$80 Craftsman Table Saw, how'd I do?

[cash68]

So after freshening up the [$30 Bandsaw](http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=358803), I occasionally checked CL for deals on similar vintage tablesaws. Today, I made my move.

A 1965 vintage Craftsman 100 table saw,1 HP Dayton motor, period Craftsman fence and miter gauge. Model Number 113 29991

I am so excited right now!!!!!!!!

 

[LB-1911]

Photo's?

Image hosting?

 

[Git]

imgur blocks the link by adding an "i." to the front of it.

I don't want to rain on your parade, and I understand that you're really excited about your $80 purchase - but you only get 8 fingers and 2 thumbs no matter how much money you have.

In 2008 they created a law that any new table saws sold in the U.S. were required to have a riving knife... They did that for a reason

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riving_knife

I am not saying you need to buy a saw stop but even a cheap $300 DeWalt contractor's saw has a riving knife with kickback pawls. I get it that it's cool to restore old things, and a lot of things were made better 'back in the day'. But safety has improved substantially since then

Please be extremely careful with it and at least look into getting a splitter for it

 

[Ditch]

I never had a riving knife and wait, I still have all my digits.
Common sense says to use a wood shoe so your hands don't get near the blade.

 

[Git]

Well, I don't live in 'paradise"

And if people had common sense then there wouldn't be 30,000+ table saw accidents each year

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154236/

 

[Rileysan]

Can you upload directly to GJ instead of using a host?

As a general idea on how you did, I would say that you did just fine, if not great since you got the 1 HP motor.

Git, did you notice how little detail is provided on the types of safety gadgets those 30,000 saws had? One can reasonable conclude that the majority of those says have guards, kickback stops, and even riving knives (today is the first time I've heard that term) based on the attrition rate of the saws themselves (how many "old" saws are still in use?). The point is, you can't make everything dummy proof. I've been using table saws regularly for more than 30 years without incident but even with all my experience and the latest wiz-bang safety gadgets, there's no guarantee I won't have an accident in the future.

So cut the OP some slack. We're all adults here and fully capable of determining acceptable risk ...

Brian

 

[mcmlvif100]

As a general idea on how you did, I would say that you did just fine, if not great since you got the 1 HP motor.

Git

So cut the OP some slack. We're all adults here and fully capable of determining acceptable risk ...

Brian

^^^ This ^^^ and ^^^ This ^^^.

I have the same basic saw (but without the 1 HP motor) and am very happy with it. Yours looks to be in really good shape and well taken care of.

As for the risk of using a vintage saw instead of the one with the referenced 2008 legislated riving knife, you will be in good company with the rest of the pre-2008 table saw users (like me) who as Brian stated are "fully capable of determining acceptable risk".

 

[Ditch]

Well, I don't live in 'paradise"

And if people had common sense then there wouldn't be 30,000+ table saw accidents each year

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154236/

But I ACTUALLY do. That is the name of the city


Common sense seems to be in short supply these days.

 

[Ditch]

Can you upload directly to GJ instead of using a host?

Yes
Save them to your desktop and post as an attachment
At least that is what I do.

 

[mcmlvif100]

So after freshening up the [$30 Bandsaw](http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=358803), I occasionally checked CL for deals on similar vintage tablesaws. Today, I made my move.

A 1965 vintage Craftsman 100 table saw,1 HP Dayton motor, period Craftsman fence and miter gauge. Model Number 113 29991

I am so excited right now!!!!!!!!

Fixed it for you. Your pictures are now included as attachments below.

In saving the pictures as attachments, they'll remain with your thread and not disappear if you change image hosting services.

Appears that your table saw purchase included the original blade wrench, an extra table insert, and extra blades in the drawers on the side of the stand, perhaps Diablo ? Also, the stand looks pretty well thought out and well built. I really like the incorporation of the chute to let the dust and debris escape from under the saw base but in a manner that should make clean up easier, and the knee switch.

If your are interested, there is a Garage Journal thread called appropriately the "Vintage Craftsman Table Saw Thread". Lots of expertise there if you have questions.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=286318

One suggestion -- you might go over the entire saw and stand and check that all of the nuts, bolts, set screws, etc. are tight. Based on the pictures, it appears that someone paid attention to the saw and took good care of it but it never hurts to check when a new-to-you power tool enters your inventory.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Nice. Double table wings!

 

[Roberts210]

The only thing I don't like about the old Craftsman (and old Delta/Rockwells) is the fence tends to be difficult to keep perfectly parallel to the blade. This encourages the saw to kick pieces back in my experience.

I bought my first Delta TAS in the mid-1980's. It came with a Biesemeyer fence. When I upgraded to a Unisaw 10 years ago I sold the older Delta but kept the Biesemeyer. Never used either a riving knife or any other of the so-called "safety" devices. I'm not a big fan of them since they get in the way too much. Still got all 10 digits and I'm sure I'll keep 'em. The ABSOLUTE BEST safety device is the one between your ears. I envision an imaginary bubble around and over the sawblade's teeth, 5 inches in every direction. My fingers NEVER... I mean NEVER pierce that imaginary bubble while the saw is running. I use PUSH STICKS. And a Delta 1172 tenoning jig--that puppy keeps plenty of cast iron between my right hand and the spinning blade.

 

[jd_1138]

Great score, you ****.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Nice score - with the double batwings, that's a worker! Whoever built that thing up knew what they were doing.

It's funny, but (knock on wood) in decades of using a table and radial arm saw I still have 5 fingers on each hand (and 10 toes, too)... never needed a riving knife, nor yet another newfangled mandated required safety device on my saw, the old one between the ears seems to work just fine so far. YMMV, and if you need the OSHA (actually, UL) mandated guards to work safely, more power to you, I guess...

I have the same problem with making sure the fence is parallel to the blade on my C'man table saw - I (finally) put markings on the back of the table that match the inch ones in front, so when I tighten it down I can double check to make sure it's parallel. Nothing worse than making a double cut through deep timbers and having the cut lines askew of one another ... Probably when they were new they were a little "tighter"...

 

[exmaxima1]

The only thing I don't like about the old Craftsman (and old Delta/Rockwells) is the fence tends to be difficult to keep perfectly parallel to the blade. This encourages the saw to kick pieces back in my experience.

I bought my first Delta TAS in the mid-1980's. It came with a Biesemeyer fence. When I upgraded to a Unisaw 10 years ago I sold the older Delta but kept the Biesemeyer.

Pretty much the same story for me. I started with a 50's Craftsman saw with the crappy rip fence, and added a Biesemeyer fence when they first came out. When I got my '69 Unisaw (same as Norm Abram's) I dumped the CM saw and moved the Beisemeyer to the Unisaw where it still resides.

BTW, in addition to the crappy fence, I equally dislike the tilt mechanism on those CM saws. The gears were always difficult to turn and the knobs were in a bad location to spin them. I ultimately installed a power tilt on that saw employing a window gear motor---that was a huge help!

 

[Zeke]

Nice old saw. I used one like that for years before stepping up to an older Unisaw. I don't have a splitter or riving knife for either one but I'm thinking seriously about it. I do have the original guard holder with the anti kick back pawls and it does serve as a fixed height splitter. A riving knife that follows the blade height is sort of the holy grail for older saws. It can be done but it takes quite a bit of fabrication.

Don't anyone point me to Sharkguard as I've already made my self familiar with all they have to offer and I don't see anything that really is that great of a improvement over the original guard ***'y. There are some little tabs you can put in a drilled out table insert, but again, my impression is that they are gimmicky.

To the OP: align your fence to be slightly, and I mean slightly, so that it's wider at the outfeed end. You will not only get much better looking cuts (no back scrape or upcutting) and it will be much less likely to kick back. Just remember what side you have set this up for.

 

[cash68]

Yes
Save them to your desktop and post as an attachment
At least that is what I do.

I absolutely hate the way attachments work here, as they are super tiny, you have to click each one, and you can't scroll and read about each photo. Totally ruins the experience for me.

 

[nglauer]

My table saw must be roughly the same year/model. I've never looked at it closely enough to tell which model it is, or what motor it has. It was my grandfathers, and it has been a very faithful unit. I love the vintage craftsman tools from that era. If i ever have the chance to buy some more matching tools I will.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[cash68]

Updated links to photobucket so images should work now.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I absolutely hate the way attachments work here, as they are super tiny, you have to click each one, and you can't scroll and read about each photo. Totally ruins the experience for me.

You can make them full size, it just takes a few more simple steps. After uploading the photos, in preview mode click on each one to make it full size, then copy and paste the URL for the photo back into the original post before submitting it.

 

[Packard V8]

Craftsman saws were the home shop standard for almost 100 years and in the past would always find a buyer at a decent price. I bought, used and sold a dozen of them over the past forty years. Today, they essentially have no resale value and as such, for the casual user remain a great starter saw for beginning woodworkers.

I cleaned out the storage, had a yard sale with three Craftsman saws of similar vintage. No one local was the slightest interested and I ended up selling all the saws and DPs to an African who was shipping truckloads back home.

Seems today, younger buyers are afraid to even walk near an old table saw, lest it roar to life and rip off one's arm. Recently, one young friend's wife made him donate his father's Craftsman radial arm saw to Goodwill; someone told her it was dangerous even having it in the garage. How did several generations of us survive and build houses using such tools?

Your opinions and results may vary.

jack vines

 

[cash68]

You can make them full size, it just takes a few more simple steps. After uploading the photos, in preview mode click on each one to make it full size, then copy and paste the URL for the photo back into the original post before submitting it.

That is obnoxious, but good to know.

And yeah, whatever, if 50 years of people can use this without dying, I think I will be alright.

Pushsticks are key.

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Craftsman saws were the home shop standard for almost 100 years and in the past would always find a buyer at a decent price. I bought, used and sold a dozen of them over the past forty years. Today, they essentially have no resale value and as such, for the casual user remain a great starter saw for beginning woodworkers.

I cleaned out the storage, had a yard sale with three Craftsman saws of similar vintage. No one local was the slightest interested and I ended up selling all the saws and DPs to an African who was shipping truckloads back home.

Seems today, younger buyers are afraid to even walk near an old table saw, lest it roar to life and rip off one's arm. Recently, one young friend's wife made him donate his father's Craftsman radial arm saw to Goodwill; someone told her it was dangerous even having it in the garage. How did several generations of us survive and build houses using such tools?

Your opinions and results may vary.

jack vines

I saw a decent craftsman saw sell for less then $10 at the auction on Saturday. I hesitated because I really don't have the room and it sold for $7. It needed some cleanup, but it had a nice stand, just not the pedestal that everyone covets.


OP: I think you did good, looks like a well cared for saw with a nice base. I rarely see anything that nice in my area.

 

[senlow]

That's a sweet little table saw. You done good.

 

[jrodell27]

$80??? That's a STEAL! I bought this same saw a year or so ago for a lot more than $80. And it's not nearly in that condition. I'm going through mine right now to restore it (started a thread a while back in this forum about it too - I have Model# 113.29992) - haven't had the time in the last 2-3 weeks to get anything done, but with the GF is gone next week I'll have plenty to start on the guts of the saw and clean it up. Excellent score!

 

[jrodell27]

Pushsticks are key.

First things I made after getting a table saw. I'm not nearly close to be a veteran woodworker but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the further your fingers are away from a moving blade, that can lop them off without thinking twice, the better.

 

[cash68]

imgur blocks the link by adding an "i." to the front of it.

I don't want to rain on your parade, and I understand that you're really excited about your $80 purchase - but you only get 8 fingers and 2 thumbs no matter how much money you have.

In 2008 they created a law that any new table saws sold in the U.S. were required to have a riving knife... They did that for a reason

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riving_knife

I am not saying you need to buy a saw stop but even a cheap $300 DeWalt contractor's saw has a riving knife with kickback pawls. I get it that it's cool to restore old things, and a lot of things were made better 'back in the day'. But safety has improved substantially since then

Please be extremely careful with it and at least look into getting a splitter for it

You better be driving a brand new volvo otherwise any older car is just plain old unsafe.

 

[exmaxima1]

If anyone is interested in the same model saw in the Chicago area, there's one on CL:
https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/tls/6138094192.html