New (old) Craftsman 113 Table Saw questions

[John Emwonk]

Hi all,

At the suggestion of one of the forum members, I decided to seek out a Craftsman 113 model table saw, model number 113.298240. The blade was slightly off kilter so we adjusted the trunnions.

It seems to run very well, but when it slows down the motor and belt wobble. The belt looks as if it is running off center during the last revolutions when the saw comes to a stop. Is that normal? It runs smooth at full speed.

Any suggestions on what to do to enhance or improve the saw? The original fence it came with seems like it will be difficult to adjust correctly parallel to the blade.

btw, I paid $100 for it. Is that an ok deal?

[Rick Potter]

Hi John,

There are a few standard suggestions for that saw. My dad had one, and made a lot of nice stuff. The usual advice is to get a link belt, a set of PALs to adjust the table and a set of steel pulleys. This should smooth it out noticeably, and make the top really easy to adjust to the blade. I think Peachtree has it all, or check with Inline Industries (?). Jerry there is the guru.

You can occasionally find a nice fence on CL, or, more often find a saw with the nice fence...buy it, switch, sell it.

Rick Potter

[Troy Turner]

+1 for Rick. If you have a harbor freight in the area, they have green link belts, plus you can use one of their coupons. Depending on your budget for a fence, I'd recommend a Vega. Bought one and it bolted right up to my C-man saw.

[John Emwonk]

Thanks. Ironic seeing a $250 fence for a $100 saw but I understand the need. Just stings a little.

I'll try to track down Jerry.

Is the belt the reason it runs smooth at speed but wobbles near the end of the slow-down?

[Rick Moyer]

Are the pulleys square to the shafts and the allen screws tight enough?

[Rick Potter]

Old belts that sit for a while take a 'set', kind of like tires with 'flat spots'.

[Jon Wilson]

Having just purchased a 113.299xxx I am very familiar with your situation.

As far as the wobble, be sure that your pulleys are square to one another,
Be sure your allen screws are set on both pulleys, then I would check to make
sure the motor and motor mounts are in place and fully secured and then RUN to your
nearest Harbor Freight (with coupon in hand) to purchase one of their
link belts. With those first few things done the saw should purr like a kitty cat.

Next up a PALS system for adjusting the blade.

Then a nice fence to replace the POS that came with those saws.

You can at your leisure switch these around to your liking.
I went operational first and then functional.

Didn'tmake much sense to me to have a really nice square and everything else was ho-hum.

As an aside, I had a lock washer fall out of my saw a few days after I had it up and running,
which turned out to be a blessing in disguise... I got the opportunity to completely dismantle the saw,
clean it all up, lube all the moving parts and then put it all back together. All in all it was an awesome experience.
** I have to be truthful about this, I had a lot of help and encouragement from other SMC members **

If you have any questions, or need any advice, let me know either here or through PMs

[Joe Hillmann]

Does it make acceptable quality cuts? If so I would just use it as is.

As far as the fence not being square if you look on woodgears.ca you will find several examples of homemade fences that cost very little to make.

[Troy Turner]

Thanks. Ironic seeing a $250 fence for a $100 saw but I understand the need. Just stings a little.

Good thing is, if/when you upgrade, you can keep the fence and stick it on your new saw Yeah, buying a fence that costs more than the saw will get you...but you'll thank yourself later.

[Myk Rian]

Is the belt the reason it runs smooth at speed but wobbles near the end of the slow-down?

Motors have a capacitor which acts as a brake during shutdown. Don't worry about it.

[John Emwonk]

Thank you all for this wonderful help.

I bought the saw based on advice from this forum and I'm already very impressed with the difference in quality from my 12-year-old craftsman "limited-edition" saw.

I just had some surgery to day that will make my left arm pretty much worthless for six weeks, so I'm going to brush up on the enhancement techniques suggested here and look forward to being able to use both arms again.

[Curt Harms]

Good thing is, if/when you upgrade, you can keep the fence and stick it on your new saw Yeah, buying a fence that costs more than the saw will get you...but you'll thank yourself later.

That's what I did. Bought a Mule Cab fence for the Craftsman saw, the Griz 1023 came with a crappy Jet Lock knockoff fence, crappy Jet Lock fence went on the Craftsman, Mule Cab fence on Grizzly.

[John Emwonk]

All,

Thanks again for the help. I just picked up the Linkbelt at Harbor freight.

Is it possible to get a good fence or less than the $260 Vega that was recommended? Also how do I verify the pulleys are square? Will a square on the shaft work?

[Troy Turner]

There's fences out there that are less than the Vega...I want to say a Delta fence or some sort, but can't remember which one. You want to make sure they're in line with each other. A straight edge touching each pulley at the same time will help verify.

[Lee Schierer]

Motors have a capacitor which acts as a brake during shutdown. Don't worry about it.

I don't think so. The capacitors create a phase shift that allows the motor to start, but it does nothing for braking.

As for the saw alignment. Make sure the motor is mounted parallel to the table. It hangs on a bracket off the back and the weight of the motor tensions the belt. If one or more of the mounting bolts is loose or missing the motor could be crooked which would cause the belt to run funny.