I bought a Powermatic #66 cabinet saw that is missing everything that is removable above the table top. I will need new fence and rails, blade guard , and miter guide. The table top has the ‘T’ slots for the guide so I assume that I want a miter guide that locks into the ‘T’. Are there high end guides that exceed the original equipment.
My instincts are to install a Biesmeyer fence because I’ve installed one before but there may be good reasons to use another after market fence. Has someone done comparisons or have reasons to choose one over another?
There have been recent discussions on aftermarket fitting of a euro style blade guard. I can’t see how it could be done and I guess that was the conclusion. I have never used a blade guard and as I get older and into my dodderage it’s probably time to stop that foolishness. Do I need to try and get a replacement from Powermtic or is there something better available?
My saw is from the 70s and is a 5hp 3 phase. At present I can probably tie into the 3 phase inverter that my son uses on his Bridgeport mill, but I would like to make it independant of his equipment. Some friends told me of a shop over in the Amish side of the county that dinks with the wiring of a 3 phase motor so that it will run like a 3 phase that is using a spare 3 phase moter as an inverter. Some loss of power but not a problem when I’ve got a 5hp to begin with. Any comments on modifying a 3 phase this way? Can it be done or is this just talk. After all, torque is cheap. Right?
BTW there was also a Hammond table saw for sale at $250. This is a small and very precise saw used in the printing industry and is often valued by jewel box makers, model furnature makers, and others doing small precise work. Email me if you want a telephone number and list of stuff. It is not my stuff and I have no financial interest in it. It is in the D.C. metropolitan area.
BJ
Replies
The Hammond table saw you refer is a Hammond Glide, it has a sliding table, I have one in my printing shop. It is a saw made to cut lead, the blade has no set in it because of the close tolerances it runs in. It has a tendency to burn wood a little, we use it to cut our base for rubber stamps (wood, plastic, rubber) and lead. Its a very fine piece of equipment but very limited for wood working.
Good Luck And God Bless
les
Les, I'm familial with the Hammond saw. I retired from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. As type setting becomes a forgotten craft and the California trays get dumped into the hell box and the linotypes and Ludlows grow cold, folks have been picking up the old Hammonds for a pittance and converting them to craft work. I don't know what has been done to this one. I felt the backside of the blade for the small diameter secondary teeth and I couldn't find them so it may have been converted. The guy who had it didn't know what it was. I pointed out the Ben Franklin logo on the plate and told him to think printing.
Any one who hasn't seen one of these little table saws will hardly believe the precision they are capable of. I was just passing the info along in case someone was looking for one.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
Using another 3 phase motor would not be considered an inverter. It would be considered a rotary converter which would give full power. A static phase converter would give about 1/2 the power. Call a local motor repair shop to give you a full explanation. Electricity is nothing to dink around with. Don't have enough time to explain it better now but been there, done that!
Rick
Check on EBay - they usually have a lot of US made solid state/electronic inverters for very reasonable prices. (I believe the company is out of Cincinnati.) These newer units are over 60% efficient, so that should leave you with the equivalent of 3 hp.
Look at the new HTC fences with micro-adjustment. Very nice units. Now would be a good time to consider the new Biesmeier splitter also. Glad to hear you got such a good deal!
Jeff
Inverters give full power and also allow you to infinitely vary the speed as well many other bells and whistles such as doubling the motors rated output speed or allowing soft start and soft stop. It's static converters that give 60%. A 220 three phase motor will run on 220 volt single phase. Basically it's running on two legs and has enough momentum to go past the third leg hence the 60% loss of power. A static provides the third leg to start the motor and once the motor is running sits on the sidelines so to speak doing nothing. The inverter is working full time and gives full power similar to a rotary type converter. There's a lot more to phase conversion and I'm not even gonna try to fit 20 years of dealing with it in a paragraph. I'm no electrician either but I know when to use a professional. That's why I'm leary of electrical questions on a woodworking forum. Like if I dropped a tablesaw on my foot...do I call a doctor or post here? Sometimes the web is the misinformation highway! Just my 2 cents!
Rick
Jeff, I got one hit for what I really need to know. That is replacing the stuff on the top of the table. I'm unfamiliar with the HTC fence and I don't know about the Biesmeier splitter. Does it include a blade guard? I haven't found anything on after market miter guides. I got this saw for $150 and I don't need to be my normal cheap self in refurbishing it.
Thanks Jeff. I'll google for this stuff and come back if I can't find it.
I know, I know, there's someone who will gladly take the worry off my hands. grin.
BJ
Gardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
I'll highly recommend the Incra 1000 miter gauge for your replacement. I got one awhile back, and never use my stock gauge. List price is about $119, but it's readily available at $89 most of the time. It is sturdy, extremely accurate and easy to add on aux. fences etc.
http://www.incra.com
Excaliber also makes an after-market splitter. Saw something this month in one of the many mags I picked up.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Bee Jay,
I believe Woodworker's supply sells both.
http://www.woodworker.com
Jeff
To rsl's comments, I would add that a rotary phase converter will let you work the motor to the full 5 hp, BUT... you will need an idler motor at least twice the hp of the largest motor you intend to run (a purchased unit has this idler, but they ain't cheap), and they need a static converter to get them going anyway (included in a purchased unit). So, if this is the only 3-phase tool you have, I would suggest you either 1) replace the existing motor with a 3 or 5 hp single-phase motor (I believe PM66's use a C-face motor, a relatively common frame), or 2) use a static phase converter and live with the reduced power output, unless you are capable of building your own rotary unit. Replacing the saw motor would be my first choice, if what I said above is true. You can probably reconfigure the starter for single-phase operation without much difficulty, or take it to a motor shop for help. Search Google on "rotary phase converter" and you'll get hundreds of hits, some of which are very informative.
Be seeing you...
Edited 12/2/2002 10:47:19 AM ET by TDKPE
Buy a used rotory converter. Go to Woodweb.com and post a WTB ad. With a converter you can purchase and use cheap 3 phase equipment, best thing you could do. I purchased a 20 HP converter for $350. 3 phase machinery is much cheaper than single phase because less people can use it. You won't be sorry. The PM66 motor is a C flange but not a 56C. It's a special C flange PM has built onto the motor housing. The 56C was used on the PM 65, the model before the 66.
Dave Koury
Edited 12/2/2002 2:41:40 PM ET by DJK
I built myself a rotary converter after reading an article in a FWW softbound book about old machinery (the cover was blue and had a picture of an old line drive bandsaw on the cover). This converter powers my 20" PowerMatic planer (5 HP) and 36" PowerMatic bandsaw (7.5 HP). My idler motor is 7.5 HP and came off of an old air conditioner ($100). I use another motor (single phase) and a pulley on a stick to tighten up a belt that gets everything turning. You could just use your foot or a cord to get the idler turning, it really does not matter. I had the other motor already so I used it. I built one for a friend and planned to use a motor to spin the idler up but didn't-we used a rope during a test run and it worked so well we stopped right there. I don't think the ROT of having an idler twice as big as your biggest motor is set in stone-I have no problem running my bandsaw. You will need some kind of starter to kick in the power once you get the idler turning. You can run a 3 phase motor on single phase and it will "make" 3 phase-it just will not start on single phase. I ran my power for the idler through two 50 amp breakers. You need to use you brain and not get killed if this is over your head, but it really is not that hard. I would not use a static converter.
Robert
Edited 12/2/2002 5:50:42 PM ET by ROBERTSEARS1
Edited 12/2/2002 6:01:42 PM ET by ROBERTSEARS1
Edited 12/2/2002 6:04:05 PM ET by ROBERTSEARS1
To: rls,JeffK, TDKPE, TJK, RobertSears.
Thanks all for your replies. You caln tell that this subject would be a good one over cold beers and long into the night. I really shouldn't have brung it up. It was the possibility that a technition could somehow make a wiring change in the motor that let it run on single phase, albeit at reduced efficiency, that intrigued me. At the present time , in my shop, my son is running his Bridgeport mill using a second 3 phase motor as converter. BTW, his 3 phase motor starts with the switch. No need to give it a spin. Why it works, I don't know. Seeing is believing. I know application where the idler is far less capacity than the working motor and it has run a machine shop for years but I think that his 1 horse converter motor is a bit light for my 5 horse saw.
I also have his Mitsubishi General purpose Viarable Frequency Drive sitting right here. This baby RULES. But it's his, not mine and another brand new unit like this isn't coming up at $300 again. (He warned me, but I didn't buy)
Thanks all
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
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