Hi all:

I've spent a long time looking for a deal on a tablesaw. Yesterday, I
went to a local school district auction that advertized a "Delta
tablesaw" available. I've gone to a number of these before. Typically
I spend 3-4 hours waiting for the saw to come up, only to watch the
price skyrocket into the $500 - $700 range. But, my alternative
activity was to finish helping my new in-laws move, so I went to the
auction.

What I found when I got there was a Powermatic 66. I got there early
enough that I had time to really check it out. Table flatness was
better than 0.005. Both extensions were misaligned by about 0.020,
though this could be fixed. Only light surface rust on the table.
Everything was there except for the blade guard. Lift and tilt
mechanisms operated smoothly, though there was plenty of sawdust caked
on everything so it took some effort. The fence looked pretty flimsy,
so I assumed I would have to replace it.

The bad news: the saw was in the middle of a two acre parking lot of
surplus items ranging from lawn mowers to food prep equipment. I knew
this would take all day.

After 5 hours, it was time. There were about 240 people there. It
seemed like about 40 were interested in the saw, but only one other guy
bid. I ended up getting it for $175.

Since I've primarily been looking at Delta Unisaws, I don't know much
about the Powermatic. How does it stack up against the Unisaw? I
noticed it's left-tilt, which I think I would like better. It has a
3-phase motor on it (2HP), but unlike the Delta, it appears to use a
standard C-face mount. Is this correct? If so, finding a replacement
sould be easier. Or, I have a surplus VFD that I could hook it to
(assuming the motor works), which would give me soft start and variable
speed. Has anybody used a VFD on a tablesaw? I plan to replace the
fence. Any recommendations? How do I attach an extension table?

The first order of business is cleaning this thing up, but I can't wait
to put it to use.

Regards,
John.

the_tool_man said:

Hi all:

I've spent a long time looking for a deal on a tablesaw. Yesterday, I
went to a local school district auction that advertized a "Delta
tablesaw" available. I've gone to a number of these before. Typically
I spend 3-4 hours waiting for the saw to come up, only to watch the
price skyrocket into the $500 - $700 range. But, my alternative
activity was to finish helping my new in-laws move, so I went to the
auction.

What I found when I got there was a Powermatic 66. I got there early
snip

The first order of business is cleaning this thing up, but I can't wait
to put it to use.

Congratulations on your purchase!
Sounds like a bargain to me, even though you gave no indication of
it's age. We never have anything good around here.. unless you want a
well worn (out) cherry picker.

If the motor runs OK, and the mechanicals are all present and intact,
it sounds like a good fence and tune-up would put things in order.

One thing I would like to point out, while you are cleaning out the
saw and inspecting it, is not to use compressed air directly aimed at
the arbor bearings. While these are both sealed bearings, the intense
pressure from an air hose can damage the seals and/or force debris
past the seal into the bearings. JMHO.

Oh, yeah...

YOU SUCK. ;-)


Greg G.

Be warned. You might get hate-mail from your post. Don't take things like
"I hate you" too personally.

Of course, all good deals depend on the condition of the purchase but many
who lurk here consider the PM66 to be a standard against which most other
mid-range cabinet saws are judged. Powermatic in general has enjoyed a very
good reputation for quality and durability for decades. That is why schools
frequently have these and older Unisaws in their shops - they hold up to
frequent use and abuse. Powermatic, like many others, has fallen into the
merger, outsourcing and imported components routine but they still provide
good stuff. You were not specific about the fence problem but Biesmeier and
other good clones are available.

If your PM-66 is older and in good condition - congratualtions! It might be
a machine well worth some investment. New machines sell for $2,000 and up
depending on accessories. Ebay prices run in the $150 - $1,000 range for
older machines.

If cleanup gets to be burdensome, there are several Wreck lurkers who will
haul it away for you.

RonB

RonB said:

Be warned. You might get hate-mail from your post. Don't take things like
"I hate you" too personally.

Ron,
Hate Mail? Really? Just so the OP understands, suckage is a
traditional expression of envy - and generally means "Wish I had
gotten that deal, you lucky bas#$%d." It is not intended to offend.
FWIW,

Greg G.

"the_tool_man" writes:


[...]

noticed it's left-tilt, which I think I would like better. It has a
3-phase motor on it (2HP), but unlike the Delta, it appears to use a
standard C-face mount. Is this correct? If so, finding a replacement
sould be easier. Or, I have a surplus VFD that I could hook it to

Because a 3-phase motor is vastly superior to the crap that's built to
deal with save-in-the-wrong-place electrical installations give it a
try. After all a 3-phase motor has no wear parts apart from the
bearings!

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

Uhhhh....Yeah. What he said!

"the_tool_man" wrote in message
ups.com...

What I found when I got there was a Powermatic 66.

After 5 hours, it was time. There were about 240 people there. It
seemed like about 40 were interested in the saw, but only one other guy
bid. I ended up getting it for $175.

I do not have a font big enough to tell you how much you suck. The biggest
gloat of all is one where you don't have to say "Is this a good buy" or
"does this qualify as a gloat".

You could spend a $1000 fixing up your buy and still have a gloat. I think
you need to go out a buy an expensive digital camera to take pictures for us
to see when you are finished.

Bob

"the_tool_man" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi all:


What I found when I got there was a Powermatic 66.

Snip

I ended up getting it for $175.



This explains the weather in my area yesterday!
You suck!!
Greg

Hi all:

Yeah. I know. I suck.

I have a few more questions:

The serial number is 966525. I looked on owwm.com, but the serial
number registry didn't have a listing for this number. It's painted a
bright green color with a red nameplate. How can I find out the year
of manufacture?

I downloaded a manual from the Powermatic website, but there appear to
be some differences between the information in the manual and my saw.
For one thing, my saw uses three V-belts, whereas the manual refers to
only two. Is there someplace where I can download a manual of the
appropriate vintage?

Since the saw came with no guard, I'd like to put some sort of riving
knife arrangement on it (raises, lowers and tilts with the blade). Has
anybody done this? There are plenty of discussions here comparing
riving knives with splitters, but they are mostly theoretical. I'd
like to know if anyone has actually installed one and can speak from
experience.

I'd still like to know if anyone has used a VFD, too.

Regards,
John.

Thanks in advance,
John.

"the_tool_man" wrote in
oups.com:

Hi all:

Yeah. I know. I suck.

I have a few more questions:

The serial number is 966525. I looked on owwm.com, but the serial
number registry didn't have a listing for this number. It's painted a
bright green color with a red nameplate. How can I find out the year
of manufacture?

I downloaded a manual from the Powermatic website, but there appear to
be some differences between the information in the manual and my saw.
For one thing, my saw uses three V-belts, whereas the manual refers to
only two. Is there someplace where I can download a manual of the
appropriate vintage?

Since the saw came with no guard, I'd like to put some sort of riving
knife arrangement on it (raises, lowers and tilts with the blade). Has
anybody done this? There are plenty of discussions here comparing
riving knives with splitters, but they are mostly theoretical. I'd
like to know if anyone has actually installed one and can speak from
experience.

I'd still like to know if anyone has used a VFD, too.

Regards,
John.

Thanks in advance,
John.

Call powermatic and ask for the tech support guys. They will tell you
what year it is and usually will send you the manuals for free - or at
least they did for me. You can buy all replacement parts from them.

Are you sure the first two digits are 96? mine is a '79 and the number
is 79xxxx. Its also bright green with the red name plate and came with
3ph and the three belt drive which is the older style, mine had round
rails. The newer models use the 3vx drive which, confusingly is two
belts. Three belts can supposedly be a problem since they have to be
matched same length. What style of rail fence do you have? Are the rails
square or round?

The standard guard is pretty massive compared to other saws. Find I don't
use mine much - I have two sitting under the bench. Splitter is simply a
1/8" plate cut to shape and statically mounted. I'm used to riving knives
and tried to figure a way of mounting one but there's not enough room
between the back of the trunnions and the cabinet.

I borrowed a VFD and used it on my 3hp 3ph for a while before converting
it and moving it back home. Wasn't too happy with it, some slowdown under
load. There is no benefit from variable speed and a replacement 3hp 1 ph
motor was easy to find and install, cheaper than the vfd's I was looking
to buy and seems smoother and more powerfull. YMMV.

The motor mount is a standard C face 56. A good leeson 1ph 3hp motor was
cheaper than a VFD for me, at the time it was under $200. The 3hp motor
(18.9a @110v) is more than powerfull enough. A 56c is a straight bolt on
replacement with one exception. The 3ph 3 belt drive motor had a 3/4"
spindle. The replacement motors available have a 5/8" spindle. I replaced
the old 3 belt with the new 3vx two belt by putting on the current motor
and arbor pullies and belts - cost about $90 a few years back.

IF you do a motor swap check the arbor bearings. They're cheap to replace
and easy enough to do if you have access to a small press.

mike wrote in
:

"the_tool_man" wrote in
oups.com:

Hi all:

Yeah. I know. I suck.

I have a few more questions:

The serial number is 966525. I looked on owwm.com, but the serial
number registry didn't have a listing for this number. It's painted
a bright green color with a red nameplate. How can I find out the
year of manufacture?

I downloaded a manual from the Powermatic website, but there appear
to be some differences between the information in the manual and my
saw. For one thing, my saw uses three V-belts, whereas the manual
refers to only two. Is there someplace where I can download a manual
of the appropriate vintage?

Since the saw came with no guard, I'd like to put some sort of riving
knife arrangement on it (raises, lowers and tilts with the blade).
Has anybody done this? There are plenty of discussions here
comparing riving knives with splitters, but they are mostly
theoretical. I'd like to know if anyone has actually installed one
and can speak from experience.

I'd still like to know if anyone has used a VFD, too.

Regards,
John.


Forgot to add, running my 3hp 1ph on 220 and it's drawing 9.9a

mike wrote:

....
... Three belts can supposedly be a problem since they have to be
matched same length. ...

Two need to be matched just as do three...they are supplied as matched
sets routinely.

Hi Mike:

I called Powermatic. They said it was made in 1996. They also are
sending me a correct manual. Mine came with two round rails. The
fence has two locking handles, and was very difficult to move. Not
sure if I will try to make it work or replace it with another fence.
In my case, I already have the VFD, so I'll probably start with that
just to test the motor out. This depends on whether I can find a more
powerful motor cheaply enough. I plan to replace the arbor bearings as
soon as I can get it apart.

Regards,
John.

"the_tool_man" wrote in
ups.com:

Hi Mike:

I called Powermatic. They said it was made in 1996. They also are
sending me a correct manual. Mine came with two round rails. The
fence has two locking handles, and was very difficult to move. Not
sure if I will try to make it work or replace it with another fence.
In my case, I already have the VFD, so I'll probably start with that
just to test the motor out. This depends on whether I can find a more
powerful motor cheaply enough. I plan to replace the arbor bearings as
soon as I can get it apart.

Regards,
John.


The round rail fence has one advantage - or my ageing version did -
it locks both front and back. The front rail also has teeth for a micro
adjuster but that was missing on mine. The fence has a problem in that it
seemd to attract sawdust up into the cam and it wouldn't lock / unlock
cleanly until I stripped it. My rails where rusting and the chrome
bubbled enough that the fence wouldn't move easily for that reason
either. Replaced it with a Vega 40 pro which is ok.The price was right
but amazon took an age to deliver. Rails are strong enough to mount a
router side table without extra support too. I've added a seperate rear
lock for when ripping larger stuff on my own..

Good luck with it, once its up and running its a great saw and I enjoyed
rebuilding it as much as using it. Having a 'pre dinged' top means I'm
not obsessing about marking the top and spend more time cutting stuff and
besides, it adds character.

the_tool_man wrote:

Hi Mike:

I called Powermatic. They said it was made in 1996. They also are
sending me a correct manual. Mine came with two round rails. The
fence has two locking handles, and was very difficult to move. Not
sure if I will try to make it work or replace it with another fence.
In my case, I already have the VFD, so I'll probably start with that
just to test the motor out. This depends on whether I can find a more
powerful motor cheaply enough. I plan to replace the arbor bearings as
soon as I can get it apart.

I have a much older (ca '80 or so) w/ the round rail fence and the
"vernier" knob arrangement. It works quite well if adjusted properly.
The only beef I have at all w/ it is that for some reason PM chose to
make the fence itself slightly tapered in thickness towards the top
(both sides) so that it isn't perfectly perpendicular to the table.
This is of virtually no consequence until one wants to hold a panel
verically or bolt a fixture to the face of the fence--then one has to
fiddle around to get it square to the fence.

Needless, to say, if it had been a real sore point w/me, I would have
fixed it _sometime_ in the last 20 years or so...

I spent some time examining the inner workings. It will be tight, but
it may be possible to mount a riving knife so that it moves up and down
with the arbor. More on this later. There sure is a lot of cast iron
in there!

Regards,
John.