Hot Rod Contractor Saw

[Pat Germain]

On another thread, Matt requested some pictures of my Sears Contractor Saw setup. By no means is this a gloat, but since we get a lot of questions about "hot rodding" a contractor saw, I thought this could be useful for future reference. (Please excuse the appearance of my shop. The temperature here has been hovering on either side of zero lately and organization hasn't been a priority.)

Pic 0: A picture of the front of the saw which identifies its genre. Don't believe the "3 HP" for a minute. It's closer to 1.5, if that.

Pic 1: Here's the saw overall. I just added the router last weekend. The piece of pine is holding it level until I can add a folding leg to support the right side of the extention. Even without that piec of pine, the whole setup is surprisingly stable. The leg will ensure the right side doesn't tip down while I'm using the router. The mobile base is a 3-wheeled Rockler kit with a foot pedal on the front. It works great.

Pic 2: Another view of the right side.

Pic 3: Here's a better view of the router insert. I got the insert plate on clearance at Woodcraft!

Pic 4: There's the back of the saw. You can see the link belt. It's attached to machined pulleys, which also helped reduce vibration. I recommend a link belt with machined pulleys as the first modification to any contractor saw. Next should be a better fence. (Just my take.)

[Pat Germain]

Notice the angled pieces on either side of the trunnion. That's a PALS system which I also highly recommend. It was an easy bolt-on and made adjusting the trunnion not only possible, but easy. The allen screws on either side move the back of the trunnion left and right. This gets it dialled in spot-on. Without PALS, it was impossible to get the blade square to the miter slot. As soon as I'd start tightening the trunnion bolts, the whole thing would start moving. PALS not only allows fine adjustment, it keep everything locked in place while the trunnion bolts are tightened down.

[Pat Germain]

This pic shows my fences (as well as the mess at the back.) I have a MuleCab Accusquare Fence installed with two T-Squares. The black T-Square serves as a router fence. I'm working on building a two-piece wooden fence which will attach to the T-Square.

I ended up with two T-squares because the first example, the black one, bulged on the bottom when it was tightened down. I emailed MuleCab about this and they sent me the gold T-Square free of charge. The gold T-square is of a newer, improved design. The black T-square had problems as a primary fence, but works fine as a router fence. Overall, I've been very happy with this fence system. It was easy to install on my CS and gives me plenty of room with very good accuracy. The price is reasonable and I'd recommend for improving a contractor saw.

[Pat Germain]

This is a better view of the fence, in case anyone is interested.

I bought this saw back in the early 90's when I didn't know anything about power tools. I soon learned a Craftsman wasn't the best option, but decided to make the best of it. After Hot-Rodding the saw, it's turned out to be quite functional, but nothing spectacular. I'm saving for a cabinet saw and a band saw. Until then, it get's the job done.

Questions?

[scott kinninger]

I have an circa 1980 Craftsman that I inherited. The link belt and machined pulley was a tremendous upgrade, it used to shake so bad I was scared of it, now it passes any nickel or penny test I throw at it with that one simple upgrade. If you have one of these saws spend the $65 for this!

[David Stoner]

I've never heard of PALS before, but it sounds like just the thing I needed on the saw that I just decided to return because of misalignment with the miter gauge.

[Rod Sheridan]

Nice modifications Pat, however when I saw the photograph of the saw top my fingers began to ache.

I had a Craftsman saw with the open web table extensions and the number of times I pinched my fingers with the sled is hard to imagine.

I did become good at using words that I probably shouldn't have though..........Rod.

[Pat Germain]

I've never heard of PALS before, but it sounds like just the thing I needed on the saw that I just decided to return because of misalignment with the miter gauge.

I would recommend first checking the clearance rack at your local Woodcraft store. That's where I got mine. If that fails, you can order PALS here:

http://www.in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html

I doubt any contractor saw is going to come from the factory with the blade anywhere near alignment with the miter slot. You can also pick up a cheap dial indicator (available online, at Woodcraft or Rockler) and make yourself a jig to get the alignment spot-on. For some stupid reason I avoided doing this for many years. I should have done it before I ever used the saw. I really didn't think the alignment would be that far off. I was very wrong. Even after trying to square to the fence to the miter slot, then clamping the blade to the fence, it would end up being off by over seventy thousandths.