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Thread: Thinking about an old Martin T75 sliding table saw for solid wood

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
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    PNW
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    Thinking about an old Martin T75 sliding table saw for solid wood

    Lately I have been thinking about upgrading from my fixed table Oliver 270 table saw to a sliding table saw. I recently looked at a Martin T75 locally that had a 8 foot table, I liked the quality of the saw and the depth of cut would be a nice bonus over the Oliver. But since my shop is only 25 x 25 feet, I passed on it due to the size. I mainly use solid wood, and if I ever need to cut panels, I have a Festool track system.

    My question is, what table saws with sliding tables should I consider? I am looking for an older machine to keep the costs down. I have heard that there are short table Martin sliders, but I have found it very difficult to find any information about older Martin models, so it is hard to compare the specifications to saws like an Oliver 88D, which is not too hard to find.

    Am i crazy to want to find an old Martin?

    thanks,
    Chris

  2. #2
    If your crazy then I must be nuts..

    https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....75-restoration

  3. #3

  4. #4
    FYI my shop is like 25x60 and this saw will fit just fine.

    I’d buy marks saw. It’s worth every penny..

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Walsh View Post
    That's it! Dreams is the operative word though, out of my price range. I will have to take a look at the description of the restoration process. Thanks for the link, I also noticed some specifications, this is very helpful

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Central WI
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    5,666
    Do you need a long stroke? There are lots of old iron short stroke sliders, including the 270, although the design of the Oliver sliding table is less than ideal. Dave

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
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    I could not resist, I took the plunge and purchased a T17 sight unseen. I have never been one to shy away from a project and put all rationality aside once I get an idea in my head, and this time is no different. After unpacking the saw and vacuuming a 55 gallon drum worth of plexiglass and aluminum shavings out, I noticed a couple of things that need to be taken care of.

    1. The riving knife bracket is broken off and the broken off piece is gone. I will have to fabricate a new mount. Can someone take some photos of what it should look like? A new piece will have to be fabricated and either bolted or welded on.
    EcD3ustCQv2C4sZOahbZXA.jpgH78B4p3fRBmSjz8vH0xyKA.jpg

    2. The arbor is 1.25" and appears to have a couple thousandths of wear. I noticed that the arbor nut thread is smaller than 1" (22 or 23 mm?). I was thinking about turning the arbor down to either 30mm or 1". 1" would be nice since I have quite a few 1" arbor blades and they are more common than 30mm. Would that be a terrible thing to do? I will have to bush the outer blade flange, but that should be pretty easy.
    gQPHHUAPQ++dvFTadDwEZg.jpg

    3. Can anyone help me estimate the year of manufacture? The rip fence casting looks different than most of the photos, I have seen, the edges seem to be more rounded. It also does not have ball bearings under the bottom where it rides inside the front rail like what I have seen on what I assume are the later saws. The serial number is - 73802
    hrRHioRfRLibR60rWbkwCA.jpg

    4. There is an adjustable pointer in the rip fence to read the fence position. It does not look original, does someone have a photo of what the pointer should look like? ( I posted a photo of mine below)BXhL6dXBR+qYWkFLs+Eipw.jpg

    thanks in advance for your help and advice.

    Chris
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Chris Balton; 05-04-2019 at 11:55 PM.

  8. #8
    1973. I would see if the arbor really needs any work.

    The dado arbors were spin on, over those threads.

    I have drawings and have a few arbors, nuts and flanges made.

    I am getting ready to dig into a 17 as well.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Ouray Colorado
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    1,392
    Chris,
    i just picked up a T17 for restoration. Yours looks like an older model, 60s or n 70s. The date is usually not in the serial number on these. My old T75 had a serial number that I thought indicated it was made in the 70s. When I checked with the factory it was a 1968. Starting mid 70s or so they started putting the year of manufacture on the machines.

    Yours has 2 slots for the miter. That is nice as the later ones only have one. Did you get a miter gauge? I would like to see what they look like.
    Too bad about the riving knife bracket. Here are some pictures of what it looks like. Mine has the original square nut but I think the washers are either original modified or fabricated. I have a request into the factory to see what is available for spares and should know by mid week. The cross fence on mine is missing the chipbreaker and has a broken piece on the end stop. Most of these had the fence with thee wood piece under. I believe this was the last fence they put on the T75 and T17. I noticed one of Darcy’s T75s had this fence in one of his videos. I am going to restore this fence but plan to find a short fence that will work better in the saws location for now.

    I spent a couple days cleaning and trueing up the sliding table on mine. I put it through the paces in the shop last week doing work that is normally done on the T72 just to see what it needs before tearing into it.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #10
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    Here are some pictures of mine. Sliding table extensions are off as I started working on those.

    297E2CC0-EF74-4C7C-80B4-120B13B84D9E.jpg
    4077F2A8-2ED4-49D2-A11A-EA4DEA3CA8C2.jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #11
    Sorry to interrupt. If it’s a problem please say so.

    Joe, wen you. Say “last fence Martin put on these saws” are you speaking of the one one I have on my machine. I’m still trying to figure out the exact year of my saw. There was no date on the underside of the cast table. There is the machine badge and a repeated number all over the machine starting with 74 but that’s it.

    Also if you do get the riving knife parts sorted let me know as my machine came with no riving knife. Honestly I don’t use one, I guess I should. I probably won’t use it even if I get one but I figure the machine is nearly complete so why not continue the trend.

    A picture of the arbor on my T75. I’m pretty sure many of these pieces are universal or interchangeable on many of these machines from year to year to year and t75 to t17. I could be wrong.

    9329BEB4-4668-4E41-85A7-7B44FDDE8C42.jpg

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,675
    While I cut some sheet goods as necessary by particular projects, I'm first and foremost a solid stock woodworker...and I love my slider. I almost never edge joint at this point. I flatten and thickness at the J/P and then straight-line on the slider wagon followed by parallel ripping with a "Fritz and Franz" jig to width on the wagon. Rarely do I use the rip fence and then it's most often for either convenience or for something narrow that works nicely with the fence in the lower configuration. My slider has an 8'6" wagon which is more than adequate for my needs. And crosscutting repeatability and accuracy is just plain awesome. I have a scoring blade and honestly, even that comes in handy for solid stock sometimes for uber-clean cross cuts. So if you can find a machine that fits your budget...go for it.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    Patrick,

    I think this was their first 2 point fence and it came after the fence like yours with the wood piece on the bottom. This one telescopes out to about 11 feet. I have seen these on the old T70s but they soon went to the improved 2 point like is on my T72. This one can be moved fore and aft without turning it. The manual fence on the T73 is much improved over this one but as you mentioned very spendy to buy.

    59D76DFA-C757-475F-B12E-4F92518FF0B8.jpg

    I will I’ll let you know about the riving knife. I am not a safety nazi and never used a riving knife the first 25 years of my career. But after using one for the last 20 on the T72 I find it very uncomfortable to be without. Same goes for the adjustable overhead guard with dust collection. It will be a must have item on this saw. Not cheap either.

    the arbor assembly and riving setup looks the same to me.



    [QUOTE=Patrick Walsh;2924148]Sorry to interrupt. If it’s a problem please say so.

    Joe, wen you. Say “last fence Martin put on these saws” are you speaking of the one one I have on my machine. I’m still trying to figure out the exact year of my saw. There was no date on the underside of the cast table. There is the machine badge and a repeated number all over the machine starting with 74 but that’s it.

    Also if you do get the riving knife parts sorted let me know as my machine came with no riving knife. Honestly I don’t use one, I guess I should. I probably won’t use it even if I get one but I figure the machine is nearly complete so why not continue the trend.

    A picture of the arbor on my T75. I’m pretty sure many of these pieces are universal or interchangeable on many of these machines from year to year to year and t75 to t17. I could be wrong.
    Last edited by Joe Calhoon; 05-05-2019 at 11:11 AM.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Ouray Colorado
    Posts
    1,392
    Jim,
    i agree. I roll my eyes when people say large format sliders are only for sheet goods or will be replaced by CNC. They are the Jack of all trades for crosscutting and ripping any material.



    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    While I cut some sheet goods as necessary by particular projects, I'm first and foremost a solid stock woodworker...and I love my slider. I almost never edge joint at this point. I flatten and thickness at the J/P and then straight-line on the slider wagon followed by parallel ripping with a "Fritz and Franz" jig to width on the wagon. Rarely do I use the rip fence and then it's most often for either convenience or for something narrow that works nicely with the fence in the lower configuration. My slider has an 8'6" wagon which is more than adequate for my needs. And crosscutting repeatability and accuracy is just plain awesome. I have a scoring blade and honestly, even that comes in handy for solid stock sometimes for uber-clean cross cuts. So if you can find a machine that fits your budget...go for it.

  15. #15
    Joe thanks for the response.

    I’m far from a safety nazi but not apposed. I have just got used to the saws at work and the guys always ran them without riding knives. At least on the table saw “pm 66” we go back and forth hourly with a thin cuff plywood blade and rip blade so a diving knife is a pain in the rear more than anything. As a result I am now so used to paying attention to what’s going on on the back side of the blade that when I work at home I don’t bother with the roving knife anymore. The fact is I should put one on this saw as it can never hurt and when working at home time is never a consideration.

    Dust much the same. Food dust collection is expensive and time consuming to setup. Sadly the boss has not been able to afford getting it to the point a overhead guard would do much as the dust created elsewhere in the shop is insane. Plus you know I use the slider to both rip and cross cut and that darn overhead guard gets in the way when ripping from the slider side of the machine.

    Let me know on the parts. Hopefully someday we find a way for me to repay your generosity.

    [QUOTE=Joe Calhoon;2924201]Patrick,

    I think this was their first 2 point fence and it came after the fence like yours with the wood piece on the bottom. This one telescopes out to about 11 feet. I have seen these on the old T70s but they soon went to the improved 2 point like is on my T72. This one can be moved fore and aft without turning it. The manual fence on the T73 is much improved over this one but as you mentioned very spendy to buy.

    59D76DFA-C757-475F-B12E-4F92518FF0B8.jpg

    I will I’ll let you know about the riving knife. I am not a safety nazi and never used a riving knife the first 25 years of my career. But after using one for the last 20 on the T72 I find it very uncomfortable to be without. Same goes for the adjustable overhead guard with dust collection. It will be a must have item on this saw. Not cheap either.

    the arbor assembly and riving setup looks the same to me.



    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Walsh View Post
    Sorry to interrupt. If it’s a problem please say so.

    Joe, wen you. Say “last fence Martin put on these saws” are you speaking of the one one I have on my machine. I’m still trying to figure out the exact year of my saw. There was no date on the underside of the cast table. There is the machine badge and a repeated number all over the machine starting with 74 but that’s it.

    Also if you do get the riving knife parts sorted let me know as my machine came with no riving knife. Honestly I don’t use one, I guess I should. I probably won’t use it even if I get one but I figure the machine is nearly complete so why not continue the trend.

    A picture of the arbor on my T75. I’m pretty sure many of these pieces are universal or interchangeable on many of these machines from year to year to year and t75 to t17. I could be wrong.

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