Enclose motor in homemade base for contractor saw?

[Rich Superfine]

I am planning to build a homemade cabinet base for my contractor style table saw, a Bridgewood TSC-10CL. I am also trying to pay attention to good dust control. It seems that all of the plans I have seen leave the motor sticking out the back of the cabinet, requiring fiddling with a cut-out panel whenever making 45 deg tilt cuts. Can I just go ahead and make the cabinet base so that it completely encloses the motor and belt, so that tilting leaves the motor inside the cabinet? Will this burn out my motor? Does the motor on a contractor saw have special requirments for airflow that a cabinet saw motor does not?
Thanks for any replies!
Rich

[Bob Wingard]

The guy from In-Line Industries who demonstrates the "DUBBY" sled at all the shows has a saw setup exactly as you describe. He runs it hours on end doing his demos, and seems to have no trouble with it. You might try contacting him to find out for sure,

[Jim Kilburg]

I can't answer your question, but I am thinking about enclosing the back of my contractor saw with pegboard to allow some airflow past the motor with a dust collector hooked to it. I don't know how well this will work, but it should help contain dust, while allowing some airflow past the motor. It is something to think about any way. Jim

[Rich Superfine]

Thanks for the comments. Jerry Cole at InLine Industries is out on the road doing shows until the end of next week when I will call him. I like the idea of the peg board as a vent and will see if it compromises the dust collection at the blade. I am a weekend/weeknight warrior and so never run the saw for very long at a time and so would not expect a problem
I will get back soon. Rich

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Don't know your saw, but when I had the Ridgid contractor saw a large section of my out feed table had to be removed for the motor when the blade was tilted at a 45 degree angle. Check to see if the motor comes above the top before you start this project.

Greg

[Jason Morgan]

ive also thought about doing this, let us know how it turns out. I have the powermatic 64A contractor saw that would benefit from an "all enclosed" structure.

Jason

[Rick Gibson]

I've been toying with the idea of having my wife make me one of these http://store.thesawshop.com/catalogue/product_info.php?cPath=6&products_id=88

basically a cloth cover that goes over the back of the tablesaw and closes around the belt guard leaving the motor outside. I have asked her but she hasn't got around to it yet.

[Tom Ricochet]

I built an enclosure for my ancient 8" contractor style saw. Used 3/8 ply sides and 3/4 ply top. The top is removeable with a few screws, and also serves as an extension table. The main cabinet has a 4" dust port ( for a 1.5 hp Shop Fox collector) directly below the arbor.

Dust collecion is quite good, and only a small amount gets into the motor area. I regularly clean through the throat plate with a shop vac wand to get as much as possible out of the motor box. Occasionally, I remove the box top/table and clean out thoroughly. Have not had any motor problems or overheating.

I have no ventilation holes in the motor box. A few would probably be fine, but building the entire box of perforated board would probably compromise your dust collection, especially if you don't have a bigger collector. Also, the comment about motor clearance is important to note - I had to relieve the top quite deeply in order to be able to lower the blade below table height, due to the start capacitor on the motor rising almost to table height.

[Bill Boehme]

It depends on the type of motor that you have. If it has ventilation slots, then it needs fresh air. Another problem of enclosing it is that it may be breathing too much sawdust which will reduce its cooling efficiency. I vote for leaving the motor exposed unless you are having a dust collector hooked up to the enclosure to suck up all of the sawdust and also provide fresh air.

Bill