Used cabinet saw maintenance

[Andrew Nemeth]

Hello All,

I am new to Sawmill Creek and this is my first post. From looking through the past threads I have a feeling that I will be around here for some time. This looks like a great community of woodworkers and friends.

I have a few questions about maintenance for a used Jet 10" cabinet saw I just purchased. The saw is probably about 10 years old (back from when Jet tools were blue) and looks like it has been used by an active home hobbyist. I have to completely disassemble it to move it into my shop (still in the basement. One of these days I'll make it out!). Since I am going to have the table off and easier access to all of the internal parts is there anything that I should be looking for or doing before reassembling? The saw is in pretty good shape but I would like to turn it back into the best saw it can be. Should I strip off old grease that has sawdust worked into it and re-lubricate? Are there any bearings or bushings that I should be checking or replacing? What about checking and cleaning the motor? I may even go as far as to repaint the cabinet. There is very little surface rust on the table but I'm thinking about honing it a bit to visually even the surface stains out. Does anyone know a method for doing this efficiently?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Andrew

[John Thompson]

Better late than never... so I will chime in! I just came up from my shop and have been extremely busy there for several weeks. Just catch a few post here and there on coffeee break and before bed each night.

Your basic ideas are pretty sound as common sense might tell you. Since you have it dis-assembled already... clean it if it's dirty... tighten it if it's loose.. replace it if it's worn (belts, etc.) and put it back together properly. That's prety much it in a nut-shell.

The slight surface rust can be removed with a Scoth-brite and some WD-40. You can use it with a ROS if you have one, but put a sand-paper disc on first to get some traction and to keep from contaminating the backing pad. It might not.. but I always do.

You could just use a Scotch-brite with a block as it sounds as if you have very little rust. Just be sure to wax the cast iron afterward or you will invite instant rust just from humidity changes in your shop. Cast iron will rust un-protected in a heart-beat!

Enjoy your saw and always.. always concentrate on what you are doing. Keep the lane clear at all times and I personally never get my hand closer than 8" from the blade until it comes to a complete stop. Never take it for granted regardless of how much experience you have or don't have.

Good luck wtih your shop-time....

Sarge..

[David Tiell]

Andrew,
John gave some pretty sound advice. A couple other things to check for are to make sure the upper and lower pulleys are aligned, and also make sure the keys are in the pulleys and the setscrews that hold them in place. I recently got a great deal on a Shop Fox cabinet saw from a cabinet shop because the previous owner was having issues with it, and instead of spending some time investigating and repairing, went out and bought a new PM66. The thought process was down time inspecting, disassembling, and repairing was lost money, so they replaced instead. I got it home, and the only problems were a missing key and set screws, and 3 worn belts. It cost me $17 to get it running like a top.

And I probably don't need to say this, but it never hurts to promote safety. ANY TIME you are working on the saw itself, cut the power at the source. Unplug or trip the breaker. Not just turn it off.

Good luck, be patient and thorough, and you will enjoy it. Be safe and keep all your fingers!

Dave

[Jamie Buxton]

When you remove the top, look out for shims between the cabinet and the top. Capture them, note where each one came from, and replace them there when you reassemble the saw. The shims, if they're there, align the table with the bevel axis of the blade.

[James Suzda]

Hi Andrew,
I picked up a used cabinet saw a short time ago and the table was extremely rusted. I tried the WD40, Scotch Brite pad and it just didn’t cut it because I don’t have that much life left! I then tried some wet/dry sandpaper and WD40 and that still didn’t cut it nor the rust. Then I happened to remember that body shops use soap and water to lubricate wet/dry sandpaper. So as an experiment I grabbed a small sample bottle of Simple Green LEMON cleaner, I put a normal old 120, and then a 220 grit multipurpose sanding disk on my variable speed orbital sander. I was sure surprised how fast the rust was removed. In less than two hours I had the whole top, and extension cleaned and waxed. (I think I posted some pictures on this forum if you want to do a search.)
But, if you use Simple Green be warned that it is a mild corrosive and you must clean your metal with something and then protect it with wax. I used Johnson furniture paste wax to coat mine.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Thanks for all the great feedback. I disassembled the saw today. The only thing left is to get the trunnion out. All of the screw mechanism are pretty gunked up with sawdust and starting to get dried out. What should I use to clean them and relubricate them with? The cabinet does not really look that bad but since it is empty it should be an easy spray coat of lacquer. I will also be spraying the edge of the table where there is a fair bit of rust. Any ideas for surface prep for this?

While pulling everything apart I found out the motor was made in 1985. It's a 22 year old saw! Is there any way of checking the motor out as far as bearings and such since I already have it out and on my bench? Can these motor even be serviced? Would anyone pro-actively replace the arbor bearings on a saw this old since the trunnion already (almost) out? There is no detectable slop in the arbor right now.

Thanks again for all the help,

Andrew