Bit of a rebuild of a Startrite TA255 circular sawbench ...

[rogxwhit]

I baulk at the term 'table saw', which I see as yet another example of creeping Americanisation, along with things or circumstances being 'awesome'. A circular sawbench is just that and I'm sticking with it. ;-)

This story turned out to be longer than expected (see below). I wanted (needed) a compact saw with a cast iron top for as much under a grand as possible. Hmmm. Tough one. Then in early June I found this TA255. Fairly good nick, 3-phase, but underpowered for the blade size. Price seemed good - I'll buy it and change the motor for a bigger 1-phase one, I thought.

There was quite a bit of rust round the base of the cabinet. But you can buy Startrite Green hammered paint from Paragon - it pleases me to have the historically authentic shade. So I flipped the saw and off went the cabinet to a local spray shop.

And off came the motor. It was 900W, like the TA146 / 165. That's no good for ripping with a 250mm blade. I decided to compromise at 1500W, although the new motor frame was a 90 and I could've got a 2200W the same size.

The old Brook Gryphon was face-mounted but with an obsolete geometry, so I had to adapt the mount for the new motor. A foot mount would've needed a right-angled plate welding up which I can't do in-house, so I chose face mount again.

Here's the adapter plate I made:

The new plate and motor sandwich the existing drop plate and have a small range of adjustment for belt tensioning. The two smaller screws & nuts ride in slots and are 'security' fastenings.

 

[yetloh]

Looking forward to seeing more.

Jim

 

[rogxwhit]

More will come, Jim, but the crux of it is the motor mount as above.

A point in passing is that Startrite sawbenches are designed so that the mechanism hangs from the table, so if you want to work on one it seems to me that the better option is not to remove the table to access the mech, but to flip the whole machine and remove the cabinet ...

 

[rogxwhit]

Anyway, I'd been planning to blitz through this project, but a hiatus arose. No sooner had I deposited the cabinet at the spray shop, it seemed, than my paint man vanished in the direction of Ibiza for a fortnight. Oh well.

There were jobs to do - fitting the motor, along with its pulley and belts, and though there was nothing obviously wrong with them I felt that it was a good moment to put new spindle bearings in. And this and that.

The new motor is longer than the original, and it has a large terminal box with start & run caps in. Will it fit the cabinet, given that it has a range of rise & fall & tilt movement? Dunno, the cabinet is elsewhere, so I'm improvising blindly. But ah, life is full of risks! Isn't life on the edge exciting?

But this morning I fetched the cabinet.

 

[rogxwhit]

This was the stage I'd arrived at:

And it was so hot this morning that motivation to proceed was hard to muster. But I was curious to find out how many of my labours had been in vain!

The table, apron and mech as shown were on trestles. It was an awkward experiment at that height to single-handedly lift the cabinet over, drop and wriggle it into place. But eventually I'd have to invert the whole assembly without damage or scrapes anyway, so maybe it was time to lower it to floor level - the eventual inversion would be easier from that position. It would've been an awkward lift, so I used a part-sheet of ply as a ramp and slid it down.

Then came the acid test. I had to place the cabinet over its mounting holes, then put the rise-fall & tilt through their movement ranges to see if anything fouled. Something did - it was the terminal (& capacitor) box. Time for a head-scratch. And reach for some measuring tools & a notepad.

 

[rogxwhit]

I need to rotate the motor 90 degrees so that the terminal box faces the back of the cabinet. I'm also fitting a slimmer aluminium box - every mm counts!

Trouble is that moving the box position interferes with my plan for a blade shroud with dust extraction. :-(

A blacking kit should arrive today for some of the bare ferrous parts ...

 

[Distinterior]

A blacking kit should arrive today for some of the bare ferrous parts ...

Where did you get your Blacking kit from Rogxwhit...?
I've been looking for one myself as I have a few ferrous items that need doing, but no one seems to have them "In stock"......They are sometimes listed as being in stock, but when I put it in my basket, it invariably says out of stock....!!

 

[Spectric]

I baulk at the term 'table saw', which I see as yet another example of creeping Americanisation, along with things or circumstances being 'awesome'. A circular sawbench is just that and I'm sticking with it. ;-)

Interesting one and are either really correct! Table saw, it is really not a table which is a piece of furniture but maybe once upon a time some hillbilly had one that doubled up as both a saw and somewhere to have lunch. Then circular sawbench, would just sawbench not suffice because yes it has a circular blade but the actual sawbench is not circular but my vote would be a sawbench on the basis we already have a workbench so a logical name.

 

[Ttrees]

Might it be a good idea sometime around now to check whether the blade aligns with the mitre slots,
Yes you could do this later, but @deema has mentioned to me some adjustment of the trunnion so the blade stays parallel with fence when tilted.
(very evident with fence close to blade.)

Just wondering if I can do so without taking the table off, as it's not a 5 minute job
Would be nice if I could get away without.
Been in no rush with my TS anyway as I have to make a decent crown guard sometime, and I believe the lads are going to spiff one up in the future, so not been too bothered yet.

Cheers
Tom

 

[rogxwhit]

Interesting one and are either really correct! Table saw, it is really not a table which is a piece of furniture but maybe once upon a time some hillbilly had one that doubled up as both a saw and somewhere to have lunch. Then circular sawbench, would just sawbench not suffice because yes it has a circular blade but the actual sawbench is not circular but my vote would be a sawbench on the basis we already have a workbench so a logical name.

A bandsaw has a table - but does it get called a 'table saw'? No, it doesn't. So I don't know why the circular sawbench - which also has a table - got singled out for the indignity. It is distinguished by its blade being circular, so let it have a title that expresses that, 'circular sawbench', which is what it has always been called here in Britain. ;-)

 

[rogxwhit]

Where did you get your Blacking kit from Rogxwhit...?
I've been looking for one myself as I have a few ferrous items that need doing, but no one seems to have them "In stock"......They are sometimes listed as being in stock, but when I put it in my basket, it invariably says out of stock....!!

Below are some sources but mine is coming from the first, which seemed a more complete kit rather than just one solution. The main idea isn't cosmetic but a degree of rustproofing because my workshop suffers some condensation dampness on cold surfaces in the winter.

https://www.black-it.co.uk/index.php/product-listhttps://www.chronos.ltd.uk/product/steel-blacking-kit-2-lites/https://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/mild-steel-blackener-1-litre/
My wallet's lost a bit of weight as a result, but in for a penny ....

 

[rogxwhit]

Might it be a good idea sometime around now to check whether the blade aligns with the mitre slots,
Yes you could do this later, but @deema has mentioned to me some adjustment of the trunnion so the blade stays parallel with fence when tilted.
(very evident with fence close to blade.)

Just wondering if I can do so without taking the table off, as it's not a 5 minute job
Would be nice if I could get away without.
Been in no rush with my TS anyway as I have to make a decent crown guard sometime, and I believe the lads are going to spiff one up in the future, so not been too bothered yet.

Cheers
Tom

It's still upside down till I've completed the reassembly. I'll be checking stuff like that once its right way up again! I always check machines - they're rarely right when you get them, whether new or used, and I'm no stranger to head-scratching for solutions, but I'll be bearing what you said in mind.

 

[Ttrees]

It's still upside down till I've completed the reassembly. I'll be checking stuff like that once its right way up again! I always check machines - they're rarely right when you get them, whether new or used, and I'm no stranger to head-scratching for solutions, but I'll be bearing what you said in mind.

Here is the thread, I think this is the 275 which myself/Deema was referring to,
but presume it could be a similar arrangement?
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/startrite-table-saw-buying-advice.118504/#post-1536101

 

[rogxwhit]

presume it could be a similar arrangement?

Yes all the Startrite circular saws of this vintage conformed to the house design I think, which was very nifty & relatively light - the smaller ones like mine employed a face-mounted motor & the bigger ones a foot-mounted one ...

 

[rogxwhit]

Whilst I was waiting - and waiting! - for the cabinet to be sprayed, I used some of the time to make a new table insert, since the old one was a bit abused. It's 5mm aluminium. And a riving knife, since the one provided was only 2mm which is thinner than a modern tct blade's plate thickness. Historically I've always made riving knives from old sawblades, but this time I had nothing to hand so bought some ground flat stock ...

 

[Spectric]

A bandsaw has a table - but does it get called a 'table saw'? No, it doesn't. So I don't know why the circular sawbench - which also has a table - got singled out for the indignity. It is distinguished by its blade being circular, so let it have a title that expresses that, 'circular sawbench', which is what it has always been called here in Britain. ;-)

So the bandsaw should really be a linear sawbench !!

 

[Inspector]

Lets table the discussion for another day or perhaps create a new thread about the proper nomenclature of woodworking machines and apparatus.

Pete

 

[rogxwhit]

Language has always been in flux ... but in terms of British English I suspect that the internet has led to an increased influx of American English usages. It is, of course, an unstoppable tide! But I notice people saying 'gotten' for 'got' more, never mind the table saw business. No, a bandsaw is just a bandsaw ... the clue is in the 'band' component ...

 

[rogxwhit]

Next working day delivery ...

To be tested later!

 

[clogs]

a bench is kind of a table and visa versa.....
dont get hung up on it....init.....hahaha....
have a great day....
oh, try living abroad for a bit if u need different names for stuff....
obv it'll drive u nuts......
like every language it's full of foreign words....lol.....nobody is right.....
which is awesome......hahaha........
bit like Canada, as I think of it speaking English but 1/2 of em speak blxxdy French....