Just a little something I've been working on

[Rusty Eads]

Over the past couple of weeks I have been busy restoring an old 1950's Walker Turner cabinet saw. I traded a guy on CL an old spindle lathe that I had laying around (paid $90 for the lathe, to give you an idea of what I've got in it). Well some paint is all this bad boy has needed so far. I think this will be a welcome upgrade to my delta contractors saw. I still have to clean up the top, add the extension wings and hook up the motor (2hp baldor). The fence rail was bent so I think I might add an aftermarket fence for it.

For those that have a soft spot for old machinery, enjoy

[Neil Brooks]

Three things:


Uhhhh
WOW !
GREAT color choice :)

[Matt Day]

Nice work!

Is it me or does that top look to have a lottt of overhang?

[Rusty Eads]

It's not you, it does have alot of overhang. That is actually what bent the rail, it tipped over once in its life. I plan on adding a mobile base to it that will extend out a bit and give it stability. There are supposed to be feet on the bottom for support also.

[Peter Aeschliman]

That table is really interesting. It will give you a lot of extra crosscut capacity while using your miter gauge. I like the idea. I wonder how that will be on your back though- you'll have to lean forward quite a bit more to push the workpiece past the blade. I guess the other problem with the table is that it might be tough to find a fence that long.

Very cool though.

[Kevin Gregoire]

that base turned out very nice!
you should take the top to a machine shop and get it bead blasted and
have the top resurfaced, shouldnt cost much and would make it look
fantastic.

the top is really odd tho i think, looks like the slots should run the other way?
never seen one like that before.

[Don Jarvie]

Rusty, there are table extenstions for the right, left and back. I've seen them on the bay.

If you add the extension to the back some of the aftermarket fences that require a back rail will not fit. I think the front to back is 27 inches. My Cman 2424 fence wouldn't fit with the back extension.

I would get the one from the left hand side and make an extension table to the right so you can rip 30 to 48 inches.

I'll try to upload a few shots later.

[Chip Lindley]

Great Job Rusty! I love seeing an old saw get it's 2nd Wind! Walker-Turner produced some really heavy duty machinery!

[glenn bradley]

Cool color. I've only seen them gray, and once, silver metallic (ouch). That is going to be a beauty.

[Rusty Eads]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. As for the table, it is 32" front to back and when I put the extensions on it is 45" wide :). Definitely not standard but from what I have found out Walker Turner did not do much standard. I do have the left and right extensions, just haven't added them yet. As for the color, I was afraid that it would be too blue but I think with the black accents it worked out great. I know that I will be very happy with it. Can't wait to start making the sawdust fly.

[Joseph Tarantino]

will that take a regular t-square fence, like a bies or a delta t2?

[Rusty Eads]

I have seen pictures of these saws on owwm with beis fence so I think it should fit. I have been thinking about taking the fence off of my contractor saw and mounting on this saw. My fence runs about 5" short but it doesn't lock in the rear so I can mount longer auxillary faces without a problem...I think. My second thought is to find a piece of 5/8" x 2" x 60" steel to replace my bent rail and use the original fence until I can find a good deal on a used beis or beis clone.

[Vic Damone]

It's been sixteen years since I reluctantly sold my Walker Turner. While the resemblances are striking I can't be sure if we share the same model. Your table may be an optional configuration. Still, that amount of table overhang seems excessive and adding a heavy T-square fence would make the weight distribution even worse.

Mine had more of the table hanging off the back and using the sheet metal extensions and bar supports made it slightly tipsy from side to side. The original fence with its secondary fine adjustment shaft was solid but frustrating to use. The very heavy motor, three belt pulley to a robust arbor made for silky smooth operation. Defiantly, well worth the effort in restoration. Enjoy.

[Troy Turner]

Now that you have everyone's attention, you've gotta make sure you post pics of your finished product.

Looks like a great project. As far as over hang, would some kind of leg not give you the stability you need?

[Rusty Eads]

I will definitely keep updating on my journey. As for the stability problem, I have a couple of ideas. One being the mobile base that I have outlined in the drawing. The other is since the cabinet has a bottom to it, I thought about dropping a couple hundred pounds into it. I figure it would also help with any vibration, though I don't think this saw needs help in that area.

[Don Jarvie]

Once you mount the motor in it, it's not going anywhere. Maybe if you push on the front hard it may budge.

The pictures make the front look longer than it is. It's probably 8 to 9 inches overhang.

With the motor the weight will be slightly behind the center of the machine.

You really have to try to move it

[Rusty Eads]

It's amazing how new drive belts can make the difference. As an update to this thread I got it running with the old belts and it vibrated like crazy, and the blade actually struck the side of the throat. I got new belts, slightly longer, put them in this morning and this baby purrs :D. Now what if I replace the Skil brand $10 blade I was testing it with for something like a WWII :rolleyes:

Oh and I measured and this baby has 13" of overhang on the front, plenty of leg room lol. But as one poster had mentioned, the moment I put the motor mount and motor on, I really have to push down on the front to get it to tip. I am still going to add some legs on it for stability though.

Now what to do with my contractor saw, outfeed table perhaps :rolleyes:

[Brian Kincaid]

Now what to do with my contractor saw, outfeed table perhaps

Attach it to the right side and install a dado blade. Then you could use your fence for both machines.
-Brian