[AT] PTO-driven table saw - Here's the deal...

[Indiana Robinson]

	I reposted the URL in case anybody wants to look again:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3874449056

	I took my low trailer (now with a new floor) that I sometimes use to haul the #$%& CUB, 
down to Somerset KY to pick "the tool" up. I pulled it with the WUV (worlds ugliest van). 
Actually Diana drove down and I drove back. The WUV behaved nicely and on the roughly 650 
mile round trip used about 1 pint of oil. Not too bad for a 30 year old van that has 
never even had the head off of it. Diana's right foot weighs a little more than mine so 
we made good time going down there.   :-)   The seller was a good guy and had described 
it well. We were making a tiny bit of vacation out of it since we had "baby sitters" for 
both of our mothers for the weekend. We drove I-75 most of the way down but I drove 
secondary roads back so we could drive a different route home. That also allowed me to 
shift the tranny into that special position all of my vehicles have ("M" for mosey).  ;-)
	We could have easily driven on home Saturday night even with me driving in "M" but we 
stopped and spent the night in a motel in Shelbyville KY and came on home today.
	The fellow had said that he thought the tool was homemade but the minute I saw it up 
close I knew it wasn't. Few guys make stuff at home using big hot rivets to fasten stuff 
together. He said that someone that had looked at it told him that Sears & Roebuck used 
to sell these years ago as a combination shop tool. If you look at the picture you will 
see what looks like a spoked flywheel near the PTO shaft. It is not a flywheel but has a 
leather "tire" on it, it is the lower wheel of what has been a bandsaw attachment. The 
arm, upper wheel and table bolted to holes in the frame. Too bad they are missing, 
probably tossed by someone or still laying in some dark dusty corner of some barn. Of 
course had it been complete I wouldn't have likely bought it so cheap. There is a heavy 
pivoting mount near the grinder that may have just been for a small table for the 
grinding wheel but I don't think so due to its position. I believe it may have been for 
another attachment. There are several other holes in the frame that look like places to 
mount different attachments. The table cranks up and down with the handwheel but unlike 
most saws it lifts at the front and the rear just hinges so when you are making a shallow 
cut the table slants down front to back. Neither the table nor the arbor tilts to either 
side. The fence that serves both the jointer and the saw is much better built than shows 
in the pictures. I suspect it could be tilted enough to make some angle trims on some 
boards after they were cut to length if really needed. The angle iron fence on the 
jointer looks to be something someone added and something I will likely remove since it 
could interfere with adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables separately. They do have 
separate adjusting knobs. With that added fence removed and the grinding wheel removed 
the top of the whole table becomes flat so you could work a big sheet of plywood or the 
like. The big channel iron "feet" are also an add on but I will likely leave them. Almost 
unseen in the pictures, there is an idler pully mounted on a lever to serve as a clutch 
and belt tensioner on the drive belt to the main arbor. It pivots on the shaft (missing 
and now a piece of common pipe) that sticks through the wood blocks on the frame 
underneath. The PTO tumbling shaft has been added at some point and I will likely remove 
it and drive it with a flat belt. A flat belt makes more noise and a better show item.   
:-)
 I was a bit surprised to find it has what looks to be a good carbide combination blade 
on it. The miter gauge is missing but should be a simple fabrication for a saw of this 
class. The crude wooden tensioned "hold it against the fence" device and the fact it came 
from the heart of tobacco country makes me wonder if it was last used in some sawmill for 
ripping tobacco sticks. The jointer blades appear to be junk but the cutter head looks 
well made.
	I will cover it with a tarp someplace and it will sadly have to sit until summer before 
I start on it. I am glad I bought it and it should make a good addition to our 
museum/show demo stuff. Its primary job will be to make noise and sawdust...  ;-)

-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. Here 100 years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net