# Old Craftsman Table saw 113.298761



## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

Perusing the local Craigslist ads today I saw a very indescript ad for a craftsman table saw. No model number, no picture, just a couple lines and they wanted 70 bucks. The guy texted me a picture but didn't have time to give me much more than the model number. I said without knowing the condition I'd drive there and buy it for 40 bucks; he said to come get it. It cut a couple test boards just fine but the only thing wrong is the switch is broke so it turns on a soon as you plug it in. Easy fix, I'd prefer a big paddle button anyway. It's a bit rusty but I think I'll be able to clean it up and replace my dwe7480. 
Here's some pictures, any tips on cleaning it up?


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

The cast iron table & extensions look pretty good. A scotchbrite, with your lubricant of choice (WD40, or what not) a little elbow grease & then clean off the oil and apply a paste wax. The top will then be good to go. The mechanics underneath will need attention too. Clean up the trunnion, clean the blade lift mechanism, then the threads on the tilt rod, then apply a dry lubricant.

The original fence is marginal at best, you may want to consider an after market fence. Knottscott would also advise a quality blade…. and your all set!!!

Congrats on the CL score.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Wow…what a steal for $40! The wings are worth that….so is the fence if you have it. The blade guard is worth close to that. The motor is worth 2x to 3x that! Switch your pulleys and belt with *Notw*, and you'll both be set!

Mineral spirits, WD40, or kerosene and a scotchbrite pad under a ROS has worked well for me in the past. If your in a hurry 150 grit sand paper works well on the ROS too.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

Yeah I noticed the fence was pretty sloppy. When you say an after market fence, do you mean building one or buying one? I haven't had much luck researching fences to buy. Thanks for the tips on cleaning it up, what is the trunnion though? As for the blade, I'll be transferring over the one I have on my dewalt until it sells and then I'm gonna covert that money into a few new blades.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Something like this should be a direct bolt on for your saw, and is an upgrade, but isn't as nice as the Delta T2 IMHO. You could probably sell the stock fence for ~ $40 to offset some cost.

The trunnions are the guts underneath. You'll want to clean and lube the gears, and align the blade to the miter slot, then the fence to the miter slot.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

> Wow…what a steal for $40! The wings are worth that. The blade guard is worth close to that. The motor is worth 2x to 3x that! Switch your pulleys and belt with *Notw*, and you ll both be set!
> 
> Mineral spirits, WD40, or kerosene and a scotchbrite pad under a ROS has worked well for me in the past. If your in a hurry 150 grit sand paper works well on the ROS too.
> 
> - knotscott


Thanks for the cleaning tips! As for the pulley, I'm a bit confused about what to replace. I read over the forum you linked but I think as a newbie the lingo might be out of my vocab. V-belt, ribbed belt, replace them in a set, not sure what to replace or what to replace it with. Lol sorry for being slow or even a bit dense.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

> Something like this should be a direct bolt on for your saw, and is an upgrade, but isn t as nice as the Delta T2 IMHO. You could probably sell the stock fence for ~ $40 to offset some cost.
> 
> The trunnions are the guts underneath. You ll want to clean and lube them, and align the blade to the miter slot, then the fence to the miter slot.
> 
> - knotscott


Okay, those look pretty shiney nice. I'll definitely need to offset the cost somehow though, will be funny to have a fence that cost more than the table saw but this isn't an unfamiliar tragedy from the reading I've done lol. Maybe I can get 200 for my dwe7480, and if 40 comes from the fence I'll manage to have some leftover to go towards a dado blade.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

I was mostly kidding about swapping pulleys, but it's indeed possible….NotW has a Ridgid 3660 that uses ribbed pulleys and ribbed belt, which are generally considered an upgrade from standard v-belts and v-pulleys, but he wants to upgrade to a link belt, which will require v-pulleys…..like those on your saw. If you guys switched, and he sent you the ribbed belt along with the ribbed pulleys, you'd both have an upgrade! Note that you really don't need to replace your belt or pulleys, unless they prove to be problematic…..far more important to get it the basics setup, decent blade, and possibly the fence upgrade, but that can always come later on when you're ready.

If you do add something like a T2, you'll have a decent basic full size belt drive contractor saw with cast iron wings and a nice fence for < $240!


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## Surfside (Jun 13, 2012)

That was indeed a great score. Time to get necessary upgrades.


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## Joel_B (Aug 14, 2014)

That is a good score, 3 HP is a big motor, mine only has 1 HP.
I put a Delta T2 fence on mine and its makes a huge difference but will cost you $190.
I read about cleaning the top using crumpled aluminum foil and a paste of Bon Ami or Bartender's friend.
I tried a spot with Bon Ami and it works, just takes some time to scrub it.
If I were you I would build it into a rolling cabinet.
There is a post here where somebody did that, really cool.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

> That is a good score, 3 HP is a big motor, mine only has 1 HP…..
> - Joel_B


The true rating for that motor is closer to 1-1/2hp. That sticker on the front was put there by the marketing gurus, not the engineers! A true 3hp motor like those found on Unisaws have large amp draws and are generally best run on a 220v circuit.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Looks just like my saw that I bought new in late '80s. If you want the original "junk fence" let me know. I put a Delta T2 on mine and still have the original. I'd send it to you for $20 + shipping.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

Actually, I had that same original fence on my old Craftsman saw. It is serviceable if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a fence right away.

Also, I think $220 is a little steep for that fence someone linked. You can find them used for less than that. I think the align-a-rip was made for Sears by Ridgid. They used to sell an upgrade fence (Ridgid AC1036) for Craftsman saws. Functionally and physically very similar to the align-a-rip.

I went down the same path you are going right now. I spent $50 on the saw and $85 on a used Ridgid AC1036 fence. Find the story here and here. One of these details the process I used to clean the saw table. Most of my info came from owwm (now vintagemachinery.org) and they are a priceless resource for owners of old woodworking machinery!

Highly recommended - a good blade. I use and like the Diablo series, reasonably priced and available at HD.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Sorry if I misunderstood…do you have the original fence and others are just suggesting an upgrade?


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

Knotscott, that is actually funny. It only makes it more comical that it went above my head and I started researching what pulley I should buy and why. Maybe when I know more I'll be willing to trade. Reminds me of when I had a friend rebuilding a mustang that wanted the 302 out of my 84 mark VII and he convinced me swapping for the V6 from his project car would be better for me. Had he the time to make the swap before the car broke down and I sold it, I would have "upgraded" the engine, lol.

Joel, I am certainly considering a mobile cabinet for the saw, from what I have read it is worth it just for the improved dust collection.

EEngineer, thank you for the helpful links. I was looking for more specifics on how to do the cleanup on the top and that helped me. I was scrubbing away with some off brand WD40 and hoping I could find an easier way. You said you stripped the table with single-edged razor blades, can you explain how that is done? I wouldn't want to assume anything and mess up the top.

hotbyte, I actually do have the fence, I just had it off in the picture for ease of transport. Thank you though for offering to sell me yours at such a reasonable price.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Good score on the old Crapsman saw…..I have one just like it I bought new in 1985….Still have it, but some time back, I completely refurbed it, and built a saw cabinet for it…..Take a look at my Blog entitled "A new look for an old workhorse", and you can read the story behind the re-build…..I use it across from my Unisaw mainly for crosscuts, dados and rabbits. Once you get it all cleaned up, and in good running condition, you might want to think about something like I did…...Sure made a difference…....


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

You said you stripped the table with single-edged razor blades, can you explain how that is done?

You can use single-edged razor blades to scrape all the loose rust off of the table. just hold the razor blade at a low angle to the saw and literally *shave *the rust off of the table! if you keep the angle low it should not dig into the table and mar it. I got this tip from OWWM, a lot of people there use this technique to remove the majority of "loose" rust as the first step in cleaning old cast iron tables. I don't whether it is clear in the pictures of my saw but you can still see the original blanchard grinding marks on the table so it can be done without marring the table. Additionally, this will peel any paint spatters (my table was covered with paint drips and speckles) dried glue and other crud from the table.

Next (this may be optional for you, your table doesn't look bad), I used naval jelly (primarily phosphoric acid) on my saw table. It had some bad pitted areas where something sat on the saw table for a long time rusting. The thing about naval jelly is that it will actually convert some of the rust back to base metal and help fill in the pits. It is not perfect but it is better than just digging the rust out of the pits. The smell is horrible, though, and I would recommend doing any application of naval jelly outside. After it sets and works for 10-15 minutes, it needs to be rinsed off with water. Naval Jelly will attack paint, also. Naval jelly leaves a dark gray coating which is resistant to rust. A lot of people don't like this.

Since I did that saw I discovered Evapo-Rust. This product does something very similar to naval jelly, converting rust back to base metal and a black coating which can pretty much be wiped off treated metal. No fumes and it won't attack paint. Nor does it leave a dark gray coating like naval jelly. Since I discovered Evapo-Rust it has become my standard goto for derusting.

The next step is probably scotchbrite (the green scratchy plastic pads that you use to clean pots and pans in the kitchen) to polish the table and take it down to bare metal. I actually put my orbital sander on top of one of these pads and ran it, but I would use a light hand with this - get too heavy-handed and you can actually take metal off or leave swirl marks in the cast iron. No oil is needed, I did mine dry and then wiped the dust off periodically as I went. If you use oil or WD-40 you will have to strip that off with mineral spirits or some other solvent before trying to wax the table.

The key here (to me at least) is to remove the rust without taking any of the base metal away. No sanding and no steel wool! Once you get the table surface the way you want it, be sure to get a protectant coat on it quickly. You'll be surprised how fast it will rust up again! Many here swear by Johnson's paste wax. I used it for years but it seems I had to clean rust off the table and reapply every spring. Lately I have become a fan of the Boeshield T-9 product - three years now on my initial application and not a spec of rust!

Good luck!


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## Gentile (Jun 3, 2013)

Nice score!
I'm guessing the stand for it is in the background of your first picture?
I enclosed the stand with 1/2" plywood to collect sawdust it made the stand sturdier by bracing the wobbly legs.
The fences are a pain but can be adjusted to acceptable accuracy. 
The only issue I had was the pulley that drives the blade got loose and I had to tighten the set screw.
I had one for years I sold it when I got a deal on a Unisaw…


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## toolie (Mar 16, 2011)

*any tips on cleaning it up?*

i've refurbished a few CI tools, including a unuisaw. this video, part of a series, deals with restoration of the top






this process is inexpensive, easy and effective. if i was at my home computer, i'd post a few pics of my restorations. that saw will do almost anything a hobbyist needs to do with the right blade and fence alignment and the right blade and feed rate. a t2 would really amp up it's accuracy. @ $40, its a great buy.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

Thanks again everyone for all the tips. After some reading I decided on some PB blaster, paste wax, and the universally recommended scotch brite pads (seems like the only part of the operation people don't differ on lol). Seems like if I go the sanding route it gets controversial, so I figure even with the specs of paint and all the dark spots, if I can get rid of it all using scotch brite pads, why take the risk with sanding. Once I get the top cleaned up, Ill clean up the inside as best I can. I read somewhere the paste wax can be used to lubricate the inside parts too which is another reason I chose it.
I am certainly looking at building a cabinet but, like the fence, I'll probably get to that later once this thing is operational and I can sell my dw7480.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

I bought a sawstop Tsa-PDFs fence from toolking.com for 144$. I like it.


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## toolie (Mar 16, 2011)

*Once I get the top cleaned up, Ill clean up the inside as best I can. *

clean the inside first. flip the saw on its top…makes it a lot easier. then flip it right side up and clean away.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

So I was scrubbing away at the top, probably at least 2 hours worth of pb blaster and a little wd-40 when I first started, and it felt like I was only getting so far. I would scrub down to shiney metal but much of it would reveal impossible black spots I couldn't seem to do anything to except for slightly dull them. I casually mentioned something to my wife about it and she recommended using Bar Keepers Friend. 15 minutes later when she called me up for dinner I had made tremendous progress. On the left is 15 minutes of Bar Keepers Friend. The remainder is about 2 hours of pb blaster and wd40.










So what's the catch? I sure hope this isn't too good to be true! Lol.


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## olivercray (Jan 20, 2015)

it's solid!


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

Well, I'll be damned! Learned something new today…

I did a quick search and didn't find much about using this product to clean cast iron tools. I did find this link where he used BKF to clean an old tri-square.

I'd say that you can't argue with success. It seemed to make a big difference on your saw!

I'll have to keep this in mind for the next restoration.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

Well it's been a couple years since I could work on any of this. Moved a couple times and never really had time to get anything set up again. Over winter break from school I vowed to make a dent in getting set up and restarting this rehab process. I finished disassembling the saw, cleaned the trunions (since I know what those are now lol), and about finished the main part of the top. The wings will be another day. I've followed a lot of random tips and continued with the scotch brite pads and barkeepers friend for the most part. For the deeper grime I was doing some steel wool (0000 fine grit) and some 600 grit sand paper with pb blaster. I cleaned off the surface with damp paper towels until the towels didn't get dirty anymore when I wiped the top off. Here's where I'm at now.










I put a coat of paste wax on, but I'm bothered by the orange-ish tint near the insert and on the left side. I'm trying to decide if I want to do another round of bar keepers friend or not. I reread somewhere in the previous comments to strip the top down with mineral spirits if I use a degreaser, but I didn't do that and I'm wondering if that's why the orange showed up (either that or the water from the damp paper towels).

On a side note, I managed to nab a great Craigslist deal on a vega pro 40 fence system a few weeks ago, so that will be going on this when I'm finished.


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

Once again, my shop was put on hold for a couple years. Recently I picked up where I left off, and finally I'll soon have an amazing table saw setup. I've put the saw back together, and nearly done installing the vega pro 40. Installing the fence has been tricky, as this is NOT a direct bolt on as I initially thought. I've also discovered that a few important pieces of the fence system were not included (yay Craigslist), but I've made it work and still feel like it was worth it. Here's what it looks like at this point. One important note, I decided to forgo the perfectionist approach I was taking. I realize this was probably what has caused this to be such a fleeting interest over the last 5 years, and I'm ready to just get a workshop up and running, rather than having my workshop be a chronic project.
All I need to do at this point is finish aligning the fence (had to order some larger Allen keys for the adjustment screws cause the ones I have don't fit and I'm not even sure which size they are), attach the motor, and of course, put the blade guard on.


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## BlackEdition (May 12, 2020)

What a roller coaster. I just found this thread as I am gearing up to do a similar restoration. I have vascilated between a perfectionist resto and a functional resto, as well. I was leaning heavily toward functional, and this thread sealed the decision. I want to get things cleaned, lubed, and running so I can make some sawdust.

Any updates on your shop?


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

> What a roller coaster. I just found this thread as I am gearing up to do a similar restoration. I have vascilated between a perfectionist resto and a functional resto, as well. I was leaning heavily toward functional, and this thread sealed the decision. I want to get things cleaned, lubed, and running so I can make some sawdust.
> 
> Any updates on your shop?
> 
> - BlackEdition





> What a roller coaster. I just found this thread as I am gearing up to do a similar restoration. I have vascilated between a perfectionist resto and a functional resto, as well. I was leaning heavily toward functional, and this thread sealed the decision. I want to get things cleaned, lubed, and running so I can make some sawdust.
> 
> Any updates on your shop?
> 
> - BlackEdition


I'm glad my post could help you make the decision! I haven't looked back since getting everything put together and running. I started building a cabinet around the saw, but I put that on hold to do some other projects and sell some of if the things I've been building. Here's a recent picture of the cabinet. I need to add the drawer fronts and a couple other misc things. Good luck on your saw restoration, I would love to see how it's going (or went and I'm relying 2 months after your reply).


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## Gentile (Jun 3, 2013)

The fence on those are not the best. If you get an aftermarket one, it'll be more than what yo paid for the saw.
Great score otherwise!


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## knexster (Nov 20, 2014)

> The fence on those are not the best. If you get an aftermarket one, it'll be more than what yo paid for the saw.
> Great score otherwise!
> 
> - Gentile


Haha yes that's right. Luckily I've upgraded since the initial purchase to a vega pro 40. I've also built a decent cabinet around it, and put about every upgrade you can on the thing. I love it and will only get rid of it if I can ever afford to upgrade to a cabinet saw.


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## BlackEdition (May 12, 2020)

Wow! Great looking saw enclosure! I haven't started on the resto, unfortunately. We bought a house and have a 6 month old, so time has been at a premium. I have been given the go ahead by the bosslady to start the resto next weekend! My plan is to disassemble completely to clean and de-rust and get the arbor out. I plan on taking the motor and arbor to a local motor shop to have the bearings replaced.

I must admit, I am feeling pretty intimidated by the resto. I am a very green amateur, and am having a waking nightmare that I get it disassembled and can't get it back together and functional again. The saving grace is that I only spent $80 on it. Hopefully the process goes smoothly and I get it running in short order. I'll start a separate thread documenting my progress.


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