Cleaning inside of TS

[jon harriman]

Hello, the height adjustment on my table saw is beginning to bind up. So much so that the little shear pin that holds the handle on the end of the shaft sheared off.

I want to remove the cast iron top (older Delta 10" contractors saw mounted on a homemade mobile stand) and do a thorough cleaning. Is there a way to mark a reference point so that when I reinstall, my zero clearance inserts lign up properly? I want to be able to get in their with wire brush and clean the grime out of the shaft and gears. When it is clean, what does one to relube the system so that saw dust does not cling?

[tod evans]

john, i use paste wax for lube. grease and oil will attract dust and cause problems. as for realignment.....just make a new insert as long as the blade`s parallel with the miter slot call `er done...02 tod

[Howard Acheson]

You don't need to remove the top or disassemble anything to clean a contractor saw. Just get out your shop vac and go to work. You can reach everything from the blade throat or the open back.

To lube, use a furniture paste wax. Apply it to all the heli gear, worm gear surfaces using an old tooth brush and working the bevel handle. The wax will dissolve any old gunk and leave a new, slippery surface without leaving a film that will attract and hold dust. For the arbor, a couple of drops of 30 weight machine oil is good. Use a white grease on the bearings that support the raising shaft and the bevel shaft.

[Steve Stube]

Jon, would it be possible to unbolt the saw from the stand and carefully tip the saw over exposing the bottom side for your cleaning purposes? I hear what you are saying about realignment and I would go to some extra work to avoid tampering with alignment even using mirrors and cramped quarters to accomplish the task. Long before the turning gets hard enough to shear a pin I use compressed air to clean/blow out the gear teeth and follower nut etc.. You may consider yourself fortunate that the shear pin gave way, if it was an old Craftsman saw chances are pretty good the teeth on the pot-metal gear would have busted.

[Lee Schierer]

I lube the worm screws on my TS with a spray on dry teflon lubricant. I think I bought it at an automotive store. It sprays on wet, but dries quickly and leaves a teflon coating. I respray whenever I feel the adjustments getting stiff. As others have said, there should be no need to disassemble the saw to lubricate the srew shafts. Make sure you also apply lubricant to the pivots and thrust bearings on the worm shafts.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I something like what Lee uses, its a dry lubricant for RVs that doesn't attract dust so I don't think it'll attract sawdust.

[Dave Richards]

Jon, I've had thoughts of at least turning my Jet contractors saw upside down to get in there and clean out the gunk. Maybe your saw is different than other contractors saws but most have the trunnions mounted on the table so unless you disassemble the trunnions or drop the thing, removing the top from the cabinet should not impact the location of the saw blade relative to the throat plate.

I think after cleaning out all that sawdrease (sawdust+grease) and replacing it with a dry lubricant, you would be able to just vacuum out the inside without too much trouble.

[Anthony Yakonick]

It's a contractors saw, every thing attaches to the top!