Patrick Kane
08-19-2020, 3:21 PM
Over the years, ive followed several threads celebrating the quality of some lesser talked about and owned machines. One of which is the Martin T17 table saw. Really, a thread comparing it to the wadkin PK on this forum along with Mark Hennebury's immaculate restoration of a T17 were my first introductions to the model and what planted the curiosity seed in my mind. They arent very common, and ive never seen a martin product in person, let alone a 40 year old version. Since that point, i periodically looked at the various used markets for a T17. More so out of curiosity than a real intent to ever purchase the machine. Over the years, ive only seen a few. I noticed the saw Jeff Heath ended up purchasing about an hour after the ad went up. Seemed like a good deal at the time, which is why i reached out to the seller. Of course, in hindsight it was a screaming deal and i had no chance of gobbling it up remotely. Since then, there have been 2-3 others ive seen. One was a boneyard find that i started a thread on a year or two ago and didnt pursue after some more experienced members suggested letting that one go. Most likely sage advice. A week ago i finally found one that showed some promise. Cheap, mostly complete, wasnt working(i guessed switch) and most importantly of all, a poor listing created by an older gentleman that gave a chance to a guy like myself that is 6 hours away. As most folks who chase used deals know, the good ones are gone in hours. What would have been a gloat-worthy acquisition soured slightly when some local do-gooder stopped by to buy another tool from the old timer's retirement liquidation a few hours before my carrier picked up the machine. Long story short, the guy messed around with the switch, got the saw to start up and cost me a lot of money by trying to outbid me on the spot. I still consider the purchase to be a very good deal, but $500 for a mostly complete and running T17 would have been something. Unloaded the thing at 2am last night and spent a few minutes looking it over during my WFH lunch break today.
First impressions are its smaller than i had in mind. Its not terribly wide or deep. The saw has to be several inches shorter than my other machines, not that i think that is a bad thing. My PM72 is somewhat awkward to do some operations and setups, because its height(its on 4" blocking for pallet jack purposed) and the blade is pretty far infield from the front of the machine. The slider beam and table arent attached to the saw, so it's hard to get a sense for the feel, but those suckers weigh a lot. The beam itself has to be 200lb, and the table/outrigger are another 100lb+. Last comment i will add from my novice opinion of machines is the internals of this thing are immensely robust. I dont know if a machine needs to be this overbuilt, but its immediately noticeable upon poking my head into the cabinet.
A couple questions for T75 and T17 owners. Is there a resource to date machines? I havent looked under the table top yet, but ive read the date is sometimes cast in the underside of the table. Im guessing my machine is slightly older, because i dont have the emergency stop button in the corner. I also am missing the oil lines/points in the rear right of the machine. This kind of sucks, because reaching the oil points without those lines looks like a PITA. Next, i know a parts diagram doesnt exist, but I want to go through and confirm what i am missing. I know i am missing the crosscut fence/extrusion. This isnt as big of a deal, because i think some people prefer to replace with a contemporary extrusion from Felder/Altendorf etc. Easy fix. For knobs/levers, i think i am missing the elevation wheel handle, Motor cover knob, the rip fence extrusion fore/aft adjustment doesnt seem correct(its a long hexagonal rod), a riving knife(thankfully, i have the lever and bracket in place), and it looks like im missing a reticle for the rip fence.
A full re-build similar to Patrick W's or Mark's or anyone else of far greater mechanical skill is beyond my abilities and not in the cards for this one. The adjustments seem pretty fluid already. I will clean and lube the interior as much as possible without having to remove the top. Following Mark's thread, i do not want to tango with disassembling the top and internals and putting them back together. Id like to polish the top as much as possible(its in typical fair to rough condition), clean and lube everything, repaint the machine, and refurbish the rip fence. The fence slides somewhat smoothly, but it looks like the bearing/pads have worn a slight groove into the table over time. Anyway, enough typing, here are some pics.
First impressions are its smaller than i had in mind. Its not terribly wide or deep. The saw has to be several inches shorter than my other machines, not that i think that is a bad thing. My PM72 is somewhat awkward to do some operations and setups, because its height(its on 4" blocking for pallet jack purposed) and the blade is pretty far infield from the front of the machine. The slider beam and table arent attached to the saw, so it's hard to get a sense for the feel, but those suckers weigh a lot. The beam itself has to be 200lb, and the table/outrigger are another 100lb+. Last comment i will add from my novice opinion of machines is the internals of this thing are immensely robust. I dont know if a machine needs to be this overbuilt, but its immediately noticeable upon poking my head into the cabinet.
A couple questions for T75 and T17 owners. Is there a resource to date machines? I havent looked under the table top yet, but ive read the date is sometimes cast in the underside of the table. Im guessing my machine is slightly older, because i dont have the emergency stop button in the corner. I also am missing the oil lines/points in the rear right of the machine. This kind of sucks, because reaching the oil points without those lines looks like a PITA. Next, i know a parts diagram doesnt exist, but I want to go through and confirm what i am missing. I know i am missing the crosscut fence/extrusion. This isnt as big of a deal, because i think some people prefer to replace with a contemporary extrusion from Felder/Altendorf etc. Easy fix. For knobs/levers, i think i am missing the elevation wheel handle, Motor cover knob, the rip fence extrusion fore/aft adjustment doesnt seem correct(its a long hexagonal rod), a riving knife(thankfully, i have the lever and bracket in place), and it looks like im missing a reticle for the rip fence.
A full re-build similar to Patrick W's or Mark's or anyone else of far greater mechanical skill is beyond my abilities and not in the cards for this one. The adjustments seem pretty fluid already. I will clean and lube the interior as much as possible without having to remove the top. Following Mark's thread, i do not want to tango with disassembling the top and internals and putting them back together. Id like to polish the top as much as possible(its in typical fair to rough condition), clean and lube everything, repaint the machine, and refurbish the rip fence. The fence slides somewhat smoothly, but it looks like the bearing/pads have worn a slight groove into the table over time. Anyway, enough typing, here are some pics.