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Craftsman 113 Rehab

4K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  toolie 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Some of you chimed in when I purchased a Craftsman 113.298750 last week. Well, I began cleaning it this weekend and decided I'll just tear the whole thing down, clean it, and set it back up. I need a little help to get started, however.

The table top had a small amount of rust on it. I sprayed some WD-40 on it, waited 10 minutes or so and went after it with some 320 grit sand paper. That combo made light work of the little bit of surface rust. Next, I used mineral spirits to remove the excess WD-40 and paste wax to finish. My first question is, is this clean enough? I can still feel the ridges in the cast iron, but there is no more dirt coming off. The color variation is reflection, not left over rust.

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Second question… will a mineral spirit bath and light scrub bring the bolt and nut threads back to life a bit? They were awfully sticky.

Under the table and around the arbor there is a lot of caked on saw dust that appears perpetually wet. It almost appears oily as well. I know the guy I bought it from is into racing, so I don't know if there were running autos in the garage with the saw or what. Anyway, this won't spray off with canned air and is much of the reason I've decided to tear it down to clean it.

Thanks in advance and I'm sure there'll be much more to come.
 

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#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Looks good to me! You don't have to have a mirror finish on the table. I tried to look up the model # you listed and it doesn't come up. Is that the correct #? Nearest I could find was 113.295750. This one would have the direct drive motor inside the cabinet. I don't think this is the right one either.

I'd clean the arbor and gears with mineral spirits or degreaser and a stiff round bristle brush. When you put it back together lightly grease any gears with a lithium grease or dry lube. The grease is better for lubrication. The dry lube doesnt attract sawdust, but needs to be reapplied more often.
 
#5 ·
Many mechanics like to used diesel fuel to "stop" cast iron from rusting. Of course this makes a mess of the entire saw. My Craftsman saw was treated in this manner. I disassembled everything that I could (could not remove the key from the arbor so did not disassemble the arbor), cleaned everything with a pressure washer to get all of the old sawdust and oil off. After that removed the rust and painted all non fitting surfaces. I used a dry cahain lubricate on all of the screw thread parts and sliding surfaces.
 
#6 ·
canned air

you're kidding, right? hopefully you're already flipped the saw onto it's top. if not, when you do flip it, blow all the crap out with 100+ PSI air pressure. a little mineral spirits will dissolve any grease remnants once they are scrubbed with a plastic or bronze (brass?) bristle brush (like a welders brush). once all cleaned up, WL grease is, i've heard, a good lubricant PROVIDED it's allowed to dry completely before it is introduced to sawdust.

the top on that saw looks fine. as long as material slides over it once waxed you're good to go. and be sure to replace the OEM insert with a ZCI. much safer that way.

i have two of those saws and the older they are, the better they were built. they are extremely simple and should deliver many more years of service if not abused.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Canned air is all I got, so far.

Ok. Top and wings are all disassembled and cleaned. I found when taking the wings off, though, that they were not precisely flat. It seemed that both of them had sagged over time. I don't know how this could be possible, however, with four bolts holding them to the table.

The corners were flush with the table, but the centers appeared to be sagging a bit (1/16" to 1/32"). I can't imagine this will ever be a problem for me as most likely will never rip stock that wide. I will do sheet goods, but that shouldn't make any difference in my applications.

Just wondering if this sag is a relatively normal occurrence in extension wings. ???
 
#10 ·
Congrats on the sw, do not try to sand teh swirls out/off/etc. This top was intentionally ground at the factory for this appearance. It's function is as previously stated, to reduce the drag/friction and movement of the work piece
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the input on the table top. I knew the swirls were factory, but didn't know the purpose. I was more concerned with the rust removal. There's a little pitting, but not enough to write about… oooohh, wait, I just did. Never mind. Well, thanks again and looking forward to hearing about the sagging wings mentioned above.
 
#12 ·
The cast iron wings on my TS also sag in the middle. Unfortunately cast iron will distort over time and there is nothing you can do about it. Taking them to a machine shop to be milled flat is way to expensive. On the other hand I have not had a problem caused by this sag.
 
#13 ·
I suspect these whorls are a 'feature' the same way self serve gas and self checkout are a 'feature'. They save the company time and money. That isn't to say they are bad but I wouldn't delude myself they are there for the customer's benefit.
 
#14 ·
Rick M. is correct. The swirls just mean that the surface was ground flat using a rotary grinder that uses carbide cutters. To make a smoother surface, they would have used a surface grinder that uses a stone grinding wheel. Rotary grinding is cheaper to do and takes less time since a less refined surface is needed. Stone surface grinding takes longer and is more expensive, but leaves a mirror finish. I've run both types of machines and can attest that the swirls are not for any functional purpose.
 
#15 ·
My wings also sagged in the middle. I was able to eliminate much (but not all) of it by forcing them straight with C-clamps when attaching them to the main table. Then I tightened the bolts that hold them to the main table as much as I could. When I remove the clamps, the bolts held them pretty flat (at least at the side where they meet the main table).
 
#16 ·
if the middle of a wing is "low" relative to the saw's table, mount the wing using the two innermost bolts first so the wing and table are level in the middle. level the width of the wing relative to the table top using shim stock or cut pieces of a soda can so the middle of the wings is level with, and in the same plane as, the table top. tighten the innermost two bolts. using clamps, persuade the front and rear of the wing downward until they are level with the table top. insert the two outermost bolts but do not tighten yet. using shim stock or a cut up soda can, shim the front and rear of the wing so it is level with, and in the same plane as, the table top. tighten the two outermost bolts and the wings should almost be one with the table.

if you can find it, there was an issue of wood magazine that tested 3 hp cabinet saws somwtime between 2006 and 2012. that same issue had a feature on how their expert assembled and set up the TSs in the test. many of his techniques are quite useful, both in terms of aligning the saw and adding ease to the assembly/set up process.
 
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