the elephant wrote:Here is the information from the side of the tool:
Tradesmith
Power Tool Specialists, Inc.
3 Craftsman Rd
East Windsor, CT 06088
860-654-1761
10" Bench Table Saw
model 10114
120 volt
13 amp
60 Hz
The company is out of business. Was this because they produced (or imported) crappy tools? Or was this due to overly high prices? It looks to be pretty cheapo to me. The contact number for customer service is someone's personal cell number now and the guy knows nothing of the company. I cannot locate any information on their stuff, good or bad, save for some guy complaining that a handle broke off of a tool from this company, and that he returned it twice, with each one breaking in the same manner. Very fishy. I ran searches on the owner of the trademark and found that he holds 156 others, mostly for two types of services. Also very fishy. Sounds like a fly-by-night scumbag to me. So, what about these tools?
This saw was abandoned by the previous owner of my house. It is in bad shape but looks to be fixable. Is it worth it? I have a feeling that this was some junk sold by Ace Hardware; it looks like stuff you would find there. If in perfect working order will it even be safe to use? And does it work well enough to try and salvage? I need one of these but have no shekels. Cleanup and "restoration" would not be a problem as I have nothing else to do in my semi-employed state. But I need a manual at least.
It has been outside for the three years we have been here, and who knows how long prior to that. I need to plug it in and see if the motor will turn, but am afraid that if it *could* work that just starting up cold with no work to the parts first will certainly kill it.
I have come across several of these branded tools over the years and they have varied from awful to middle-of-the-road homeowner equipment, depending upon which maker had the contract that year. The specs are set by the store [chain] which merchandises it, but some makers are just better than others. You will probably never know much more about it than you already do.
What I would do is this: Making sure it's unplugged [yeah,I know!], try spinning the blade to see if it is frozen or free. You didn't say whether it's belt or direct drive, but I'd bet on direct, which is less for you to have to mess with.Then check the cord to see if it is intact, with no bare spots or dryrot.Then check the insert around the blade and anything else you can see to verify there is nothing liable to be hit with a spinning blade. You might also want to spray anything that looks like it wants to move with WD-40 or something better and let that set for awhile. Then, plug it in and, while standing off to the side [yeah, again!], BRIEFLY toggle the switch on then off, just to get it spinning. Watch it's rotation to see if it is true and listen for any untoward sounds as it slows down again. If it passes this crucial test, you can figure it will be something you might want to steel-wool with a little light machine oil to clean it up and remove whatever rust you can. Then you need to make sure the fence [ALWAYS a POS on these things] can be locked and removed freely; then check it for parallel to the blade and the cut-off slots.Then, buy a decent-but-not-expensive carbide tooth blade and you are good to go, as long as you don't push it and use good tablesaw technique. I wouldn't try to cosmetically alter it with fancy paintjob or too much elbow grease, as it is not worth mush more than it's utility for however long it lasts for you.
Oh, and one other thing: tip it up and look at the end of the motor if you can run it without a blade, just the nut tightened down on the spacer/washer, and see if lots of blue sparks are coming from the brushes. If they are, many are cheap and easy to replace with a flat screw driver; just take the saw or the old set of brushes to a tool repair place or even Sears service and get new ones before you destroy the armature with metal-to-metal brushes.
The saw isn't worth a lot of money invested, but if you have the time to do these things, you may have something useful.
Good luck!
PM me if you have any questions?