Hey guys, I am kind of new to woodworking and I am just now "tooling up" a little bit.
Let me start by saying that at this point my main interest in woodworking is for making stave drums shells.
I am a drummer who like to tinker and thought it would be cool to make my own drums.
I made my first few drums on an abysmal Skil tablesaw. It is a wonder I was even able to make accurate cuts at all. I had to cheat on some of them because the saw was just doing me wrong. The deck was aluminum and wasn't even level. It had dips and leaned one way or the other depending on where on it you were.
Anyway, it was terrible.
So, I was saving up my money to try and buy a expensive (for me) tablesaw like a Grizzly or a Jet or something along those lines. I had read many articles on the internet about table saws and one thing that I kept finding was that a lot of guys had these old Craftsman 113's and had modified them to make up for their shortcomings and made decent saws out of them. Still I was focused on getting a new entry level cabinet saw.
Then I saw an old used Craftsman 113 with the cast iron top and wings on Craigslist. And to top that off it was a friend of mine who was selling it. So for $100.00 I went and got it.
Now I understand that this is not the greatest saw in the world but for me it is a big upgrade. It would be nice to have a cabinet and a good vac system but like I said, I am just getting started. Maybe one day I will step up but for now I am digging this thing.
So I started cleaning it up and bought a few parts for it right out of the gate. The top had some surface rust so I cleaned it with vinegar and scrubbed it with a scotchbrite pad. It came pretty clean just from that. Then I bought a glue line rip blade, a zero clearance throat plate and a link belt. I also read many articles saying that the fence on this thing was one of the first things guys would upgrade. Most people agree that the fence wont stay straight and is hard to move. So I was planning on buying a Vega fence for it.
I know that I will get blasted for this but I have to say that after taking the fence completely apart (and I mean every piece) and cleaning it up, lubing the parts with white lithium grease and then mounting some pvc coated mdf boards to it, using my big square to make sure it was straight and tightening it down good, this thing glides across the table. I also moved the rails over to the left, centering it on the table so I can use both sides of the blade. It stays straight and parallel with my miter slots no matter how much you slide it back and forth. I may go for the Vega fence at some point but for now I am pleased with how this thing works. I made myself a nice big push stick and I ordered new left to right and right to left tapes for it the other night.
So after making 3 drum shells I bought a big paddle switch and a featherboard just to further upgrade this thing. I also took the wings off and stowed them and the hardware for future use. When making drum shells I rarely use more than 8 inches of the deck on either side of the blade. Having the wings on there was just taking up space.
I even dressed the power cords for the motor and switch in and tie wrapped them in place. This thing is tricked out now.
Now I understand that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, and there is a point of diminishing returns with an old table saw but, I think that for my use this old saw will be good enough for the foreseeable future. If I can sell a bunch of drum shells then maybe I can upgrade to a nice cabinet saw one day. Until then I will be using this trusty old Craftsman.
The first pic is how I found it. The last pic is how it stands now.
Let me start by saying that at this point my main interest in woodworking is for making stave drums shells.
I am a drummer who like to tinker and thought it would be cool to make my own drums.
I made my first few drums on an abysmal Skil tablesaw. It is a wonder I was even able to make accurate cuts at all. I had to cheat on some of them because the saw was just doing me wrong. The deck was aluminum and wasn't even level. It had dips and leaned one way or the other depending on where on it you were.
Anyway, it was terrible.
So, I was saving up my money to try and buy a expensive (for me) tablesaw like a Grizzly or a Jet or something along those lines. I had read many articles on the internet about table saws and one thing that I kept finding was that a lot of guys had these old Craftsman 113's and had modified them to make up for their shortcomings and made decent saws out of them. Still I was focused on getting a new entry level cabinet saw.
Then I saw an old used Craftsman 113 with the cast iron top and wings on Craigslist. And to top that off it was a friend of mine who was selling it. So for $100.00 I went and got it.
Now I understand that this is not the greatest saw in the world but for me it is a big upgrade. It would be nice to have a cabinet and a good vac system but like I said, I am just getting started. Maybe one day I will step up but for now I am digging this thing.
So I started cleaning it up and bought a few parts for it right out of the gate. The top had some surface rust so I cleaned it with vinegar and scrubbed it with a scotchbrite pad. It came pretty clean just from that. Then I bought a glue line rip blade, a zero clearance throat plate and a link belt. I also read many articles saying that the fence on this thing was one of the first things guys would upgrade. Most people agree that the fence wont stay straight and is hard to move. So I was planning on buying a Vega fence for it.
I know that I will get blasted for this but I have to say that after taking the fence completely apart (and I mean every piece) and cleaning it up, lubing the parts with white lithium grease and then mounting some pvc coated mdf boards to it, using my big square to make sure it was straight and tightening it down good, this thing glides across the table. I also moved the rails over to the left, centering it on the table so I can use both sides of the blade. It stays straight and parallel with my miter slots no matter how much you slide it back and forth. I may go for the Vega fence at some point but for now I am pleased with how this thing works. I made myself a nice big push stick and I ordered new left to right and right to left tapes for it the other night.
So after making 3 drum shells I bought a big paddle switch and a featherboard just to further upgrade this thing. I also took the wings off and stowed them and the hardware for future use. When making drum shells I rarely use more than 8 inches of the deck on either side of the blade. Having the wings on there was just taking up space.
I even dressed the power cords for the motor and switch in and tie wrapped them in place. This thing is tricked out now.
Now I understand that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, and there is a point of diminishing returns with an old table saw but, I think that for my use this old saw will be good enough for the foreseeable future. If I can sell a bunch of drum shells then maybe I can upgrade to a nice cabinet saw one day. Until then I will be using this trusty old Craftsman.
The first pic is how I found it. The last pic is how it stands now.
