My new (to me) Sawsmith RAS

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:05 am

heathicus wrote:I just picked up this rust bucket, merely for parts. It's in rough shape, covered with rust and oxidation. I don't know if the motor works because there is no power cord. But for $25, I couldn't resist.

It will also give me something to perform "experimental surgery" on so I don't have to fear messing up my production Sawsmith.

Except for the faded red paint, it looks a whole lot like MickeyD's 10ER did. Could be a real beauty, after about 5000 hours of restoration!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:15 am

You should be ashamed of yourself taking advantage of the seller!:rolleyes:

Step one as I c it, dismount the motor and stick the blade/arbor in evaporust for a week. Then you should have a spare arbor!

May need to stick the top of the column in an electrolysis tub to get the arm 'off''.

Some people have all the fun!:D

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:55 pm

The motor works! I really didn't expect it to. Why else would they have cut the cord off? But much to my surprise, it does work!

Also, some of the rust isn't as bad as it looks. With a wire brush (hand held) and a shot of Kroil, both arbor nuts came right off without much effort.

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:03 pm

Have you used your original saw yet? How does it perform?
Fred

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:13 pm

fredsheldon wrote:Have you used your original saw yet? How does it perform?
Fred

I have, Fred, and it performs great. I love it for cutting dadoes. It's my go-to machine for that. I still need to replace the table and fence, though. And I need a good, sharp crosscut blade designed for a RAS.

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:33 pm

My original RAS still needs some level of "restoration." Other than some adjustments and alignment, I haven't done much to it. The column and raising mechanism still needs some work. And, as mentioned in my previous post, I still need to replace the table.

I've been hesitant to tear it apart too much for fear of breaking something in the process. With Shopsmiths, even the ER, parts are pretty plentiful. Not so with the Sawsmith. But now I have a "practice" machine I can tear into and figure things out with little risk.

eaglo · Post by **eaglo** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 4:29 pm

Just got finished cleaning up a Yuba one I found at a foreign embassy here in New York.

Pretty straightforward, though the larger swinging parts wrestled with me on the basement floor. Seems Magna used some sort of Vaseline for lubricant and the stuff mucks up just like molasses. Soaking with Kroil and horsing back and forth got things apart.

The coil cord turns to rock and the insulation falls apart shorting out the line. Don't even consider not replacing it. You can straighten out the ends of the new replacement with a heat gun before crimping new connectors on it.

One bearing was bad and changing it was very easy.

I had an Add-a-tool bracket laying around and it bolted right up.

This is one very nice saw! Lots of fun cleaning it up.

If anyone has any questions, just drop me a line.

Eddie
Long Beach, NY
---------------
10ER, 10ER, Bandsaw, 10ER Jigsaw, 10ER Joiner, Joiner, Sander, Crafters' Station, Double Stand, Compressor, 10ER Power Mounts

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 4:58 pm

I hope to spend some more time refurbing mine this summer. I got the second one I bought completely torn down and all the parts stuck in a cabinet. My plan is to do a complete teardown on my first one then rebuild with the best parts from the two. Then I'll keep some of the leftover parts as spares (including the motor) and maybe part out the rest.