Thanks for all the quick replies and good information!

I've looked even further, and the main C/B panel has NO ganged breakers - i.e.
no 240V circuits. The little box in the garage is apparently taps off of a pair
of 40A breakers that feed a subpanel in the house. Everything in there is 120V
circuits. I wonder what the dryer plug (it's dead now) was ever connected to?
What it looks like to me is that I really don't have a way to properly wire any
240V circuit. And no, there's no space left in the main panel. Will I be able to
find breakers that fit into a 50 year old panel?

The saw motors can easily be switched to 240V - which is what I'd really like to
do. But my best choice, without spending lots of money, may be to get a couple
20A plugs in the garage. Or are there slow-blow circuit breakers designed to
handle motor current startup loads?

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JeffB
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