Vintage Powermatic Info Please

[Dick Brown]

I am refurbishing a Powermatic "66" and would like a bit of information. Have tried OWWM manual reprints but to no avail. My questions are-
1- About what year did they move the trunion mounts from the sides of the cabinet to the front and rear.
2- What horsepower motors were offered prior to the move.
The serial # tag is gone so no idea of it's age other than side mount trunions
This old girl came to me in boxes of parts and pieces but most all there including a gallon + - of state highway orange colored paint that looked like it was put on with a broom or maybe dipped. (If a little is good, a lot must be better!) It is now sporting a new coat of Hammered Gold with a Hammered Black base and a current PM 2000 style decal on the front and a shop built Biese clone fence. Would post a picture but my computer doesn't like to do that. (Blame the p.c. for my lack of skills)
Thanks in advance for the answers to the questions,
Dick

[Darcy Warner]

How would or could the trunions be mounted to the sides and not front to back?

[Matt Day]

I think he’s referring to the predecessor to the PM66, the PM65, which has the trunnions both on one side and was made from ‘55 up until ‘65. All that history is on VintageMachinery.org.
http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/Pow...alNumbers.ashx
For questions about the 65 or old 66’s, you’re better off on the forum OWWM.org.
Make sure to SEARCH first, as there’s tons of information on the saws.

Edit: I restored a 65 and have a thread on it at OWWM, but I think the pics were lost in the Photobucket fiasco.

[Dick Brown]

Darcy and Matt,
Thank you for your response.
On this saw, the trunion "mounting brackets" span the width of the cabinet, one near the front and one near the rear, resting on the top lip with one bolt in each end of the "bracket" fastening it to the cabinet. The 65 mounting brackets were very similar other than the rear one was about midway, front to back and hung on the sides as did the front one. The later 66 had a much shorter bracket that fastened one to the front and one to the rear of the cabinet, rather than the sides. The question is, when did they change which will give me a general idea of the age of this saw.
Dick

P.S. Found a picture on an old post that will help explain the trunion mounting. Down 3 or 4 replies.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....uning-Question

Newer 66 trunnion mount.
http://47.60.2ea9.ip4.static.sl-reve...m/topics/67729

[Dave Cav]

The 2005 PM 66 manual shows the new type trunnion mount:
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs....aspx?id=16767

So does the 2001 manual:
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/655/3327.pdf

As does the 1983 manual
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/655/6139.pdf

I can't find any manuals earlier than that, so I guess the answer is some time between 1965 when the PM 66 was introduced, and at least 1983, or possibly earlier.

I have a PM65 restoration thread over on OWWM as well here:

http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=...575728#p575728

[Don Jarvie]

What color is the saw? Sounds like it was painted over so if you can see a color by scraping the paint or look inside. The lighter green was the 60s then it went to a darker green in the 70s them to yellow if my understanding is correct.

I have a 74 and it has the trunnions as you describe.

[Dick Brown]

Don,
I tried to find a color when I was prepping the cabinet to paint it but the old orange paint was so thick and VERY PROTECTIVE that I could never tell what the original color was. No sand blaster in our little town so tried paint remove. Wouldn't do a thing on Ol'e Orange. Ended up sanding to bare metal. Nasty job!
Dick

[Geoff Crimmins]

As I understand it, Powermatic machines were grey in the 50s, light green in the 60s, dark metallic green in the 70s, and metallic gold in the 80s. After that they moved to the mustard yellow. Powermatic was known getting paint overspray all over the place; are there traces of paint on any of the other parts? In any case, there's likely to be someone over at OWWM who can answer your question about the trunnions.

[Jeff Heath]

I have rebuilt several 66's. The original one's were Pea Green, and moved to the darker green, then gold. I rebuilt a 1968 version that was identical in arrangement to my current 1985 version, and the only difference between the 2 was a slight change in the arbor arrangement. No difference in the internal mounting of the trunnions and racks for raising and tilting the arbor.

I have never personally seen a 66 with the trunnions mounted the way you describe. Only a PM 65. Are you certain it's a 66? A picture of the saw would do wonders. The 3rd box from the right in the Tabs section above this box I'm typing in now is how you post pictures. Pretty easy to do from a computer.

[Dick Brown]

Here is what the trunnion mounts look like in my saw. (this is not my saw)



This is what the newer ones look like.
Dick

[Don Jarvie]

Was the motor painted? If not is it a PM and what color? If it’s green then it’s from the 60-70s if black from the 80s on.

[Dick Brown]

Don,
Motor is not original so no hints there. Not TEFC which is a bummer but is the end mount. Saw a mount that a fella built and used a base mount motor. If I were to keep this saw, I will keep my eyes out for a TEFC motor, end mount or if a TEFC base mount jumps out at me, that would be an alterative. Motor it has now is 1-1/2 h.p. running on 110 volts so saw would make a real upgrade from a benchtop or contractor's saw for the guy who has no 220 volt outlet and just does homeowner type projects and didn't need big power.
I have had enough replies to put the age somewhere 1966 to maybe later 70's. All the guts are in great shape and with the new fence, Corian faces, and 38" cut right of blade, is really quite nice.
Dick

[Don Jarvie]

Dick, You can always swap out the motor for a bigger one. You need a 145c frame motor since the motor pulley is 7/8. You can get a 56C but you would need a 5/8 pulley. Keep your eye on EBay.

[Dick Brown]

Have the old girl ready to sell. Turned out rather nice if I do say so myself.
Dick

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[Don Jarvie]

Any reason why your selling it?