Table saw advice

[Matt Day]

Where do you look for something like this? I typically look on exfactory, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook marketplace and everything I’ve seen in the last 6 months has sold for between $2000-$2500, unless it’s something g that needs a full restoration with a whole new paint job.

Your looking in the right places, but don’t forget auctions. But, auctions are a hobby of their own. Need to go to 10 before you find one that sells at good deals. Online ones tend to sell higher than in person.

Biggest 2 things you need to get a good deal: the persistence/patience to keep looking, and willingness to drive at the drop of a hat.

Where are you located?

[Jim Becker]

Minimax 3c in Tampa listed in the classifieds. Once you use a slider you will not want to go back.

Yea, I'd grab that in a split second if I needed to downsize. That's a great tool and the owner has kept it impeccably.

[Doug Dawson]

Your looking in the right places, but don’t forget auctions. But, auctions are a hobby of their own. Need to go to 10 before you find one that sells at good deals. Online ones tend to sell higher than in person.

Biggest 2 things you need to get a good deal: the persistence/patience to keep looking, and willingness to drive at the drop of a hat.

Plus the ability to safely transport the thing, which is often a major impediment.

Oh, you didn’t mean THAT kind of slider? /;^)

If you have to hire a moving company, there goes the value proposition.

[Bryan Solomon]

So I made some more calls this morning pricing a VFD or phase converter. So here are my options...I have a negotiated price for the saw as is with a 3 phase 5 HP motor for $1800. This is the saw in the first 2 pictures of the thread. I priced a STATIC phase converter for $155, making the total cost of $1955.
Cost for ROTARY phase converter- $800 that would allow me to power multiple 3 phase machines in the future if the need ever arose.
Cost for VFD- $900

Or keep searching and hope to get lucky on the last saw I posted a picture of at an auction. Both saws are about the same distance away from me.

FYI I am in Charleston, SC. Ill add that to my profile.

[Justin Rapp]

Well I am glad you passed on the $2800. That is just creeping up to the cost of new, even though it wouldn't be a USA made saw. That saw is gonna be a hard sale for them with 3ph. So many industrial and commercial companies are dumping their old saws and getting SS industrial for the safety of their employees. $5000 for a SS industrial for many companies to prevent an injury is a drop in the bucket.

So, i think it's mostly going to be hobbyists looking for used old metal saws. Someone else even mentioned it earlier that a 1ph old metal saw is worth more than a 3ph. So the 3ph saw should be 1000, plus 800 for the upgrade and and $1800, or even your original quotes $2200 was not bad.

[Jim Becker]

Be aware that a static phase converter only provides you with a portion of the motor power. It's not really providing full three phase power. That's why they are so inexpensive...

[Frank Pratt]

Be aware that a static phase converter only provides you with a portion of the motor power. It's not really providing full three phase power. That's why they are so inexpensive...

A 5HP motor will make less than 3 HP on a static converter.

[Bryan Solomon]

Well...1 month later, I brought this home last night. Picked it up for $1800 from Redmond Machinery. I have a miter gauge coming in the mail, free of charge. It is being stored in my current garage for the new few months until the new shop is built. While I have some time to kill waiting on building permits to get started on the new shop, I'd like to get this thing as clean as I can. I feel like an idiot for asking this, but this is the first "used" peice of machinery I have purchased. Everything else I have bought was brand new, so never had to deal with this before. There are some stains on the cast iron (not rust) that I need some advice on how to remove, as well as some buildup of dirt and tarnish on the painted surfaces of the saw. I might redo the pinstripe at the bottom if I find myself waiting on building permits for too long, but other than a minor cleaning, this saw is about as good as new.
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[Justin Rapp]

Well...1 month later, I brought this home last night. Picked it up for $1800 from Redmond Machinery. I have a miter gauge coming in the mail, free of charge. It is being stored in my current garage for the new few months until the new shop is built. While I have some time to kill waiting on building permits to get started on the new shop, I'd like to get this thing as clean as I can. I feel like an idiot for asking this, but this is the first "used" peice of machinery I have purchased. Everything else I have bought was brand new, so never had to deal with this before. There are some stains on the cast iron (not rust) that I need some advice on how to remove, as well as some buildup of dirt and tarnish on the painted surfaces of the saw. I might redo the pinstripe at the bottom if I find myself waiting on building permits for too long, but other than a minor cleaning, this saw is about as good as new.
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Scotchgarde pad and some mineral oil. This is for rust but should help get stains out...

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-...w-rust-3536462

[Marc Fenneuff]

Lovely saw! I’m very fond of mine. To clean cast iron I use a scotch-brite style disc on my ROS and have used WD-40 or mineral spirits as a lubricant. Lately I have also used Bar Keeper’s Friend on tougher stains. Resist the urge to use any kind of sandpaper, wet/dry or otherwise.

This is the before/after of one of the extension tables on my PM66. I'm pretty sure it was just mineral spirits and the green scotch-brite pads you see in the pic, by hand.

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Make sure to clean (Simple Green works well) and then wax the surface with Johnson's paste wax or similar when you are done. Renew the wax from time to time.

[Michael W. Clark]

For the cast iron surfaces, I use the red scotch brite pads and press them onto a wire cup wheel. You can use an angle grinder with the wire wheel but I like using a corded drill with the wire wheel / scotch brite pad.

My new saw had a couple of dark stains in the cast iron. I used to worry about it, but as long as it is smooth and slick, its works regardless.

Unless the paint is in bad shape, scratches add character!