Jet cabinet saw.... (I've waited 13 years)

After completing the end of (fiscal) year inventory at work, I took at look-see through the two leaky trailers used to store equipment taken out of service (and ultimately destined for the salvage yard) for a little inventory of my own…. mostly a lot of junk…. and if something isn’t junk when it’s put in there, it soon becomes junk. Since aquiring a programable panel saw, we’ve ditched several PM66 table saws, but they’ve always been 3 ph machines.

But what’s that I see!!! a single phase Jet TS! After some investigation (know one seams to know where the saw came from, nor have a use for it) I ask the owner if he’d like to part with it… He made me a VERY fair offer so today I took my beater truck to work and hauled this puppy home.

The cast iron top needs some TLC…. I’m hoping it’s all surface rust and no pitting.

Saw is set up with a Jet/Biesemeyer fence….

And here’s the motor name plate…

(ever wonder how do all those “3 HP” contractor saws manage to pull < 15 amps at 120 v).

I talked to a very helpfull gent at Jet tech. support (with quite the suth’n drawl) who was able to send me a .pdf copy of the original manual, but regretted to inform me that they no longer inventory, nor can they get parts for these saws…. and that the saw was manufactured in the early ‘80s. And the CS rep at www.ereplacementparts.com, also concluded that they can’t get parts for these old Jet saws.

Then I discovered that the cabinet was 100% completely stuffed full of clumpy, shredded corrugated fluff, and realized that the saw must have been used to cut corrugated blocks in our box shop, where we glue up scrap corrugated to make blocks for use in corrugated pallets. That coudn’t have been good for the saw…. and I’m wondering if it was pulled out of service for a reason….

So I started to get cold feet…. but figured I’d see if my bud in our maintenance dept. who pulled the saw out of the trailer for me, could cart it into the shop and see if the saw ran….

BINGO! she fired right up and seemed to run smooth

So after getting buy with my Sears contractor saw (which is in great shape and has really been quite good to me) for 13 years, I finally have the opportunity to put a little sweat equity into this Jet saw and upgrade my shop to a cabinet saw. Something I had pretty much given up hope I could ever do.

-- It’s the knowledge in your head, skill in your hands and motivation to create in you heart that makes you a woodworker. - Mainiac Matt