JeffB wrote:
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?

--
JeffB
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Sounds like you've quite the to-do list, electrically. All very
do-able.

Doubtless the dryer shared some other pair of breakers that it
shouldn't have.

The only way to find out if you can get breakers for your old panel is
to phone around to find out, or take a breaker to stores to see if they
have one like it.

Each subpanel *really* should be fed off a dedicated pair of linked
breakers in the main panel. As should the dryer and range.

I believe circuit breakers *are* considered slow-blow relative to
fuses; their internal mechanisms are twofold, with an electromagnetic
part that trips immediately on high overload, and a thermal part that
trips after a sustained moderate overload. I don't know if they've
always been like that.

For sure your most likely immediate fix is to find a 20A breaker for
your current panel (and if any breakers are still on the market for it,
a single full size 20A will be) and wire a 20A circuit.

Chip C
Toronto