It’s hard to say exactly what is wrong with your saw without being there to actually inspect it. It could be a bad bearing in the arbor assembly. If you have trouble inspecting the various parts and narrowing down the source of the problem (basic deductive reasoning and process of elimination), then I would say that you will be challenged to effect the repair.

Take a look at the procedure I wrote up for changing arbor bearings. It should give you a good idea of all that’s involved. Your saw will probably be different on some minor points but the basic steps will be the same. Do you follow the whole process? Does anything seem particularly difficult? Is there any part of the process that you can’t see yourself doing?

Sometimes I ask people “Are you a good cook?” They look at me like I’m crazy. But, cooking is just a matter of following directions and rules to obtain an outcome. People who like to make up their own rules (before understanding the principles) tend to be bad cooks. People who don’t pay attention to details tend to be bad cooks. People who can’t follow directions tend to be bad cooks. Do you get discouraged, quit half way through the dish, make excuses for why it didn’t turn out? If you’re a bad cook, then you will likely struggle with machinery repair. If you enjoy cooking and everything turns out great (exactly like the photo, you look forward to making it again, people ask you to cook at events, they want your recipies, etc.) then you won’t have any trouble repairing machinery.

Definitely don’t run the saw until it is fixed.

Thanks,
Ed

I own a Sears contractor’s table saw. I’ve been remodeling my kitchen and was ripping numerous pieces of 1″ x 2″ ash lumber into 3/8″ x 2″ planks so I could run a bead on them for insets into the cabinet doors. I was obviously putting quite a stress on the saw. Eventually, the saw developed a horrid screeching noise and I couldn’t use it anymore. At first I thought it was the belt screeching - similar to a loose belt on a vehicle, but now I firmly believe the noise is coming directly from the arbor. The motor runs normally. The tension on the belt is fine and the belt is not slipping. The screeching actually sounds like metal on metal. I want to replace the arbor. I’m getting flack from my husband. He’s convinced I can’t do it and I need to call a repairman. We live in a rural area and I don’t want to pay a repairman to drive out that far, they always charge extra. I need advice from an outsider. If it can be done by a common person, male or female, I need to do it myself to save money. Is it possible? Oh, I bought the saw in 2002, so it’s not that old. I don’t have the model number right this moment, but I can get it if need be. Thanks!

You’ll just have to call a few up to find out. There are a lot of hungry machine shops out there right now so I would bet that you get come pretty competitive quotes.

Thanks,
Ed

Like many others above, I have purcased a used Delta contractor’s saw. I believe that the arbor bearings and motor are OK, but I would like to flatten the bosses on the underside of the table so that I can minimize trunnnion mis-alignment. How difficult/expensive would this be for a local machine shop? I live in Greensboro, NC so there are certainly a few machine shops out there.

I am looking forward to the continuation of your rebuild.

Mike

Tha

I’m pretty amazed at the accuracy of my Excalubur sliding table. I have never done a study on its accuracy but I depend on it to deliver cuts to within 0.005″ and it does. Adjusting the motion so that it is parallel to the miter slot can be a bit tedious because it involves loosening and re-tightening the cross braces. However, unless you move the saw or bump the frame, it seems to keep the setting pretty well. Overall accuracy will be limited to the straightness of the steel tube. I might be lucky or it might be because they take care when selecting the tube - mine is pretty straight.

If there is a major drawback it is this: it does take up a lot of dedicated floor space.

Ed

You’re welcome! Glad to hear that you got it figured out! This is a first for me. I’ve never heard of the tilt mechanism preventing proper blade alignment. Good job!

Ed