Powermatic 66 restoration

[Chris Maloney]

I recently bought a 88 3hp PM66 TS. It had all its parts, and was in working condition, but had some surface rust, and the interior might NEVER have been cleaned. Right now, I have the top off, and all the parts pulled apart. The cabinet is at the powder coater. My question is: Should I pull out the bearings and sandblast/paint all the parts? or should I just leave it as is, and mask those parts during the sand/paint? Currently the bearings seem to be fine, and I could leave them alone. The flip side tells me to do it, while I have it apart. I'm also weighing the complexity of getting everything back together without problems.

I'll post some pics when I get the cabinet back, if anyones interested. Thanks for the input.
CM

[Dave Cav]

I would absolutely pull the bearings in both the arbor and the motor and replace them. You'll never have a better time and the grease in them is 23 years old. Even if they feel good they need to be replaced and it's not that big a job if you already have it apart. A PM 66 isn't that hard to take apart and reassemble, especially compared to a Unisaw; just get a good parts diagram and use your digital camera to document everything before you start taking things apart, then all the steps of disassembly.

I rarely bother with repainting the guts of a table saw or other old iron unless it's pretty rusty. Dirt and sawdust cleans off pretty well, and no one is going to look inside and critique your restoration. I've rebuilt three cabinet saws and a Delta shaper and I think the shaper was the only one I took the trouble to repaint the internals because they were pretty nasty, plus there isn't much to it.

[David Kumm]

Sealed for life bearings have about a 20 year life. Buy good quality bearings. Generally Japanese make good ones. NTN comes to mind but do your own research. Accurate bearing is a great vendor. The OWWM guys swear by them and they are a fussy lot. If the belts are old replace them with matched ones. There are lots of opinions regarding belts as well. Optibelt from the U.K. supposedly don't have to be matched because their tolerences are pretty tight. Again, do your own research but don't go to the hardware store. Dave

[Don Jarvie]

If its apart hit the insides with some Rustoleum cans. Think of it as getting an old car to restore and just doing the outside and leaving the interior ratty.

I'm restoring a PM 66 myself and hit the insides with RM gloss black. In the outside I'm spraying auto paint on the body and fence. I'm doing this once and right.

Don

[tim vadas]

I just did this over the past 6 months, bought a 1980 PM66 that the insides were likely never cleaned. I cleaned up, lubricated and painted everything. I would definitely recommend replacing bearings since it's so inexpensive and easy to do with everything apart. I'm ambivalent about painting the inside; I did, but it wasn't necessary because it looked so good after being cleaned up. Also, alignment of everything takes a little time, so I thought it best to replace the wear parts inside while i had it apart and basically start as if new with my new machine.

[Kevin Presutti]

Chris,
I really like the powder coat decision (SWEET!). Are you keeping it original?

[Chris Maloney]

Chris,
I really like the powder coat decision (SWEET!). Are you keeping it original?

Actually, the parts are obviously original, but I'm going black with a yellow stripe, like the new ONYX line. Im going to put back on the original name plate and SN badge for nostalgia. The hand wheels are getting "something like powder coated chrome" The decision came from the fact that I get a amazing deal to go black (fit into another run) vs. trying to go 'babypoop' that might end up not matching all that well.

[Lee Schierer]

We replaced the bearings on a powermatic and you need to make sure you take note of where they are located in the housing that holds them before you remove them. Where the bearings are locked into the housing affects where the arbor flange ends up in the throat opening. I think a new set of bearings was about $25 from a bearing supply house. You may need an arbor press to get teh bearings apart and back together.

[Chris Maloney]

So i just got the cabinet back from the powdercoaters, and i think it turned out great. No doubt, this cabinet is not going to be showing rust again anytime soon. I'll post some pics this weekend. I do have a question about the arbor assembly. The parts list that i got from the original owner (which i really cant even be sure matches exactly this saw, just assuming) says that the arbor assembly is part # 2024008. Most of the online part stores show #2024018 as the arbor assembly. Presumably an updated number. Does anyone know if this new assembly will work in my older saw? IE, is the 20240018 a suitable replacement for 2024008? If not, does anyone know where i can buy the 2024008?

Secondly, what is the best strategy for getting the arbor assembly back into the bearing arm?

Thanks for all your help to this point.

[David Kumm]

Go to OWWM.org and ask. The machine is over 20 years old so it qualifies for the site. They will have plenty of info and advice. Dave

[tim vadas]

yes, members at owwm.org would know right away, plus there are manuals for most past versions of the saw. The 2024018 arbor assembly you mention has the pulley held on by a set screw into a woodruff key. I believe there are versions of the arbor where the pulley is held against a flange by a machine screw and washer? I don't think it matters in terms of spacing which one is used. However, there's likely nothing wrong with the arbor assembly, you can just replace the bearings.

once everything is clean, the arbor assembly should slide freely through the bearing arm, and is then held by a set screw (make sure this is unscrewed). It must slide because you need to be able to adjust side to side.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

No doubt, this cabinet is not going to be showing rust again anytime soon.

Rust is the biggest problem I've had with PowderCoat. Due to the charge, very little material gets to the inside or outside corners. In the trade, I believe it's referred to as "edge retention".
I suggest you keep a watch on it.
For touch-Up, I found that Rustoleum 7777 matches Black SemiGloss PowderCoat pretty well.

[Don Jarvie]

The manual will have the parts diagram in the back. Use the link below to OWWM and print off a manual. Doesn't really matter on the year as there all the same inside. You'll need an arbor press for the bearings. I am changing them right now and will be buying one from Harbor Freight this week. The saw goes back together pretty easy.

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=655&tab=3

Don