Powermatic 66 Restoration

[Kevin W Johnson]

I was fortunate enough to be the lucky respondent to a Craigslist ad for a PM66 on Jan. 25. Price on the saw was $400, it came with a jet-lock fence, motor cover, couple throat plates, and a new set of 3 belts. It came equipped with a Baldor 2hp, 3ph motor. Rust was minimal, it had a couple of small dents in the cabinet, but nothing major. The fence and the motor pully had the most rust of anything. All in all the saw was in great shape for being 33 years old, likely because it lived most of it's life in a school shop in Nicholas Co. WV.Pictures before work began.

[Kevin W Johnson]

I completely disassembled the saw. Replaced the motor bearings, and gave the motor a new coat of paint. Stripped most everything, including the exterior of the cabinet down to bare metal. I did a little body work to remove the dents, little body filler to smooth them out, and little filler on some deep scratches that were in the metal. Primed and painted everything, inside the cabinet, undersides of the table, trunnions, etc. I reassembled the saw, installed new bearings in the arbor, new tilt/raising shafts as the originals were bent, new dust door, added a VFD to run the 3ph motor, fabricated a bracket to hold the VFD/contactor/start/stop buttons. I'm undecided on the box for the controls, I feel its too big, but needed to be so to prevent over heating the VFD. I may eventually move it to the right of the saw under the wing, and then mount a small box for the start/stop buttons.

I still need to make/purchase knobs for the hand wheel locking pins, cover the fence face with UHMW, build a mobile base (unless I can find a good pre-made that doesn't cost a fortune), and maybe a carriage pinion for the fence. I'll use the current fence for a little while first, no sence in buying the pinion if I end up going the biesemeyer route.

[tim young]

Very nice! How did you match the paint? Looks like you got a close match.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Thanks, the Rustolem "hammered" finish paint in green is a perfect match, in fact I sprayed a patch on the cabinet before i stripped it. You couldn't see a difference in color, only a difference in sheen at an angle. The trick with the hammered finish paint is to spray light coats to avoid the hammered look.

[Carroll Courtney]

Kevin,your restortation came out FANTASTIC.As for your VFD you could cut a hole in the bottom and install one of those axle fans(computers)w/a filter to help keep out dust.Without any air circulation it will get hot.Again that saw is Looking Good-----Carroll

[CPeter James]

What did you use for a VFD? I use the ones form Automation Direct and mount a low voltage control where it is handy and mount the VFD out of harms way. The low voltage control is easy to build and can be done for under $20. these are on a lathe and a drill press. The lathe control is mounted on magnets so it can be moved. The drill press control is located in the original switch position. They are wired using 6 conductor telephone wire.

CPeter


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[Kevin W Johnson]

Carroll, Thanks. I'll most likely change it, least now I can use it, and take my time in engineering something else.

Peter, it's a Teco FM50. Alot of people recommended it, and I figure it'll work fine for a TS. However, if I ever need one for a lathe or DP, that unit you have looks sweet.

[CPeter James]

I think you may be able to do the same think with the FM50, but I am not sure.

[Kevin W Johnson]

I'm not sure, maybe someone else can chime in about that. VFD's are a new ground for me. I did look at the face once or twice and wondered if it was removable, but didn't attempt it for fear of damaging a brand new toy.

[Carroll Courtney]

Kevin,looking at your saw again and again.I really like the color,and I have made the decision to go to HD tomorrow and purchase a qt of that Hammer Green.My PM is not that vintage but I never care for the gold color.Thanks again for posting and inspiring me to go Green.-----Carroll

[Chip Lindley]

The PM metallic green was much better th 66an that old pea green, I admit. But I grew up lusting for a GOLD PM66. I finally got one ! LIFE is good, and to each their own!
~~Chip~~

[Steve Kohn]

Rustoleum "Hammered" finish Gold (color #7210) is what I'm planning on using on my PM restoration. It's not exact but it will be close enough for me.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Great looking saw

[Sam Layton]

Kevin, you did an excellent job on your saw. What did you do the the cast iron top? Everything sure turned out great.

Sam

[Dick Mahany]

Kevin,

You did a spectactular job and really paid attention to detail ! Now start making dust with it and enjoy the fruits of your well earned labor.

[Jim Andrew]

Those powermatics were great old saws, only improvement they needed was the fence. A biesmeyer would make that saw just about perfect.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Kevin, you did an excellent job on your saw. What did you do the the cast iron top? Everything sure turned out great.

Sam

Thanks Sam.

As suggested here on the creek, I sprayed the top down in WD40 and scraped it with a razor scraper, I have one that uses heavier utility knife blades. After that I used the ROS, and finally used a sanding block with 150 grit and did a light hand sand from front to back to put a single direction finish on the table.

[Sam Layton]

Kevin,

Thanks for the info. You did an great job on your saw. It is better than new. I have a PM 66, (does not look near as good as yours) and it is a great saw.

Sam