That saw was made when Craftsman was a good brand.

Does it have the original fence and miter guage? They were pretty good even back then.

You can get a lot of info from the web site listed below.

Here is a link that might be useful: vintagemachinery

Hello,
Thanks for the website. It does have the original miter guage and fence, as well as an added table extension. I was just surprised to see that sears still supplies most all of the parts for this tool.

Cheers,
Werner

Does anyone have information on how to tension the belt?
Cheers,
Werner

All the contractor type saws I have seen simply use the motor weight to tension the belt.

You might upgrade to a link belt. It will reduce the vibration.

The first thin I would make for it would be a sliding crosscut table. I rarely use a miter gauge. If I'm not using one of my crosscut tables, I'm ripping or cutting joints like slots, rabbets, or tenons.

Motor weight tension makes sense. The table saw came with a scroll saw (craftsman 113.20720) and I found a post on vintage machinery mentioning that tool was motor weight tensioned. That tool was seized when I got it. Took all day to get it running. The tool and the motor run with almost no vibration but the belt set is clearly noticable. I have never seen or heard of a link belt. Thanks for the info. From what I gather in my searching, the problem I have with the failed bearing is not at all uncommon. About how much life do you get from a set of bearings?
Cheers,
Werner

I had an late 50's or early 60's Craftsman 8" table saw and it was a damned fine tool. It's biggest drawback was that rip capacity was only 8". Despite having on a 1/2 horsepower motor I no problems ripping 8/4 oak and maple.

The "link" belts look like this:

They're available many places including specialty woodworking stores like Rockler and Woodcraft.

Sealed bearings can outlast a person. Or fail in months.

I have several power tools---did remodeling for several years and built houses for HfH---had one bearing in a miter saw fail.

My brother gave me a Craftsman shaper(about 15 years old---bad bearing)

Have a friend whose table saw is Craftsman and it is 40+ years old---bearing are just fine.

I will post a video of how it runs when the new bearings arrive. Anyone have any info on bearing replacement? Judging from the battle I had getting the old arbor and bearings out it will be a struggle to get the new ones in.
Cheers, Werner

I will post a video of how it runs when the new bearings arrive. Anyone have any info on bearing replacement? Judging from the battle I had getting the old arbor and bearings out it will be a struggle to get the new ones in.
Cheers, Werner

If you do not have bearing removal tools or experience, take it to an electric motor rebuild shop.

A mechanic shop might be able, but a machine shop would be a better choice.

Oh, the slot(s) in the table top will be a smidge more narrow than all the other brands out there. Just Sears not so endearing practice of building everything differently than everyone else.

Must say, very pleased with sears parts direct website. All the parts I needed were still supplied and have arrived 3 days after order via UPS. I was begrudging $7.99 shipping, but it was sent out quickly and arrived very fast. Are most tool companies thbis good about supplying parts for back models? We are going back 50 years now with this saw.

Most bearings are a standardized item and not hard to track down.

Sears has a bad procedure for making their parts a different size than everyone else. They do have a fairly extensive parts supply.

I removed bearings(in 198something) from the deck of a Sears lawn tractor(bought new in 79) and ordered bearings from a national company---the ones I got with the same number as those on the Sears bearings were a totally different size. The only way to get the right bearings was to order from Sears---or have a machine shop accurately measure the existing bearings and cross reference them.

Never bought Sears stuff again because of that.

"a machine shop accurately measure the existing bearings and cross reference them. "

ID, OD, width to at least 4 figures.
A bearing supply house should be able to easily find a standard size if it is available.

I have restored all sorts of very old equipment over the years, including items so old the idea of standardized bearings was well in the future.

The fix we used for theses situations was to machine collars to adapt an available bearing that was rated for the load and speed of the application.

I made a very old 36 inch wide thickness planer operable again by replacing the old Babbitt bearings with new ball bearings.

20 years after restoration it is still going strong at a hardwood dealer.

I am trying to picture a 36" planner. The thing has got to be a complete beast.

Cheers,
Werner

About 8,000 pounds.

All cast iron.

Thickness over 18 inches.

Got the new bearings in. The saw purrs like a kitten. Very quiet. Penny stands upright on the table while running no problem. Here is the video as promised. The video makes the saw seem a lot louder than it actually is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPGJpsLVDTM

Cheers,
Werner

If you are new to table saws, please be extremely careful. You can be shot in the crotch with boards caught between the blade and fence and cut yourself if you don't use proper procedure. Read up on this topic, please!.

OSB and other wood dust can be toxic or hurt your lungs. The finer it is the worse for you.
-T

Many of the older Craftsman saws are a good bargain.

Things went downhill when stamped steel steel and 'open' cast iron table extensions started appearing.

There are after market fences that can be retrofitted that are far better than any fence craftsman even supplied.

A babbit metal bearing would distribute the load across the entire width of the journal. A ball bearing does not do so. I have seen the journals on these old industrial planers, about 3" across! Roller bearings would be better, no? esp. in a relatively low-speed application like a planer. (probably 4000 rpm or so at the head x3 or 4 blades = 12,000 or 16,000 cuts per minute)

I have a 50's "Craftsman by King-Seely" 4" jointer; a bit of a boat anchor, but built like a tank!
Casey

Babbit bearings had to be wide since the bearing material is very soft and cannot take heavy loads unless they are spread out.
They also wear badly without pressurized lubrication.

Ball bearings are very hard, and very polished.

When used within their load and speed ratings they beat babbit every time.

Even a perfectly hand scrapped babbit bearing can only hold shape for a few hours of use.

brickeyee, I have had old sears tools for many years. I used to use one table saw often and I have never had a saw bearing fail. I am glad that the bearings were easily available. However regarding price: while I agree that $100 or 160 is a perfectly fair price for a decent table saw, you likely could have done much better, especially if you were willing to do the repairs. For example, I often go to auctions (admittedly this takes time). I have seen many old sears saws go for less than $25 or $50. I recently got a Jet with extension table and bessimer fence for $125 and now I have a couple of sears saws sitting apart in my atic. Yes the Jet was an exceptional deal, but plenty of people have given up on the old stuff.

When I have had motor problems, I just switch in another old motor that was $5 or $10 at a garage sale or auction; or free. By the way, Yes of course the tension was by weight; from a pivot block that may be missing on your saw.

I have a 1.2 in ch Craftsman drill form the early 1950s.

It has an aluminum case, and actual jacobs chuck, a toggle switch for reversing, and a simple on-off trigger control.

It is on its second set of brushes (with another spare set in the tool drawer).

The only other repair was the rubber jacketed power cord.

I used the strain relief to make a mole, then replaced it with SJO after it cracked about every 1/4 inch.

Oops, sorry erickeyee, I was directing my post above, to Werner, and I just lost track.

I just aquired a craftsman 100, number 113.29991, I'm looking for slide T handle for table top. Not sure what size motor it has on it, but not as strong as my DeWalt table saw . I know it should be a lot more powerful than what it is at this point.

Perhaps my ignorance is showing, but I have never heard of a T handle that would be used on or in relation to any table saw top. Does it have anything to do with motor power? I do note that the Craftsman 100 that popped up for me had one of those nice old super heavy, super large true 1 H.P. motor.

Perhaps you're referring to the miter gauge? It's shaped like a T and has a handle...