I have a hybrid cabinet saw. its a new craftsman model # 22124. i bought this saw about 1 year ago and i am ready to throw it in the trash can. i consider myself an intermidiate to professional woodworker and i work to tight standards when it comes to machine maintanance and tolerances. i cannot seem to get this damn saw working to my standards. after being adjusted it ussualy falls out of parralell to my miter slot and fence within a week. i would assume from being bumped. my real problem recently has been alitle more puzzleing to me. the saw is heeling bad only when the blade is tilted. i removed the table for clarity and noticed that when the front and rear trunion brackets were slightly out of wack causing the trunion to have allitle play. so i removed the trunion brackets and the trunion from the cabinet. as i began to disect the broblem further i wondered what if the problem wasnt the trunion brackets and perhaps the trunions themselves. on my particular model the front and rear trunions are tied together by 2 cast iron tubes. im not sure what the tubes are called. maybey the “yolk” anyways im am wondering if the trunions have been racked side to side causing them to not be parallel with eachother. i have looked on the internet and ask a million people. i can not get an answer or find any articles that go in depth about how to check if the trunions are parallel to eachother. is this a comon problem with these designs where the two trunions rack and cause the saw to heel when the blade is tilted to an angle. any help would be great. im at the point where im ready to hire someone to come help me. haha. and sears doesnt have one knowledgable tool technition to answer any of my questions. the one guy that they sent out last time told me i was crazy to worry about anything outside of a 16th of an inch i told him to take a hike. a 16th of an inch on a cabinet saw is enough to loose a few fingers if you ask me. never mind the fingers, how would i produce fine furniture with that tolerance. haha nobody understands the tolerances in wich a fine woodworker works with except FINE WOODWORKING magazine and all of theyre forum members ofcourse. so i thought i would ask one of you. also when im remounting the trunions to the trunion brackets do i squeeze the trunion snug beetween the two trunion brackets. because when i did that it was way to dificult for the worm gear to even tilt the trunion mechanism. when i leave just alitle room theres way too much play. there is no happy medium between the two. i am having a whole world of different problems with this saw, excessive vibration from what i think is sloppy pully fit and belt memory. also when the blade is raised all the way the blade moves about .010 of an inch toward the fence. the worm gear has a whole turn of play in the tilt mechanism from the collar slipping on the worm shaft. i have a big job due in about 2 weeks and my tablesaw is in pieces around the shop so you could imagine that im a bit fed up right now. ha ha if i can fix just the trunion problem ill be a happy camper. thank you verry much and i really do apreciate any help at all. |
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Replies
I can understand your frustration.
It has been a couple of years since I saw the inside of the Sear's saw so I can't recall exactly how the saw was built and without seeing your saw I can't begin to sort out your problem or problems. From your description the saw is built like the old contractor's saws with two bars joining the front and rear trunnion assemblies. This was always a poor design because it is structurally weak and easily twisted out of alignment when the weight of the motor torques the frame when it is tilted.
That said, your problem may not be due to the trunnions being out of line. The most common cause of a blade going out of line when the arbor is tilted is that the front and rear trunnions aren't at the same depth below the surface of the saw's table. The trunnion that is lower will swing in a wider arc and move the blade further to the side.
John White
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