I put this in the Safety forum, because proper power tool maintenance is a safety issue.
For quite a long time, the blade elevation wheel on my PM 66 has been very hard to turn. I've been waiting to address this until I could get some expert help.
Today I had a guy out from a mobile tool repair place (recommended by Eastside Saw in Bellevue Washington) to help me with the issue. He was expensive, so I did as much prework as possible:
He thought it was originally just a tight nut somewhere, but I could tell about 1/2 hour into it he was stumped. With his hourly rate, I decided to understand the design and manufacture of the saw, and how to put the thing back together. He helped me with that, and left.
So now, here I am in my garage with my PM 66 stripped to almost nothing. Motor laying on the floor, elevation wheel and wormscrew on the workbench. I was a little freaked out. Mr. Tool Repair dude had to catch the boat home, but told me I could call him if I got stuck. I didn't want to call, because he was out to a family dinner with 94 year-old grammy.
So I start to remove parts, clean them, and continue the dissassembly. Before he left, we had a theory that the main saw pivot arm (big huge piece of round steel that the saw pivots on when being raised or lowered) was not moving freely.
I then spent about 45 minutes with a sledge hammer and piece of steel pouding it free. I was very nervous to beat that thing out of there, and it didn't want out, and my body is sore, but I finally got it free.
After a thorough cleaning and polishing of the saw pivot arm and the holes it fits through, I can proudly say that my both handwheels on my saw now glide.
Everything in the saw cabinet is back together, tomorrow the top, extension, rails, and fence go on. And now that this big ordeal is over I'll fit it with a new blade and a zero clearance insert.
So… if you have a saw that needs some TLC: get out the book, understand the design and manufacture, have a friend help you cause it's physical work, and get your saw in new working order again.
If any of you are having this problem and want more detailed help, let me know. I'll try to post some pictures or scans.
-Matt
For quite a long time, the blade elevation wheel on my PM 66 has been very hard to turn. I've been waiting to address this until I could get some expert help.
Today I had a guy out from a mobile tool repair place (recommended by Eastside Saw in Bellevue Washington) to help me with the issue. He was expensive, so I did as much prework as possible:
- Remove fence
- Remove fence rail
- Remove rear rail
- Remove extension table
- Remove top (ugh!)
- Clean the puppy out
He thought it was originally just a tight nut somewhere, but I could tell about 1/2 hour into it he was stumped. With his hourly rate, I decided to understand the design and manufacture of the saw, and how to put the thing back together. He helped me with that, and left.
So now, here I am in my garage with my PM 66 stripped to almost nothing. Motor laying on the floor, elevation wheel and wormscrew on the workbench. I was a little freaked out. Mr. Tool Repair dude had to catch the boat home, but told me I could call him if I got stuck. I didn't want to call, because he was out to a family dinner with 94 year-old grammy.
So I start to remove parts, clean them, and continue the dissassembly. Before he left, we had a theory that the main saw pivot arm (big huge piece of round steel that the saw pivots on when being raised or lowered) was not moving freely.
I then spent about 45 minutes with a sledge hammer and piece of steel pouding it free. I was very nervous to beat that thing out of there, and it didn't want out, and my body is sore, but I finally got it free.
After a thorough cleaning and polishing of the saw pivot arm and the holes it fits through, I can proudly say that my both handwheels on my saw now glide.
Everything in the saw cabinet is back together, tomorrow the top, extension, rails, and fence go on. And now that this big ordeal is over I'll fit it with a new blade and a zero clearance insert.
So… if you have a saw that needs some TLC: get out the book, understand the design and manufacture, have a friend help you cause it's physical work, and get your saw in new working order again.
If any of you are having this problem and want more detailed help, let me know. I'll try to post some pictures or scans.
-Matt