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Saw Porn. And asking a little advice

1K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  scphantm 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I got my grubby little hands on this yesterday. Its a (I think) 50's era DeWalt Model GE 16 inch radial arm saw with the single phase 3 horse motor and 24 inch stroke. I just got it assembled to get it off the floor. I went with this because, well, the price was a steal, and since it has a 1 inch arbor, I can run a VFD to step the speed down to 1500 RPM and run my metal cutting blades. I do far more metal than wood and metal bandsaws always p#@%& me off.

Sadly, it looks like someone decided to repaint it and chiseled off all the number plates to do so. At least thats the only thing that makes sense to me. So I don't have a way to get an accurate date on it due to, well, no serial number.

I went over every wear point I could possibly find and this girl is pristen. guide bearings are perfect, guide way looks brand new, zero flop in the motor bearings, I couldn't believe how nice of shape she was in.

But, there is one little thing. which is where the advice comes in. The steel table has seen better days and the column is beginning to sag in. Its the table that's out of whack. Plus there's about 30 bolts in the bottom of that piece of maple. Now the way this thing is designed, there are 6 steel bars about 18 inches long that run parallel to the blade. You would normally use about 2 - 2 1/2 inch quarter 20's to bolt them to the stand and space them up about a half to three quarters off the stand itself. So the bars are floating, but still locked into the stand. You then make those bars perfectly level. Then you put the boards down on the bars and ran more quarter 20's thru the deck boards into the steel bars.

Not a bad system. works perfectly fine. But i want to reinforce the stand a bit and try to pull that sag out. My idea is to double up some 3/4 plywood and sheet the entire top of the stand with that. Then take those steel bars, put them under the table, and bolt down thru the top of the plywood, into the bars, and wrench them tight. Im hoping thats going to be enough to square up the stand a bit and give that column beam some extra support.

Then comes the maple cut surface. I found some levelers on McMaster Carr that have bolt holes in the feet. I was thinking of taking 4 of those, bolt the feet to the bottom of the maple in the biggest square i can fit. then drill the positions thru the plywood, put in some threaded inserts from the top, and run the bolt up thru the bottom of the plywood, thru the insert, put a lock nut on, then into the foot on the bottom of the maple. Then i can sit there and fine tune the table with only 4 bolts instead of 30, and I gave the stand a boatload of additional structural support.

Anyone have a better idea? I've been working on this one for a few hours now and its the best I got so far.

Thanks. Enjoy the pics

Wood Floor Hardwood Plank Wood stain


Saw Wood Window Tool Automotive exterior


Bottle Plant Automotive tire Wheel Wood
 

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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Something for you to consider: my approach would be (and was on my 1030K, a much smaller saw) would be to remove the legs and replace them with a very solid cabinet. If you built it stout, the box structure will provide enough support to keep the frame from sagging, which will be securely bolted to the cabinet. the cabinet will have a robust structure, and the top will be those 2 pieces of plywood. This will also allow you to stay with the factory table support. Is the S/N on the motor missing as well? The first 4 digits of it may provide a clue to the age. I'd reconsider your VFD plan a little, not sure you'll get it working on a single phase motor.
 
#3 ·
We had one of those big monsters (American Saw, very similar to your DeWalt) at the big orange box I worked at. I cant offer too much help with your table issue, bit just wanted to say that I'd kill to have one of those in MY shop !
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#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have the VFD question out on practical machinist for suggestions on which to get. Those guys are electrical ninjas, if its possible, they will tell me how to do it.

yea all the plates are gone. I identified the motor from an old 1950's repair manual. the housing is dead nuts on the pic and the book said the 3 horse was the only one avail on single phase. This saw came with either a 3, 5, or 10 horse. I found a 1947 version of the manual and the motor was still brushes. So somewhere between 47 and the early 50s they switched to induction.

Building a new cabinet is a lot easier said than done. You see the bolt on the front face, center, bottom? That bolt is connected to a yoke and bevel gear under the column. Thats how you raise and lower the saw. replicating the positioning of all the parts for that mechanism in a new cabinet is a bit more involved than id like to get. My plan B if the plywood didn't work was remove the column, get the stand sand blasted and weld a 1/4 inch steel plate to the top of the stand. Then use angle iron to not replace, but follow the lines of the original legs and tie the floor into the steel plate. That angle iron would become the vertical structural support and the original steel would be relegated to lateral support for the angle. Kinda like an exoskeleton. I have enough plate laying around, that would be pretty easy. i just don't want to use up that plate if i don't have to.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
We had one of those big monsters (American Saw, very similar to your DeWalt) at the big orange box I worked at. I cant offer too much help with your table issue, bit just wanted to say that I d kill to have one of those in MY shop !
- JoeinGa
If my historical research is correct so far (and its far from complete at this point, so buyer beware), DeWalt was bought and sold many times over the years. The main business is owned by Black and Decker, which also owns Porter Cable. In the mid 80's, DeWalts industrial saw business was sold to a company called Oringinal Saw Company. They still make this class of saw today.

http://www.originalsaw.com/16heavyduty.php

And from what im told, its not a bad saw for big work. So that big box saw may have been a grandson of this one.
 
#8 ·
I did learn a lesson about this saw the hard way this morning. Im going to have to get my mom to sew a HEAVILY padded cover for the arm for when i'm not using it.

ouch.

I'll make a cardboard copy of the arm and give it to her. She can whip one together pretty quick.
 
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