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Hi everyone. Hoping someone has had similar issues. I have a 36-4something model contractors saw that I got second hand several years ago, and it's getting tough to raise and lower the blade. I have the base pretty well enclosed for dust control purposes, and I have an out feed attached, so lately all of my cleaning And lubing has been thru the blade insert hole. Before I go just lubing the heck out of it, I thought I'd ask if there's any known issues or adjustments I should look into. I'd also like to know what people use to clean their gears, and if there is anything I should avoid putting a solvent on. I'd love someone to suggest carb cleaner, but I doubt I'll get lucky  Thanks!!!
Benny
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I have a Delta contractor, and whenever I get a lot of dust/chips that don't get pulled out with the DC I start getting pretty stiff cranking the wheels. I've found compressed air will blow it out, if not a soft bristle brush worked across the teeth of the raising mechanism to remove the gunk, then I use a dry silicone spray to lube it up. Once the gunk is gone, and it's lubed, I've been able to crank easily. Being open a contractor saw is hard to get rid of all the waste, but it doesn't always just fall through either. Dust control is much better on a cab saw.
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GW
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I've never used carb cleaner personally, but I use a bicycle product called white lightning clean streak which is essentially identical to brake cleaner. I think you are safe with any product that does not leave any residue, and are careful to keep it away from plastic, paint, and bearings.
After that boeshield T9 is my lubricant of choice. You want whatever you lubricate it with to be as dry as possible afterwards otherwise you may be doing this much more often.
The only other issue I've had which caused stiffness is unlikely in your case. I had the arbor pivot seize from rust on a very old Craftsman, that had sat unused in a damp basement. Me and PB blaster had a week long love/hate relationship in that case
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Not sure whether your model is one of the old monsters or the new tin lizzies, but the worm gear which elevates has a tendency to gather resin-adhered dust, as well as get a bit out of alignment (Fig 47 in manual). Cleaning it involves mineral spirits and a stiff toothbrush or brass-bristle flux brush, and then lubrication not with wax, as was suggested for my old one, but graphite. While you're under there, do the tilt worm and a full clean,oil,adjust on other things. http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=5392http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/pdf/del...38free.pdf
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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along with what others have said, do you have a lock knob on the height adjudtment? quite some time ago i had to do alittle disassembly on mine andclean it up.
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My first woodworking saw was a Delta 34-444. Design may not have changed much between it and your saw. I bought it used.
It got tough to raise up and down. Cleaning and lubing the gears didn't solve the issue. I eventually had to put it on its top, and disassemble it to get the eccentric sleeve out and clean it. The gunk had built up inside that sleeve.
Another forum member with the username Delta007 helped walk me through that. I think he's still on here, but under another name.
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
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This is the kid of thing I'm worried about honestly. It's so tough to get inside there without completely flipping the whole thing over. That eccentric sounds like it might be something to look into...
To answer some other questions, I've only used a dry wax lube on it, and yes it has a locking knob. I used a stiff bristle brush on the elevation worm gear, but it's tough to get the extreme end of the rack clean. I also use liberal amounts of compressed air (with the DC on) pretty often, but it's so tough to see all the little crevices.
Thank you all for your replies. I'm pretty busy today, but I'll take a look at the links posted and see if I can narrow down the areas that are binding!
Benny
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Not the same saw but I bought a used Dewalt jobsite saw. The seller, I believe, figured the saw was a loss. I paid $200. Once I got it home, I was able to turn it over, clean the built up pitch and gum from everywhere. After it was cleaned, I used dry lube, liberally, and it worked better than new. I realize from reading the other posts that you may be in for a lot of work disassembling your saw to get to the problem however, it will be well worth it. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
I no longer build museums but don't want to change my name. My new job is a lot less stressful. Life is much better.
Garry
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bennybmn said:
This is the kid of thing I'm worried about honestly. It's so tough to get inside there without completely flipping the whole thing over. That eccentric sounds like it might be something to look into...
To answer some other questions, I've only used a dry wax lube on it, and yes it has a locking knob. I used a stiff bristle brush on the elevation worm gear, but it's tough to get the extreme end of the rack clean. I also use liberal amounts of compressed air (with the DC on) pretty often, but it's so tough to see all the little crevices.
Thank you all for your replies. I'm pretty busy today, but I'll take a look at the links posted and see if I can narrow down the areas that are binding!
OK, well, having said what I had to do above, let me "talk you off the ledge" a bit. The hardest part of the whole deal was putting the saw on its top. Get a friend to help. Then get a print out of the exploded parts diagram, disassemble the blade raising mechanism, and clean that sleeve. Do a super cleaning while you have the saw in this position. reverse the process to get it back together. You'll likely have to check all the adjustments again after you have it right side up. Good luck.
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
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Sounds like you have not given it a good cleaning and lubrication.
Howie.........
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