Good ways to clean the gears on a PM66?

[Charlie Schultz]

It seems the collected dust is making it difficult to raise/lower/tilt the blade on my PM66. The tilt gears are not too hard to get at, but it almost looks like I have to take the top off to get to the other one. Any one have any tricks for this?

[Rich Schneider]

What I have typically done is blow them off with compressed air using a blow gun with a wand and fine tip at full pressure (which is 165-175 psi in my shop). I usually do this once a week or more when I'm doing a lot of cutting on the saw. Typically I'll unplug the saw, take off the blade, turn on the dust collector and blow away. Generally I blow out the stuff collecting in the corners of the cabinet first, then I'll blow the gears, trunnion slides, etc. off. Were the gears overly greased for some reason? Is the sawdust compacted/pressed onto the gears by contact pressure? Like you said the fronts are easy to get at with a brass brush if you need to be more aggressive . For the back I can get my hand down through the throat plate with a brush if needed to loosen the stuff up and then blow it off (again I always unplug the saw for cleaning and chaning blades since I don't trust the mag switches). For lubrication I use a dry lubricant.

[Peter Quinn]

I use a stiff nylon tooth brush on mine, same idea blowing out the cab first w/compressed air. Take off the blade/manually disconnect power...cheap insurance! Haven't found an easy way, wouldn't take off the top due to allignment issues putting it back. Have you considered hiring a contortionist from local circus?

Once the gears are clean a good coat of paste wax applied with a fresh brush, all excess removed seems to keep things moving nicely. Perhaps several yoga sessions just before cleaning might help?

[Carroll Courtney]

One of the things that would also help is a dust collector.I have a griz that is a 2hp verison and it helps alot.Its not fancy,but you will be surprise!My intention was not to keep the shop 100% dust free,but to help keep my table saw (PM66) alittle dustless.

[Lee Hingle]

Charlie,
Try taking the side cover off the saw and tilting/raising/lowering the blade. This should give you enough clearance to get what you need to have done.

As for the lubrication, I would recommend LPS products. I use their #1 greaseless lubricant and Force 842 dri moly lubricant. Best products in my opinion for lubrication and they don't attract sawdust. I apply this once every other month or so to my 66 and have had good results.
Good luck,
Lee

[Charlie Schultz]

Thanks for all the help. Unfortunately, I don't have a compressor (nor a contortionist), but I did manage to get a grout brush in there and at least improve it. I moved it a couple years ago and had to take the top off, so that's the last time it's been touched. I'll try the suggested lubricants too.