Thomas Keefe's Workshop

Your shop sounds interesting. Is there any chance we could get some pictures posted when you get the chance?

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I also have one of the Craftsman bench top table saws, and I’d be very interested in how you managed to make a zero clearance throat plate for it. Mine has a piece of metal that is held in place with two screws. There isn’t room for a 3/4” piece of wood to be level with the top of the table.

-- John - Tampa, FL - American components, Russian components..... ALL MADE IN TIAWAN!

This sounds like the one that I have. The throat plate stands on four allen screws that
are threaded directly into the wood. The bottom has some areas hollowed out to
deal with some of the obstructions.

Supporting the throat plate on four corners is probably the most difficult. There is already support
on the right side to support the plate. I had to add some brackets to support the plate on the
left side though.

I took some pictures to give a better idea how it works. This picture shows the throat plate you can probably
see the allen screws. You may need to click on the photo to see the whole image.

This photo shows the bottom of the throat plate.

This next shot shows the brackets I added to support the left side of the throat plate.

Finally, I have included two photos of the underside of the table. This is an extra table top that I have.
(I damaged it routing the mitre channel out to 3/4”.) It does not show how the bracket attaches.
If you like I will try to photograph the brackets that I added when I have a little more time.

Here is a closeup.

Sounds like the beginning of a great set of tools. I’ve 15 amp circuits in my shop so I have to rremember to plug my DC into a different circuit than my table saw ;-)

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

Thanks for the pictures TF,

I’ve been trying to come up with a ZCI for my little saw and seeing what you have done is a big help. I can make a set of brackets for mine, but please tell me how you attached them to the under side of the table.

If I can figure this out maybe I can squeeze a couple more years out of my poor old Craftsman. :)

-- John - Tampa, FL - American components, Russian components..... ALL MADE IN TIAWAN!

The brackets were made from an aluminum bar. I fashioned them using a dremel tool,
hack saw and a metal file. They are attached using very small machine screws. I drilled
a hole and threaded it. The tapping set cost about $30 dollars and was very easy to use.
I made the holes in the raised circular areas. The top is pretty thick in those places.

Tom

Tom,

Got it… now I just have to take good old Frankensaw apart unless I can do it from the bottom. My saw has also been modified ….. a lot!

Thanks for your help. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this myself before this….. Oh well… we can’t all be Einsteins.

-- John - Tampa, FL - American components, Russian components..... ALL MADE IN TIAWAN!

Hi John. What type of modifications have you made?

I have spent a lot of time trying to see how far I could take this saw. I am reasonably happy with it.
However, the cuts that I get do not seem as smooth as I would like. Perhaps that is just something
I will need to get used to. Just curious if you have the same model and what you think of it?

Tom

Hi Tom,

Sorry it took awhile to reply. I spent the day yesterday looking for work. I went on vacation in October for 2 weeks and when I went to go back to work the company was closed. They still owe me the 2 weeks vacation pay and the week’s pay that they held back when I first started there almost 20 years ago. But of course there is no one to get the money from cause there isn’t a company anymore. bummer :(

I think my saw is older than yours. Its a Craftsman model 113.221770 and was manufactured in the early 90’s. When I bought it it had been used and returned to the store without the stand that was supposed to be a part of the package. The manager gave me a large discount because it was missing the stand and a full new tool warranty so it only cost me $60.00.

Over the years its gone through several modifications to try to improve its functions none of which helped much to make it into something it isn’t. So as other tools came along, it has been designated as the dedicated ripping tool and right now is mainly used only to rip wide boards into narrower ones, make box (finger) joints, and double as a serving table during family bar-b-ques. Most of the remaining work has fallen to the miter saw and the RAS that I was recently given.

The first thing I modified was to make a table extension for the right side. Then my FIL gave me the stock fence from his Craftsman Contractor type table saw because he bought a new fence for his. I never liked the fact that as soon as a board had been fully cut it wanted to drop off the saw due to the short table behind the blade, so I added a small out feed shelf to the back. Also I needed to extend the table size to allow the longer fence from the full sized saw to work. This makes it a lot more comfortable for me because boards aren’t wanting to fall off the back of the saw, but makes using the blade guard, splitter and anti-kickback pawls impossible. I use a lot of care and feather boards to prevent problems. It was getting too big to carry around, so I bought a Craftsman tool stand, and a Rigid Hercu-lift device to finally get it at the correct height and make it mobile. Up until adding the stand I had been clamping it to a table to use. Finally, after seeing so many guys mount their routers to their table saws,and listening to the wife complain that I was taking over the carport with all the machines, I mounted my Craftsman PRO router table to the left side of the saw. This is how I came to name it Frankensaw. :) Because its got so many things that would have otherwise been thrown out bolted to it.

I’ll post some pictures in my workshop later since it won’t let me post them here. Then you can really see how convoluted it has become.

I’m working to design a ZCI for my saw based on what you have made for yours. The first thing I noticed in your photos is that your saw’s top surface around the blade opening is a lot thinner than mine on the blade side and the pedestals for the stock plate are shaped differently. Also, my blade doesn’t drop low enough to allow a 3/4” piece to sit at table top level and not hit the blade by at least 3/8”. This is fine after the kerf is cut, but getting it cut the first time is going to be a challenge. So, I’ll be doing mine differently, but the inspiration comes from your design. For which I thank you very much.

Thank you again for sharing your concept.

-- John - Tampa, FL - American components, Russian components..... ALL MADE IN TIAWAN!