Powermatic 66 Advice

[Gerardo Gudino]

Hello all,

This is my first post but have been creeping for a while now. I am just getting into this hobby and have been looking for saws. I acquired a Powermatic 66 from 1971 a few months ago for $200. The guy was moving to Europe so he wanted to get rid of fast. It is a 2HP, 1PH and came with one of those old Powermatic fences that rides on tube rails. He also included a Shark Guard, an Incra miter gauge and a dado blade. It's a great saw and works great.

My dilemma is that while I liked the fence, I really wanted a Biesemeyer type fence and so I ran into a guy who was getting rid of his Powermatic 66 from 1995 for $500. It is a 5HP, 3PH and has a T-squire fence with very long rails. The 3PH part doesn't matter to me because I have a spare VFD that I can use on this one. I talked him down to $400 and he included an extension table and 6 decent blades. Problem is that I don't need 2 Powermatic 66s and My wife doesn't seem to enthusiastic about me keep both. Sounds like I should probably sell one. I guess the question is, which one should I keep if they are both in about the same condition. I know that the older one would probably sell for less but what I get back doesn't really matter to me. What matters most is that I keep the one that will last me longer and that has the most parts still available.

What do you guys think? Which one would you keep if you were in my shoes?

[Tim Cardinal]

The PM 66 is an excellent saw, If I was in your shoes, I would clean up the newer saw and sale it. I would use the money to buy some 3x 3 x 1/4 angel and a 2 x 3 tube steel and make Biesemeyer style rail and then order a fence from VSCT...I just finished setting up a general saw and made a big mistake buy calling Canadian Wood Work and ordering what they said was a Biessemeyer fence..It was a flimsy piece of crap..
Best of luck with your saw..




Hello all,

This is my first post but have been creeping for a while now. I am just getting into this hobby and have been looking for saws. I acquired a Powermatic 66 from 1971 a few months ago for $200. The guy was moving to Europe so he wanted to get rid of fast. It is a 2HP, 1PH and came with one of those old Powermatic fences that rides on tube rails. He also included a Shark Guard, an Incra miter gauge and a dado blade. It's a great saw and works great.

My dilemma is that while I liked the fence, I really wanted a Biesemeyer type fence and so I ran into a guy who was getting rid of his Powermatic 66 from 1995 for $500. It is a 5HP, 3PH and has a T-squire fence with very long rails. The 3PH part doesn't matter to me because I have a spare VFD that I can use on this one. I talked him down to $400 and he included an extension table and 6 decent blades. Problem is that I don't need 2 Powermatic 66s and My wife doesn't seem to enthusiastic about me keep both. Sounds like I should probably sell one. I guess the question is, which one should I keep if they are both in about the same condition. I know that the older one would probably sell for less but what I get back doesn't really matter to me. What matters most is that I keep the one that will last me longer and that has the most parts still available.

What do you guys think? Which one would you keep if you were in my shoes?

[Earl McLain]

Relatively few hobbyists are in a position to run the 3 phase--so resale gets a little tougher. I'd love to have a PM 66, but when i look at 3 ph machines i have to factor the cost/learning curve of adding a VFD. So...my knee jerk reaction (without seeing either) would be to sell the 1 phase.
earl

[Matt Day]

If you have the VFD, keep the 3 phase one. More power, fence you like, etc. Seems like an easy call. Keep the accessories too, as they can get expensive. Sell the other 66 and you’ll likely come out ahead.

Got any pics?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Wow, I think you got some good deals. I haven't been keeping up on tablesaw prices, but last I knew, a decent PM66 was more like $1,000-$1,500. Did I miss something?

[Gerardo Gudino]

If you have the VFD, keep the 3 phase one. More power, fence you like, etc. Seems like an easy call. Keep the accessories too, as they can get expensive. Sell the other 66 and you’ll likely come out ahead.

Got any pics?

I'm leaning this way too. I was just wondering if one was sturdier than the other and if part availability was greater for one over the other. Sorry, I don't have any pics at the moment. They are sitting in my garage behind junk. We are moving soon and have the garage crowded.

Thank you for the feedback.

[Gerardo Gudino]

Can I ask why you would keep the older one?


The PM 66 is an excellent saw, If I was in your shoes, I would clean up the newer saw and sale it. I would use the money to buy some 3x 3 x 1/4 angel and a 2 x 3 tube steel and make Biesemeyer style rail and then order a fence from VSCT...I just finished setting up a general saw and made a big mistake buy calling Canadian Wood Work and ordering what they said was a Biessemeyer fence..It was a flimsy piece of crap..
Best of luck with your saw..

[Gerardo Gudino]

That price range is mostly what i've seen as well. I guess that I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was literally like 5 minutes away from the older one when it was posted on Craigslist.


Wow, I think you got some good deals. I haven't been keeping up on tablesaw prices, but last I knew, a decent PM66 was more like $1,000-$1,500. Did I miss something?

[Matt Day]

I meant the older green one is surely cooler than the mustard yellow one from the ‘90’s, but the ‘95 was still made in the USA and should be solid too.
Before making decision, make sure to check things like arbor bearings, motor bearings, teeth missing from the trunnion’s, rust factor and general condition/missing parts, etc.

[Jon Grider]

If you have room and inclination, keep both, set one up with a dado.

[Gerardo Gudino]

I would love to keep both but probably shouldn't. I mentioned it to the wife and she pretended that she didn't hear me. I took that as a sign that I'd be better off selling one.

If you have room and inclination, keep both, set one up with a dado.

[Gerardo Gudino]

I will have to do a thorough check on both of them to make sure that I don't regret my decision later.
I meant the older green one is surely cooler than the mustard yellow one from the ‘90’s, but the ‘95 was still made in the USA and should be solid too.
Before making decision, make sure to check things like arbor bearings, motor bearings, teeth missing from the trunnion’s, rust factor and general condition/missing parts, etc.

[andy bessette]

If you have room for both keep them.

I have my primary Unisaw setup with a combination carbide blade, another Unisaw setup with a rip carbide blade, plus a contractors saw setup with a 1/2" dado carbide blade. So I never have to change blades.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZR0bfb5B/shop-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/hjhm9qFM/shop-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Gerardo Gudino]

That looks awesome. I'll have to try and work her over.
If you have room for both keep them.

I have my primary Unisaw setup with a combination carbide blade, another Unisaw setup with a rip carbide blade, plus a contractors saw setup with a 1/2" dado carbide blade. So I never have to change blades.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZR0bfb5B/shop-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/hjhm9qFM/shop-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[David Less]

Ahhh...A PM 66, not mentioned here very often any more, only a few left I guess. It's the last truly American made TS with it's polished top and castings made here, quite a gem
I bought one new when they were making their final run down the Assembly line
Love it, I can actually stand a dime on he table and turn it on and off without the dime tipping over, also cuts with in a few thousands too, lol
One of these days I will post my home made slider for it, another truly amazing pc, He He

David

[John K Jordan]

I bought a new made in the USA PM66 long before I built my shop. I kept it in the crate in storage and set it in the shop after the roof was up and before I built the walls. (Easy job with the fork lift!) I don't use the table saw much since I primarily do woodturning, but when I do need it I love using it. I added a Robland sliding table attachment.

409126

(With the new rules today some people may not be able to see the picture. It's just the shop under construction with the uncrated PM66 in it's permanent position, building the shop around it.)

JKJ


Ahhh...A PM 66, not mentioned here very often any more, only a few left I guess. It's the last truly American made TS with it's polished top and castings made here, quite a gem
I bought one new when they were making their final run down the Assembly line
Love it, I can actually stand a dime on he table and turn it on and off without the dime tipping over, also cuts with in a few thousands too, lol
One of these days I will post my home made slider for it, another truly amazing pc, He He

David

[Allan Speers]

Relatively few hobbyists are in a position to run the 3 phase--so resale gets a little tougher. I'd love to have a PM 66, but when i look at 3 ph machines i have to factor the cost/learning curve of adding a VFD. So...my knee jerk reaction (without seeing either) would be to sell the 1 phase.
earl

VFD's shouldn't scare anyone. They can be complicated if you want to get into vari-speed with a remote speed knob, dynamic braking, rotation reversal, and othe rsuch things, but if you just set one up for basic 3-ph "conversion" they are pretty simple.

And as far as cost goes, realize that a VFD can take the place of a mag starter, since they include overload protection & they don't auto-start after a power outage. (I think this is true of ALL VFD's, but maybe check with really cheap ones.)

[andy bessette]

Avoid 3-phase. Get a single-phase.

[Stephen Bandirola]

3 phase runs smoother and quieter.

[Chris Hachet]

If you have the VFD, keep the 3 phase one. More power, fence you like, etc. Seems like an easy call. Keep the accessories too, as they can get expensive. Sell the other 66 and you’ll likely come out ahead.

Got any pics?

This. Keep the three phase machine.

[Harold Weaver]

Just my 2 cents worth, keep the original single phase 66 and swap the fence out and sell the 3 phase saw. I am just not a fan of the VFDs, though others swear by them. Much easier resale on the single phase unit should it come to that down the road. You will be really happy with the 66.

[William Hodge]

Keep the $200 saw as an outfeed table that also cuts dados.

[Charles Lent]

If you have the room, I would keep both of them. Put a DADO blade on one of them and keep a good regular blade on the other. A friend of mine has 2 Unisaws back to back in his shop set up with the DADO blade in one of them. When he is using either one of them, the other serves as his out feed table. I very much like his setup, but if it was my shop I would likely put them side by side and build a long out feed table for both, maybe with just one fence to slide anywhere across both saws.

Charley