New to woodworking, looking at a table saw, 10" craftsman 113. 298240

[Nick Decker]

Dave, the Incras aren't cheap, but they're excellent. The problem is that there don't seem to be any (that I know of) that are inexpensive and good. The miter gauge needs to run smoothly in its slot, yet not have any lateral slop. Incra has the best, IMO, system to adjust the gauge to YOUR miter slot. I have two of them and they're money well spent. If you want to do crosscuts at all, you need a miter gauge of some kind.

[Grant Aldridge]

Wow those aren't cheap. I really want to maybe start w/ cheaper items that will do the job but maybe without all the fancy bells and whistles if that makes sense.

Thanks
Dave

Dave if you just want a basic miter gauge to get you started I'm 95% sure I have one I can part with, I'll double check my stash tonight for ya. Where are you located? Continental US?

[Dave Brunner]

I'm in Illinois. I can certainly pay shipping if nothing else.

Dave

[Grant Aldridge]

I've got you a miter gauge, pm me your address so I can see what the shipping options are. She won't win any beauty contests but will serve you well till you decide you want an Incra

[Curt Harms]

Spent a few hours knocking the rust of this thing today. I took a pic mid progress and you can see it had quite a bit of rust on it. I'm very impressed w/ the build quality. Do you guys coat the beds of these things to prevent flash rusting? It will be in a climate controlled garage so it will probably never be an issue but until I bring it there it is in my unheated garage. I can't wait to use this thing. The receccessed groove in this is 3/4" x 3/8", is that standard? I'm going to have to figure out all the tricks to set this thing up but that's half the fun!.

Dave

The miter slots on the Craftsman 113.xxxx saw I had were .750". Unfortunately a .750" miter bar will not slide freely in a .750" slot, the slot needs to be something like .755" - .765". I think Incra miter gauges will work in the Craftsman slot, the bars are slightly under .750 with round 'thingies' that adjust to make the bar snug in the slot. I had that fence and it had a short stay. I put a Mule Cab fence on the Craftsman saw which was a substantial improvement. When when I bought my current G1023 (which also came with a crappy fence) I moved the Mule Cab fence to the Grizzly and mounted the Grizzly fence to the Craftsman saw and sold it. Newer Grizzly fences seem fine, mine was a very crude Delta JetFence knockoff. If I were in your position, I'd look at the Delta fence at Home Depot. Last time I checked that was the lowest price around for a decent fence.

[Robert Engel]

Dave,

Didn't read all the post, and hope I'm not redundant (or too late) but my advice is stay away from that saw!!

I owned one just like it once upon a time. My first table saw as a ww'er - worst decision I ever made, too.

Besides being under powered the worst (and most dangerous) feature is that fence. Horrible.

You will foolish to spend more than the saw is worth upgrading the fence.

My advice is like any machine, don't buy a table saw on the cheap. Especially without some safety features. Preferably a riving knife (at least a splitter), a well functioning guard, and a fence that holds its settings. Personally, I also think an under powered saw is much more dangerous.

[glenn bradley]

Do you guys coat the beds of these things to prevent flash rusting?

I am in SoCal in a desert basin so what works for me would not work so well in say . . . Texas. That being said, I just use Johnson's Paste Wax. I put it on just like waxing a car, wait for it to just start fogging up and buff it off. In my environment this generally means I start applying at one side and work my way across. By the time I finish the surface I can go back to the beginning and start buffing it off.

If there is still discoloration after your clean-up efforts and prior to waxing you can put a bit of non-woven pad (scotch-brite) under a ROS and prep the surface with a spritz of mineral spirits to keep things slick. I then wipe things down with some paper towels sprayed with mineral spirits until I am satisfied that they are coming away clean. The top may still be discolored but, after the wax goes on I don't have to worry about any color coming off onto my material.

[Dave Lash]

The miter slots on the Craftsman 113.xxxx saw I had were .750". Unfortunately a .750" miter bar will not slide freely in a .750" slot, the slot needs to be something like .755" - .765". I think Incra miter gauges will work in the Craftsman slot, the bars are slightly under .750 with round 'thingies' that adjust to make the bar snug in the slot. I had that fence and it had a short stay. I put a Mule Cab fence on the Craftsman saw which was a substantial improvement. When when I bought my current G1023 (which also came with a crappy fence) I moved the Mule Cab fence to the Grizzly and mounted the Grizzly fence to the Craftsman saw and sold it. Newer Grizzly fences seem fine, mine was a very crude Delta JetFence knockoff. If I were in your position, I'd look at the Delta fence at Home Depot. Last time I checked that was the lowest price around for a decent fence.

I also ran into the issue that Curt mentioned when I got a Delta tenoning jig to use with my Craftsman saw. It appears that some companies make the bar .750" wide, and others make the slot .750" wide. What I did to get the bar to fit was use a disk sander to remove a few thousandths from the width of the bar until it slid smoothly. You only need a few thousandths clearance.

[Dave Brunner]

Thanks guys, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a used delta fence or perhaps research making my own like I had considered earlier.
Dave