Mid-80s clone contractor saw an upgrade to Craftsman (Emerson)?

[Alan Muller]

Recently I grumbled on this list about the limitations of my Craftsman table saw. With some good advice from here and elsewhere it's to a point of meeting my needs. (Biggest improvement was adding a face to the fabricated steel fence and shimming it straight and perpendicular.) My next step would be poly-v sheaves and belt.

Recently I picked up a mid 80s Jet contractor saw clone ("JTS-10"). For $25 it has a motor, tubular fence rails and not much else. The blade and (iron) pulleys run true and the table is flat. "1.5" hp TEFC motor.

If I fix up this saw will it be an upgrade to the Craftsman?

Looks to me that a Delta Jetlock fence (for 1 3/6: rails) might well fit. Anybody have one around to sell?

Thanks for any guidance.

am

[Rick Potter]

Alan,

I just sold my dad's Sears saw to a friend. He had upgraded it a bit, and it did fine work. I am assuming your saw has a cast iron table, the motor hanging out the back, and decent wings. If so, I would keep it and continue to do a few upgrades.

The first thing to improve it would be PALS, a simple $20 device to easily align the table to the blade on a contractor saw. I believe Peachtree has them. Next would be machined steel pulleys, and a link belt. This really smooths it out. Perhaps the new ones you got will fit.

I am saving the fence for last, since you said you had improved yours. The fence is the weak link in your saw, as hundreds of postings here would attest. The least expensive way to upgrade is to haunt Craigs list. I have seen brand new aluminum fences from Sears saws go for $50 or so. I was thinking of upgrading dad's fence, till I found a deal on another saw that I could not refuse. You will occasionaly find Beis fences, but not too often. A new one probably costs more than you should invest in that saw.

Rick Potter

Oh yeah, If you build a simple 3/4" wooden platform, and bolt the saw down on it, and use good, locking casters, it will sturdy it up a lot, over the crappy wheel system it probably has.

[scott spencer]

There will be some differences, but I think it's subjective whether or not one is truly an upgrade over the other. If the Jet's fence is truly better, it'd definitely be an upgrade. Assuming the Craftsman is a full size saw with cast iron top, you might also find that the Jet has t-slots in the miter track, which many people prefer. The Jet's motor might have a little more pepper than the Emerson motor but it's hard to say... once tuned and running well, there really shouldn't be much difference in the saw's themselves other than the fence. IMO the one piece cast arbor carriage of the Emerson made saw is a more elegant design than the connecting rods found on the Jet, but if the rods aren't twisted they should work out fine.

[David Hostetler]

Aside from the truly awful fence on them, I am not sure what problems you are having with the Emmerson built Craftsman. And any 1980s saw will likely have the same problems. Poor fence accuracy, poor miter gauge. If fence / gauge are your only problems with the Cman, just swap a good fence and miter gauge onto it... Link belts also help with any vibration issues you may have...

Like others have mentioned, watch Craigslist for a replacement fence. I have seen more than a few Delta T2 fences on the cheap locally...

[Alan Muller]

Thanks for the responses. I've had three Sears/Emerson saws. An 8" and 10" from the fifties, and the present 10 incher from the 80s. All have been very capable of cutting wood when fiddled into reasonable tune. I think the fit and finish and bases are better on the old ones. The newer one has three bolts on each trunnion as opposed to the two on the older ones. As to fences ... what can one say. Maybe the old style that basically just clamps on the edges of the table is more usable out-of-the-pile.

On link-belts I respectfully differ. I've used them and they do seem to vibrate less. But they need more tension to transmit the same torque, and the contractor-saw drive setup is not good for maintaining belt tension. I plan to try a poly-v setup. This is what Emerson and most other saw makers seem to be using these days, and they are universal on cars. Poly-v sheaves from industrial sources like Browning or Woods are silly-overpriced: ($30--40 per each) but they are only $10-15 as parts from Ridgid or Grizzley. So I figure they should actually cost $5 or so as generic items. But from where.....

Alan