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

[rogxwhit]

Merci clogs pour votre input ...

 

[rogxwhit]

Well I followed all the instructions, and some parts have blackened better than others. I wondered if there'd be issues with the ground flat stock of the riving knife, but the worst performer has been the 'simple' bright mild steel of the motor adapter plate. Curious.

 

[rogxwhit]

Overall I'm pleased with the blacking so far, but it turns out that my kit of 0.5 litres each of the four solutions seems to be enough for beyond my lifetime. A quick scout today turned up this version which appears similar to what I got but in a more modest quantity -
https://www.ekpsupplies.com/metal-blak-kit-1-100ml.htmlOh well ...

 

[rogxwhit]

This is the final arrangement -

 

[rogxwhit]

It's a pretty tight fit in the cabinet at the extremities of rise-fall and tilt. But I'll soon be ready to turn the whole thing right way up. It's about 100 Kgs all-in so manageable by one person ....

 

[clogs]

looking good....
nice job....
be nice if it were mine......
Παρακαλώ

 

[rogxwhit]

Well I can say that the job is largely done. The motor itself fits nicely into the cabinet whilst allowing the full range of blade adjustments, but its terminal / capacitor box is another matter. I've lost 6mm of maximum blade projection and it's now 83mm at 90deg with a 254mm blade. However that's still a useful height and has a reasonable relationship to the motor power (2 hp). Vertical cut height at 45deg tilt is 60mm.

With blade fully dropped at 90deg:

With blade lowered at 45deg:

With blade fully extended at 45deg:

Note the clearance recess cut into the cabinet. A 3-phase motor wouldn't need this.

 

[rogxwhit]

Jobs approaching completion are rip fence, protractor & outfeed extension. Then I can relax & cut some wood!

Maybe a note about the models - the compact line of Startrite sawbenches that I know of were the 145, the 165 and this one the 255. They all had differing fence arrangments, but it seems that whether 1 or 3-phase they all had the same 0.9Kw power and the same cabinet except that the 255 had a shallow box extension at the back to accommodate the greater rearward extension of the riving knife behind the 254mm blade.

 

[Inspector]

No way to move the box or replace it with a smaller one for a terminal block on the motor and mount that one with the capacitor on the inside of the cabinet with a short lead to the terminal block? You would then have a full range of travel.

Pete

 

[rogxwhit]

I briefly considered doing that, Pete, but decided that losing 6mm was no bother - sawn joinery red as we call it (Scots pine) is usually 50mm or 75mm, and if I get sawn European oak at 80mm the blade will clear it, but I won't be ripping it in one hit with a 1.5Kw motor! A couple of passes at least. I've chosen my compromises.

 

[rogxwhit]

With Startrite sawbenches, the rip-fence fine adjuster is often missing, and that was the case with mine. Or rather, it had the adjuster screw but not the associated block that clamps to the fence rail. Not a life or death thing to have, but I thought I'd make one.

And here it is finished and in situ -

 

[rogxwhit]

Well that's the re-motoring. The next thing will be setting up. With every machine, new or used, at the start of ownership there's a dialogue with it - the aim being to appreciate its nature, understand its eccentricities and have it as accurate and predictable as possible. Some adjustments, once set, will scarcely need to be addressed again. Others will need periodic checks. The rest will be down to you and how you handle the material being passed through or over it.

 

[seeall]

Good afternoon,
I also own a TA 255, sadly without the fine adjustment bracket. You mention that you made yours, do you have any dimensional drawings you drew to work from when making the adjuster? If possible, I'd be interested in a copy of the drawings.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Jeff

 

[rogxwhit]

Good afternoon,
I also own a TA 255, sadly without the fine adjustment bracket. You mention that you made yours, do you have any dimensional drawings you drew to work from when making the adjuster? If possible, I'd be interested in a copy of the drawings.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Jeff

No drawings Jeff I'm afraid, but you can take the measurements off the existing fence stock and fence bar. Do you have the adjuster screw? My original screw was still present, and the width of the way between its shoulders meant that I could make the new block out of 16mm thick bright mild steel.

 

[seeall]

No drawings Jeff I'm afraid, but you can take the measurements off the existing fence stock and fence bar. Do you have the adjuster screw? My original screw was still present, and the width of the way between its shoulders meant that I could make the new block out of 16mm thick bright mild steel.

Thank you for responding, rogxwhit, it is most appreciated.

Not to worry, I will do as you suggest and work from scratch. Luckily the adjustment screw came with the sawbench. I am considering making the adjuster out of a piece of scrap brass I have to hand. Do any drawbacks come to mind with this choice of material?

Jeff

 

[davidfloegel]

Hi,

I've got a startrite table saw a few days ago, also without the fence fine adjustment.

What I was wondering though, which hopefully some of you can shed some light on, is how I would go about adjusting the fence to the miter slot because it is always slightly out.

The same goes for the blade, is there a way to adjust this to the miter slots?

Kind regards

David

 

[Distinterior]

Hi David,

You haven't stated which actual model of Startrite saw you've got, but all the TA series of saws use the same method of aligning the cast iron top to the cast iron front mounting plate.

If you look at Rogxwit's picture of his inverted saw in post#25 above, you can see the 4 bolts that hold the front mountng plate to the cast iron top. You can also see 2 small holes that have slotted Spring Pins in them that align the top and front. These are factory drilled/set and ensure that the front mounting plate and trunnion stay aligned with the cast iron top.

If everything else is set up correctly, with no play in anything else, there shouldn't be any alignment problems with the blade to fence or mitre slot....!

 

[davidfloegel]

Hi @Distinterior ,

I apologise, it is a TA255 series saw as well!

That makes sense regarding the factory drilled holes - hopefully when I put everything back together after cleaning it up it'll simply sit straight.

Is there any way of adjusting things incase it doesn't?

I also will need to source the fine adjuster, that seems very handy

 

[Distinterior]

Hi David,

The slotted Spring pins I mentioned are a really snug fit in their holes, but there is a bit of wiggle room on the bolts that hold the table to the cast iron front plate & between the bolts that hold the table to the casing.
In theory, you could just remove one of the Spring pins and by slackening the rest of the fixing bolts, it would allow you to pivot the cast iron top slightly to get better alignment.....But,....I would only do this as a last resort, as in theory, it should all line up with both pins fitted.

As I said in my previous post, as long as there is no play in any of the trunnion mounting, .....it should line up as per the factory settings.

I've got a TA 145 (practically identical to a TA255 model) partly assembled in my workshop at the moment that I'm currently putting back together after a refurbishment.
I'll post a couple of photos later showing the Slotted Spring pins and the bolt clearances.

 

[Distinterior]

As promised, below are a couple of photos of a TA145 in mid assembly.
You can see the 4 mounting holes and the bolts showing their clearance fit along with the 2 spring pins sitting loosely in their holes.

This is an "early" TA 145.....