Table Support Assembly

Last Updated: 17 July 2007

The table support assembly sits below the table and serves as a link between the main saw body and the table.  It includes sliding components that permit the table to tilt 45° right, 15° left, and +/- 15° front/back.


This picture shows the lower table support assembly, which consists of the main table support, lower blade guide, and lower mount.  The bearing in the lower guide is bad and will be replaced.  The part number for this bearing is 626.





When I removed the table support bracket it was immediately apparent that the arm on the left had snapped off at some point in the past and was welded back in place.  This is cast iron, which is difficult to weld (preheating is required, and a lot of skill with an arc welder), and this weld doesn't look very good to me.  It's loaded with inclusions.  Nevertheless, it's holding so hopefully it's strong enough.




The above picture was taken before the bracket was cleaned.  After cleaning, I noticed the bracket also snapped right in half and was welded back together.  This leads me to believe the saw was knocked over onto its side violently.  I have heard these brackets are notorious for breaking anyway.

Note the large inclusions in the weld above the threaded hole.  It's hard to see in this picture, but there's an angle scale machined along the lower edge.  The weld process removed the -5° through +5° markings.  To fix this, I carefully measured the curvature of this part and recreated it using a CAD program.  This allowed me to print a new scale which I'll simply laminate and attach to the bracket.  

Below are pictures of the cleaned, painted bracket.



With the table support bracket removed I move on to the table mount.  Note the lower guide block, to which the lower guide attaches, is mounted to the table mount.

Here's the table mount after cleaning and painting:


Reassembly


Reassembling these components is straightforward and in the opposite order of disassembly.

First, the lower table mount is installed with 4 socket-head cap screws.

Next is the lower table support bracket, which has been cleaned, painted, and had a new tilt indicator printed on paper glued over the original metal engraving.  Recall I had to do this because a weld from an old crack had displaced the-5° through +5° markings.

Although it's not technically part of the table support, I include here a brief discussion of the lower blade guide.

This is a simple solid-state guide as shown with a small roller bearing that acts as a thrust bearing to resist the load applied as the workpiece is forced against the blade.

The bearing is a 626-series with metal shields on both sides (626ZZ).  Normally, a small cover snaps over the bearing to provide a smooth surface for the blade to ride.  In the case of this saw, however, that little cover was lost.  As a rough approximation of its purpose, I bought a flanged 626 series from VXB Bearings, who had good prices.  The relevant part number is 7324.

In order to bring the lower guide bearing closer to the blade, I used a couple 3/6" washers between the guide block and the main table support frame.  Technically, this shouldn't be necessary, and some adjustment to the band tracking may obviate the need for these shims in the future.