Off to the hand wheel modification process. Notice the rectangular slot that is cut into the inside of the handle bore.
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I know but some of the personal instances were aluminum or Atleast I belive it was but i was able to buff it to a almost flawless mirror shine which I’ve never known aluminum to be an easy task to get that level of shine, it was almost like stainless but it was too light and way to easy to get polished and I’d love to get more of it but have no clue what it is
Like a glove! Very nice
Lol honestly other than the rare occasion I use a set of machine squares(which I always treat with care and put back in the exact spot they were taken from) without training or some form of guidance I wouldn’t really feel comfortable using anything from the machine shop tools wise
There were a couple of members including Kayak John that were interested in being involved with reassembling the Powermatic. Drop me PM if you still have time in the next day or two.
Chris I’m not sure about alloys but pure aluminum will take a mirror shine. It’s not strong enough for much but is sold as alclad - a higher strength aluminum sheet with layers of pure (or nearly pure) aluminum rolled onto each face. It’ll polish up beautifully.
This should do until Home Depot puts in a drive thru and we can just swing by and grab a fresh ryobi table saw as we need them. Maybe they will do a coke + doritos combo?
No I know but it’s very easily marred, just like aluminum foil is extremely reflective but this stuff held it’s mirror really well, that’s why I say it was almost like stainless but there’s no way it was any steel just due to the lightness of it!
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Aluminum will polish easily but it eventually oxidizes and won’t be as shiny till you polish it again.
Smart man. And Kayak John has a nice 1800s ring to it.
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Yea this stuff is still mirror months after I did it, which is why if y’all had something to figure out allows I’d be begging to use it lol
Trunnion Detailing
Finally the minions got off their butts and did something with the fine repairs the machine shop generously provided. Here we go.
There was still a bit of fine cleaning required for optimal performance.
This CMT orange cleaner was a pleasure to use.
These cast iron parts so heavy, any added friction form dirt, paint, or saw dust increases the difficulty in bade adjustment. So scubby, dub, dub was the process.
The white residue is a dry lubricant that was applied.
At some point in the machines life someone had dropped one of the trunnion hangers and chipped off the end of a bearing surface. This damage was really increasing the drag. It was filed off and now works great.
Look for the upper left hand corner. This is after it had been filed.
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** Trunnion Reassembly **
The trunnion is where the action takes place. Adjusting the blade height and blade angle is handled by this mechanism.
When you crank one of the two handles, your rotary motion is converted via worms gears to blade movement.
The tilt gears is directly cut into the trunnion and the blade height adjustment gear is bolted inside the carrier.
Blade height gear installation.
We found that there was a slight binding when the shaft was test fitted. @pjolone1 determined there was probably a burr inside the bearing surface. So a quick trip to machine shop resulted in a round file. A few light strokes inside of the bearing resulted in a velvety smooth rotation.
Next up is the blade height adjustment shaft before, during, and installation after pics.
Please note the damage to the shaft locking key. This occurred due to someone giving it an extra hard twist. Snug is enough. The damage was cleaned up with a flat file.
Blade tilt shaft assembly
Next step is install the trunnion assembly into the saw cabinet.
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** Trunnion Installation **
At this point @job4goodman jumped into the cold water to help reinstall the trunnion. This portion of the job is somewhat dangerous since the cast iron being dealt with is very heavy. It would be easy to break your hand of crush a foot.
First up was to install the blade tilt worm drive assembly.
Next up was installing the trunnion assembly into the cabinet. This had to go in at an angle in order for the blade height adjustment to extend outside of the cabinet.
View from above.
At this point of the reassembly, the saw is smooth enough that the trunnion can be tilted via the worm drive shaft by using two fingers to turn it. This was exciting. The reality is that when the 150 lb drive motor is mounted this won’t be happening.
View of both blade height and tilt shafts with handles installed.
Next up is the cast iron top.
Now for the cast iron wings.
Stay tuned gang, much more to come.
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Awesome job guys! The photos and info (and the work itself) are all very much appreciated!
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Any objections to linking this thread on Facebook for some of the national/international Makerspace groups? I think a lot of people would be interested in the teardown/rebuild process for stuff like this.
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Not at all.
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Awesome work guys. I appreciate very much the hard work everyone has done on the Powermatic. A clear demonstration of the Be Excellent motto and the volunteer spirit. You deserve much gratitude from the membership.
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