Finally pulled the trigger on a new saw. Still love my Rockwell Beaver 34090A but thinking of some bigger projects and decided to get a full size cabinet saw. I'll be looking for a new home for the Rockwell Beaver once I get the General up and running. According to the seller this saw was used to build one home and then stored for 20 years so it's low mileage, runs smooth blade moves up and down and tilts effortlessly. Don't have a precision straight edge but using what I have the top is dead flat. Missing the motor cover which I understand was optional so probably never had one, it's on my list to fabricate with a dust port. The catch for the access door is missing a part but I think I can fab one (the seller said he might be able to find one for me). It had the original General fence with the pipes front and back and an extension table, not unlike the original fence on the Beaver but a little better. I talked the seller into swapping the fence for a Biesemeyer he had on another saw (he's retired and buy, refurbishes and sells saws etc as a hobby business). The mounting angles and rectangular tube have seen better days and are a little shorter than I want so I'm getting replacements from a recycler which I'll clean up, paint and drill as required. The fence itself needs a little work. My Delta T2 copy of the Bessy rides on a pair of nylon screws for adjustment, this Bessy gas a couple steel screws in that place so it's steel on painted steel, so I'll have to either get replacement pads or go the nylon screw route like the Delta fence. The fence has nylon pads on the bottom where it rides on the table, my Delta fence has a nylon guide at the back which rides on the rear angle iron, I understand the Bessy does not have a guide which rides on the angle so it it just rides on the table, might add a rear guide like the Delta fence.
Other than those small mods, I need to make a mobile base for it with a router station in the extension (more on that when I get into it), don't have welding skills so I'm going for a wooden structure with some angle iron to support the saw. I've got some tropical hardwood from some stone shipping frames about 3" x 3", looks like some kind of Mahogany, very heavy and strong. Anyone care to share their wooden mobile base ideas or plans? Plan on 4 locking casters from Lee Valley, which I have on most of my shop tools and carts, they have a load capacity of 100 KG or 220 pounds, the saw itself is around 450 pounds plus say another 100 pounds for fence, storage, extension table with router etc so well under the 880 pound capacity of 4 casters. Need to add 240V to the shop for it. It's a 1 1/2 HP dual voltage motor currently wired for 240 V. I plan on adding a 20 Amp 240 Volt outlet next to my panel in the garage (12 Ga wire), I might cut the existing 20 ft cord leaving say 3 ft on the saw and making the rest an extension cord so I can unplug right at the saw. Make sense? In a thread a few years back Rod Sheridan suggested running 3 conductor wire and installing both a 240 V and split 120 V outlet in a 4 x 4 box, looks like a good idea.
Based on the serial number it was built in 1972.
One more question, there is a 3/4" bar out the back with a bracket on it for the splitter supported blade guard. The manual says it's threaded (Threaded support rod part # 357-15A), the part which projects outside the cabinet is not threaded and while it is easy to turn, turning it seems to have no effect. I expected it would spin off but after 15 to 20 rotations it hasn't moved out at all. I may end up leaving it on to support the guard if my shop made overhead guard doesn't work out but I'm puzzled why it turns freely but doesn't spin off. I suspect it's held on with a retainer which is covered by the bracket which supports the splitter on the arbour. No need to remove it now, just curious what's there since the manual describes it as a threaded rod which it doesn't seem to be.
Any suggestions on dust collection would be welcome, I have seen a few comment that a dust port on the motor cover is ineffective.
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