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Kicking myself over a Powermatic 66 table saw

5K views 24 replies 24 participants last post by  Tennessee 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
15 years ago I purchased at a school auction a used Powermatic 66 saw. My buddy checked it out and said the saw is in fine shape but I would need to replace the 3 phase motor with a single phase motor to use at home.
I never got around to purchasing a replacement motor and so it sat in my shop for 15 years. We recently downsized houses and I had to make room for the saw in my basement shop. To fit the saw in the door I had to remove the tabletop. I took my first peek at the motor's plate in 15 years. The plate said it was not 3 phase but 3 HP single phase.

I'm kicking myself because I had not read the plate myself all those years ago. Maybe I should kick my buddy instead.
 
#4 ·
Yes, kick your buddy but don't forget to kick yourself! I mean, I mean you've had a Powermatic table saw sittin' in your workshop for 15 years and yet you just sat there and admired it ???
 
#9 ·
I love my PM 1968 "66" I bought that was in a high school shop all it's life, hardly saw a full day of work in it's life. When I got it home I took it apart to make it light enough to get it off the truck and found the motor to be only a 1.5 HP. It still cuts just fine and the motor is a Baldor nothing finer. She is grey and made in the USA, same as me!
 
#13 ·
Wow! I guess it pays to keep the Y in DIY….

Look at the bright side, at least you didn't buy a phase convertor for it.

If the HS shop your saw came out of was anything like the Jr. High shop clase I took, they instructor didn't let anybody use the TS or BS other than himself. That saw is probably good as new.
 
#14 ·
Wow!!! Think of all the projects you could have done over the past 15 years.

You have a lot of catching up to do. That PM deserves your undivided attention and tlc for a while.
 
#17 ·
Reacting to your story in a different way, I could say, "Wow, I've been doing woodworking for 35 years and only then did I discover the joys of turning items on a lathe"....Or, "wow, I've been doing woodworking for 40 years before I discovered how gratifying it is to rely on handplanes only for a finished surface". Both of those stories are true for me. I'm not sure where this willingness comes from, to go forward all that time with diminished expectations when a better way is waiting for us, if we'd only open our eyes. Congrats on finally taking things up another notch in your workshop!
 
#20 ·
Hey you could have only found out after you SOLD it when you downsized houses, only to find you had a great saw for 15 years and got rid of it.

think half full :-0
 
#23 ·
Now that the bruises from kicking myself are healed I decided to put the ol'66 to service. Long story but to get the saw in what will be my shop I had to take it apart. I mean all apart. I put the parts back and I'm just now trying to align the top to the blade. I have found plenty of references to miter to blade alignment which I will follow. My question is about two cap head screws that are in the front sheet-metal on either side of the blade up/down adjustment wheel. I'm stumped as to what they are for. I haven't found a a knuter valve to adjust anywhere on this saw.
 
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