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Thread: Turn an old table saw into ??????

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    Ingleside, IL
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    Turn an old table saw into ??????

    My 30 yr old Grizzly blew the bearing on the arbor, and naturally I told my wife it was not repairable and I would need to buy a new saw. She agreed. (way to quickly - something big is coming to my HDList, I know it.) But I hate to throw it out. The motor is good, cast iron top and wings are flat and true. The fence is a Shop Fox. I could replace the bearing and make a ..... what?

    Curious what you folks would do with it. Thought about a large disc sander. Already have a saw dedicated to the dado blade. Open to all suggestions, wild or sensible.

    One more thing: the cabinet has to go, and whatever I make can't look remotely like the saw. She's nobody's fool, and likes to hang out in the shop with me.

    20160308_171624.jpgsaw.jpg
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  2. #2
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    Sep 2015
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    A large disk sander would be a nice tool to have. I have an old lathe that I have turned into a disk sander. Very handy.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
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    Griswold Connecticut
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    Disc sander is the first thing that comes to mind. Drill the top and turn it into a down draft table, or maybe a mutli head router table.
    The cabinet having to go is definitely a limiter. You sure it has to go?

    Don't get rid of those CI wings what ever you do. Those are plattens, and can easily be turned into a high quality veneer ,and or, vacuum press. As a matter of fact it wouldn't take much to turn everything into a dedicated press station.
    I have three of them, CI wings, lying about the shop,and they get used a bit more than you might think. Two statistically flat, heavy, metal plates can be pretty valuable.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  4. #4
    It's not that hard to fix.

    Fix it and use it in tandem with your new one .

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    Disc sander is the first thing that comes to mind. Drill the top and turn it into a down draft table, or maybe a mutli head router table.
    The cabinet having to go is definitely a limiter. You sure it has to go?

    Don't get rid of those CI wings what ever you do. Those are plattens, and can easily be turned into a high quality veneer ,and or, vacuum press. As a matter of fact it wouldn't take much to turn everything into a dedicated press station.
    I have three of them, CI wings, lying about the shop,and they get used a bit more than you might think. Two statistically flat, heavy, metal plates can be pretty valuable.
    no, the cabinet could stay - and I'm thinking the top and the wings could make a great router table if I can enlarge the opening in the top enough to accommodate the lifting bracket on my Jessum router lift. I think thats my first choice, but I've never tried to modify cast iron.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Deep South
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    Excellent excuse to buy a new saw! I used to have two table saws. One of these was dedicated to cutting dados, rabbets and grooves and I kept a dado head and table top insert installed. I would still have that setup today but I ran out of room in my shop and had to sell it.

  7. #7
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    What made it even better was that I am in the middle of a project for her. And I have a 1 1/2 HP craftsman with the dado blades permanently installed.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    Michigan
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    Sell it and turn it into wood.

  9. #9
    I'ld save the motor and use it for a big disc sander or to run a nice wide drum sander, while the flat table surface would make a nice building area for a small CNC. Would the wifey like some flowers carved in wood on her kitchen cabinets?

  10. #10
    So what did you do with it in the end

  11. #11
    Fix, sell, use cash to buy more stuff.

  12. #12
    Motor runs too fast for a disk sander. Fix it, and bite the bullet. Better yet, have a friend take it to his shop, and then call you and tell you he fixed it.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post
    It's not that hard to fix.

    Fix it and use it in tandem with your new one .
    That's my vote, fix it up and use it as an auxiliary saw for doing other operations when your new, larger saw is set up for something else. Tablesaw arbor bearings are cheap, particularly on a 5/8" arbor saw of relatively recent manufacture. For example, leave a dado stack in this one, or use this one for the random crosscut when your other one is set up to rip a specific width and you don't want to mess with it.

    If you want a good disc sander, go buy an actual good big disc sander as it will be far superior to a sanding disc in a 10" tablesaw. Ditto with a drum sander that somebody else mentioned. Both a good disc sander and a drum sander are far better than a converted tablesaw would be at disc and drum sanding, and no more expensive than an entry level 10" 3 hp cabinet saw.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Woodlyn, Pa
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    Keep it and buy a new one, if you have the room. Buy or make a sliding cross cut table and have a dedicated "panel" saw. Make a nice outfeed table for a dedicated rip saw. Then of course you need all new dedicated blades and all the other accessories that go with that kind of set up.

  15. #15
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    May 2015
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    so in the end, I tossed the cabinet, kept the motor and the table with the wings. I'm currently using the table as a small assembly table for boxes, clocks, etc. It's still dead nuts flat so it's nice to have. The wings may become a downdraft sanding table, since they are not solid but latticed, kind of. The motor will probably sit on the shelf and my kids can wonder what the hell I saved it for when I'm gone.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

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