"new" rip fence for old craftsman TS

I have an old craftman TS that is an excellent machine and I use it more that the newer one. The reason, I particularly like the saw is I can take the heavy parts apart and I am able to move it easily. It has a couple problems that I would solicit your help with.

1. The rip fence is old and needs rehab or replacement. It has a cog-driven adjustment; the bar cog (you might call it a rack) across the front of the saw is not steel and two ends of the four ends on the fences are broken off making it difficult to use (Sears denies ever selling it, even when I bring them the TS SN). Looking at my newer saw (it has a Biesmeyer fence) I can see that replacing the fence with a Biesmeyer is feasible, just expensive; much more than the value of the saw. Is there an aftermarket fence out there that is less pricey and will do the job? Or can you steer me to some one who has rebuilt a fence afer discarding the cog system. The cog drive is no longer working, you just slide the fence and clamp with the integral clamp.

2 The saw has a single belt and I think duo belts or a flat belt would be a better arrangement. On this I have no idea other than removing the motor assembly and to try getting the main sheave off the arbor; then locate paired sheaves and belt(s) and install in a plane.

There are several other issues; but, I think this is enuf for me to work on at pesent. No idea is to far out for me to consider. I thank each of you in advance for your help.

Ray Gerdes in really not beautiful TEXAS
 
Ray

How about a picture if you can.I would like to see the saw it sounds like my Dad's saw, manufactured in about 1957 gold in color. Sounds like the fence rail is in 4 pieces are they curved on the ends where they meet. 1 end convex & the other concave fitted together 4 pieces in a row?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/searchresults.aspx?q=shop+fox+fence

I would go with the G8826. I have this fence with the 7' rails on my Unisaw.
 
I have an old craftman TS that is an excellent machine and I use it more that the newer one. The reason, I particularly like the saw is I can take the heavy parts apart and I am able to move it easily. It has a couple problems that I would solicit your help with.

1. The rip fence is old and needs rehab or replacement. It has a cog-driven adjustment; the bar cog (you might call it a rack) across the front of the saw is not steel and two ends of the four ends on the fences are broken off making it difficult to use (Sears denies ever selling it, even when I bring them the TS SN). Looking at my newer saw (it has a Biesmeyer fence) I can see that replacing the fence with a Biesmeyer is feasible, just expensive; much more than the value of the saw. Is there an aftermarket fence out there that is less pricey and will do the job? Or can you steer me to some one who has rebuilt a fence afer discarding the cog system. The cog drive is no longer working, you just slide the fence and clamp with the integral clamp.

2 The saw has a single belt and I think duo belts or a flat belt would be a better arrangement. On this I have no idea other than removing the motor assembly and to try getting the main sheave off the arbor; then locate paired sheaves and belt(s) and install in a plane.

There are several other issues; but, I think this is enuf for me to work on at pesent. No idea is to far out for me to consider. I thank each of you in advance for your help.

Ray Gerdes in really not beautiful TEXAS

I still have THE SAME SAW that I gave my Dad for Christmas one year. Unfortunately, I did not buy the extension wings at the time and several years later when I built an extension for it and tried to get more "Cog rails" for the fence, they were no longer available, (and I really liked them too). Other parts (such as the Arbor Assy that I bought, were still available for the saw a few years ago, but NO fence rails. It is gold color with a swirled aluminum section on the front. I tried 9 stores from Odessa to the DFW Area when Lowes had the Biesemeyer Blowout last year but missed at every place. I have decided to make my own when I find the right size and guage tubing.
 
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Bart----------when I learn how; I'll start posting pix. I just learned to use my Kodak Digital taking grandchildren's pix. If some one posts a simple tutorial for posting it would be appreciated.
UR discription is right on; metal tracks that breaks, doesn't bend, I had forgotten that they paired with concave and convex ends. When the racks were intact it was a nice accessory; now I use the friction fence.

Norman --- UR time line is right on. I bought it used 40 yo. The "trim" is a brushed aluminum. It has both wings, they are a cast iron grid that fit both sides. With the wings on it is a stout machine. Each wing weighs in at approx 40#. It is odd the way Sears is for parts. I have a sliding crosscut table (it is for my "new" saw ca. 1998)and the 1998 Tool Catalog that lists it and Sears insists they never had such a critter. I wanted to replace all the plastic stops and ends; no luck at all. The old saw is Sears gray=green trimmed in aluminum.
When Lowes had the clearance of Biesmeyer I had our Denton store check if any local stores had anything and appently DFW region didn't get any.

Thanx for the input..........................Ray Gerdes
 
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Does is look sorta like this? Mine is a 113.27520 bought new by my Grandpa in 1950. I had an Align-a-Rip on it that Sears used to sell (Ryobi made). They were discontinued but there is a good chance that a Ridgid fence would fit. Both saws were made by Emerson but I don't know how easy it is to get Ridgid parts of that type. As to the dual pulley; I would just go with a link belt.
 

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We put a Ridgid I think TS 2424 on my Dad's saw it was ok it had a rubber ball fine adjustment type friction fence. I switched it over to my 1997 Craftsman saw before I gave it away & kept the good fence for my Dad's saw. When we switched the fences saw for saw Dad picked up the Sears front rail & said this thing is as heavy as the entire Ridgid fence system. I told him that is why I wanted to keep it + it has a rack & pinion fine adjust system & get rid of the Ridgid fence system. We put the system on his saw & it lined right up perfectly.

Here you can see the front rail & the cabinet I built to go under the saw. I still have the cabinet too it will go under Dad's saw.
 

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Glenn ... that is my saw, yes sir. I hadn't considered a link belt; but, I think I will. That should give some additional stability. Look on the back of your saw where the motor hangs. Is the motor mounted to the saw by two rods into the bored casting? One reason I got the saw (inexpensive as I did) was the hole had broken out of the casting. I engineered attachment to the saw that works okay. I think the basic stability of this saw is the very heavy arbor assy and the cast iron wings.
Thanks everyone past and future.

If anyone has a simple tutorial to post pix I would be grateful.

Ray Gerdes in ice bound Denton, TX
 
Great to hear the old tool's still going.

About the fence, you might give ebay a look for a good used one. If you have to go new, i like the Vega utility fence a lot, especially for the money. It's really solid and well built (in the U.S. if that's important to you), and costs less than the Bies and Bies clones. If you can find a used Delta Unifence, you might like that as well.

About the belt drive - i swapped mine over to a link belt with machined pulleys. It's incredibly smooth, and i've never had anything slip - power transmission is nice and tight. And i'm running a 3/8" link belt, not the beefier, more common 1/2" you can pick up at your local Rockler or Woodcraft.

One other thing you might consider would be installing a PALS alignment kit. It replaces the two bolts that attach the rear trunnion to the cast iron top. It's about $25 and makes adjusting the blade parallel with the miter slots a relatively quick and easy task. Without, it can take hours of frustration to get the alignment within reason.

Oh, and if you don't already have one, a good blade makes a BIG difference.

Have fun with it.
Paul Hubbman
 
Glenn ... that is my saw, yes sir. I hadn't considered a link belt; but, I think I will. That should give some additional stability. Look on the back of your saw where the motor hangs. Is the motor mounted to the saw by two rods into the bored casting?

That's a yes on the two rods; standard contractor saw build, just a lot more heavy duty than a lot of today's machines. The fence rail bolt holes are lower from the top than the newer Emerson saws. Be sure to watch for this when you look for a fence that will "fit" Craftsman saws.

There are a bunch of these (113.275XX and 113.276XX) still in service. When I got mine from my dad, who got it from Grandpa, I thought about selling it. I found that they are readily available for $75 to $150 depending on condition so I kept it.

The University where I work has one that was purchased new and is built into the outfeed of a larger cabinet saw. They use it with a sled for crosscuts. I plan to do something of the sort "someday" with mine.

Some folks really love theirs: http://www.owwm.com/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=6168
 
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