Replacement handwheel on a Craftsman tablesaw

[Dan Oelke]

My dad's craftsman table saw has once again had the height adjustment handwheel strip out. Replacement is only $21 from Sears, but I'd like to get him something a little nicer.

The reason this handle has stripped out (2 or 3 times in 20+ years) is that the handle is all plastic. The shaft coming out of the saw is 1/2" in diameter with a pretty good sized flat spot on one side. The handwheel is just plastic with hole in the center that matches this 1/2" shaft and flat spot. A small machine screw and washer go into the end of the shaft to keep the handwheel from sliding off the shaft. No set screw.

Has anyone replaced their craftsman handwheels with something better - how did you get the handwheel to stay in place? Know if something like this http://www.grizzly.com/products/H3472 will work? I might have to drill & tap a hole in the side for a set screw - but I'm not sure if a set screw will work well for holding that kind of force.

Any other suggestions?

[Ryan Yokomizo]

Have a look in the Sears catalog. I got metal crank wheels as replacements.

[Scott Loven]

Call griz and talk to one of their technicians, this may allready have a set screw in it.
Scott

[Jim W. White]

I also got the replacement metal ones from Sears many years back and they have performed much better

[scott spencer]

Ebay may have some metal Sears handles that will fit.

[Steve Hayes]

Same here, metal replacements from Sears.

[Brian Dormer]

Just a thought - has anyone tried to make a handwheel out of, say....:confused: Wood?

Something like a small wagon wheel or a ships wheel?

I know - it would take a REAL woodworker to do such an insane thing....:D but... it should be possible. Right?

[Murray Roblin]

Reid Tool has a large selection of machine handwheels/levers. Good service and good prices. (I'm a satisfied user.)

www.reidtool.com

[Ed Garrett]

Dan,

I've got a solution that has worked much better for me. I too have a 10" Craftsman TS and found the stock and replacement handwheels too fragile. So I made one out of a hardwood strut and a skate wheel. It's never worn out since and it works and feels much better than any commercial handwheel I've seen. The bearings in the skate wheels make the motion so much smoother. All I did was cut a chunk of hardwood to appropriate length, drill snug holes for the two axles, cut thin kerfs parallel to the grain from each end of the strut to the axle holes, and run a bolt perpendicular to the kerf for tightening the axle.

My initial version was crude because I thought it was a temporary experiment, but 14 years later it's still going strong. Last year I replaced two additional handwheels on my B&D Workmate. Once again the skate wheel method proved superior to store bought, and it took less time than going to the store. See pics.

Sincerely,
Ed Garrett
Tallahassee, FL

[Tom Slupek]

My dad's craftsman table saw has once again had the height adjustment handwheel strip out. Replacement is only $21 from Sears, but I'd like to get him something a little nicer.

The reason this handle has stripped out (2 or 3 times in 20+ years) is that the handle is all plastic. The shaft coming out of the saw is 1/2" in diameter with a pretty good sized flat spot on one side. The handwheel is just plastic with hole in the center that matches this 1/2" shaft and flat spot. A small machine screw and washer go into the end of the shaft to keep the handwheel from sliding off the shaft. No set screw.

Has anyone replaced their craftsman handwheels with something better - how did you get the handwheel to stay in place? Know if something like this http://www.grizzly.com/products/H3472 will work? I might have to drill & tap a hole in the side for a set screw - but I'm not sure if a set screw will work well for holding that kind of force.

Any other suggestions?

Try http://www.mcmaster.com/ type hand wheels in the search box