cabinet saw worm gears

[Mark Rakestraw]

I have a relatively old Bridgewood cabinet saw (model CW10) that has problems. The blade has begun to wobble during cuts. It runs true when it isn't under load, but while cutting it will begin to visibly wobble which needless to say is also quite visible in the cut. The arbor bearings are tight and I can't find any loose brackets. In fact, both the arbor bearings and motor are relatively new (maybe 5 years). The only slop I can find is in both the worm gears for adjusting blade height and blade angle. I can grab the whole motor/arbor assembly and wiggle more than a 1/16" in any direction. Sticking my head inside the cabinet I can't see any way of adjusting the fit to take up the slop between the worm gear and the teeth on the arbor bracket and the front trunion. Everything seems to be fixed relative to one another. I guess that means I need new parts? Any ideas on who may carry them?
thanks,
Mark

[Jamie Buxton]

Isn't there a lock on the gears? On all the tablesaws I've used, you loosen a knob, then crank the gear to move the blade, then re-tighten the knob to prevent the blade from moving where you set it. That should remove the effect of play in the gears.

[Mark Rakestraw]

Yes there is a lock knob on both adjustments. It only locks the shaft from turning however, the slop in the gears and the movement remains.

[glenn bradley]

On my saw the worm gear's guide is eccentric. This is adjusted to cause a tighter or loose mesh with the toothed run on the trunnion part in question. Did that make sense? Let me try another description; very near where the worm geared portion of the adjustment shaft, there is a bearing or bushing. This position is locked by a set screw. You loosen the set screw and rotate the collar holding the bearing or bushing. This brings the worm gear closer or farther to/from the geared strip. Although if the wheels are locked and you still have slop I doubt it is the gear mesh adjustment. Have you grabbed the whole trunnion assembly and tried to give it a shake?

[Bill Huber]

If the arbor bearings are good and the blade is wobbling then I would look at the blade. If you have no end play in the bearings or side play then to me it has to be the blade.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

are the trunnion bolts tight?

[Larry Norton]

Wilke Machinery should have any parts you need. They're in York, Pa. and are the only company I ever heard of that sold Bridgewood machinery. Their website is www.wilkemach.com (http://www.wilkemach.com) .

[Mark Rakestraw]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I had swapped out the blade and that didn't have any effect. All the bolts are tight and there isn't an eccentric bushing on the shaft that would move the gears closer together on this particular saw. To check to see if the problem really was the sloppy fit of these gears I drove a sliver of wood between the gears to tighten the fit. After doing so I wasn't able to move the pivoting part of the trunion at all by hand. I fired up the saw and did numerous crosscuts with nary a wobble. I then removed the sliver to see if the wobble returned to confirm that I had indeed correctly identified the source of the problem.....hmmm, no wobble. So I am now officially befuddled. I guess I'll wait for the wobble to return then see if once again jamming the gears tight with a sliver of wood "fixes" the problem. If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to hear them.
thanks,
Mark