little vibration now that I can stand a nickel on it while the saw is at full speed and it doesn't move.

[Chas Fuggetta]

I have an old Craftsman saw that I put link belt on. I also added machined steel pulleys. There is so little vibration now that I can stand a nickel on it while the saw is at full speed and it doesn't move.

Good idea! I noticed that both of mine are a bit wobbly and thanks for the link to the belt.

[Tony Perrone]

The Harbor Freight link belts are made in the USA and are $24 for 5', and if you get a 20% coupon the belt is around $19.00. And thanks to all the help on this site they were easy to install.
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItemList.do?search.keyword=link+belt&submit=find+it

[Lee Schierer]

Alignment is the most important thing you can do to your saw. I have a Craftsman saw and once I aligned the blade to be perfectly parallel to the miter slots, I aligned my fence to the same miter slot with no tail away. I also agree that .010" is a bit much. However, the original craftsman fence rarely aligned the same twice in a row. I replace my standard belt and pulleys with a link belt and machined pulleys and the vibration went away. I also replace my fence with Beismeyer and my miter gauge with a Kreg miter gauge. Finally I replace the standard throat plate with a ZCI with replaceable inserts. All three upgrades have been well worth while.