An Old Craftsman Table Saw
May 3rd, 2008 by Doug Berch
The other day I was thinking it would be nice to have a small and accurate table saw. I have a portable contractors saw that works well but I wanted a tool that had the feeling of solidity that only cast iron provides. An aluminum table might be great for a picnic but it feels lacking on my table saw.
So imagine my surprise when I saw a listing for an old Craftsman table saw less than a mile from my door!
The price was reasonable and the saw now sits in my garage awaiting some tender loving care to bring it back to a better life.
It works! The model is #103.23834 and it probably dates to the early 1950′s. It takes an 8″ blade and has a 1 hp Dayton motor. It also came with the rip fence and miter gauge.
The table is rusty but salvageable.
Some parts are frozen so I see a can of WD40 in my future.
It is heavy and solid and from the front it looks like a radio! How cools is that!
Here is a picture from the back. I’ll probably mount the who thing to a bench once I overhaul it
I was able to find a copy of the original manual thanks to the friendly folks at the Old Wood Working Machines site. The manual will be of great help when restoring the saw.
I’ll be using this saw for small scale work so I won’t miss the iron side wings but if you live nearby and have some to spare I might be interested
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Heya
Nice find you got there! I have the same table saw, just 103-23838. Its a great saw, I love it very much after refirbishing mine. Its very simple to take apart and clean/lubricate. You can take the whole mechanism out in one piece from the steel shell, and its good ‘ol American simplicity from there. Remember to grease and oil everything sliding, rotating, and pivoting well!
The Dayton 1HP on yours was added on by somebody else, orginally it had a 1/2HP, like mine does.
On penetrants, I highly suggest Kroil over WD-40 any day. You can usually find it in welding shops and machinist’s supply houses, or you can direct order it from Kano Laboratories. WD40 is good however for rust-proofing the table.
@Jerry Wick –
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the comments. I ended up rebuilding it with parts from another in the 103.XXXX series as some parts were stripped, etc. It is a great little saw. I figured the motor was not original and it is almost a little too much motor for that saw!
It took a while to find blade bushings, etc. It runs great though the rip fence still needs some work.
I may be passing it along to a friend who needs a saw as I just picked up a Craftsman 315.228390 10″ saw last week. The 103 has a lot more personality but the shop is getting full!
Thanks for the tip about Kroil. I hadn’t heard of it before.
All the best,
Doug
I just bought an older sears table saw,I too wanted the weight of the cast iron table ,gt tired of the lighter stuff.It works just great but I need a owners manual as the crank for the blade tilt is missing.can anyone help me out?Mod#113326880
ser.#9522p0472
thanks rhino
Hi Rhino,
You might try here:
http://owwm.com/
I found a manual for my saw on that site.
When I fixed mine up I found that some worm gears were stripped. I ended up getting the entire trunnion assembly for a similar saw on Ebay for around $20. It was from another 8″ Craftsman table saw with a model number that had the same numerical prefix, 103 in my case. Though it was a different model I had learned that the prefix shows who made the saw. I figured the parts might be compatible.
It fit and worked perfectly except the original had a depth gauge and the replacement did not but this was not a problem for me.
I hope this helps,
Doug
Hi Doug I also have a saw like yours.But it has a 1/2 shaft and most blades have a 5/8 shaft.Where may I ask did your find bushing for the shaft to use a 5/8 hole blade.I would like to use this saw for small projects or for use a dado blade in the 6-8in size.When I obtained this saw from an old friend of mine ,he had used it for cutting bricks being that he was a mason.All the trunions where worn out,but was able to still get part from Sears at the time.The fence doesn’t lock properly or straight anymore but maybe with some attention and repairs it might work.Thank for any help you can offer.If you would like I will keep intouch with the rebuild process
Hi Bob,
I found the bushings at both Sears and Harbor Freight. In both places they were hanging on a rack by the table saw blades. The ones from Harbor Freight had a tighter press fit into the blade than the ones from Sears. They came in a package of assorted sizes but were still pretty cheap, just a few dollars.
The rip fence on my saw is pretty useless. The top also has a warp to it but it still works fine for crosscutting, etc. It has become a back-burner project but I hope to do some more with it someday.
I hope this is helpful!
Doug
Hi Doug I’ve got almost the exact saw that you have pictured here, it’s even set up similar to yours down to the wall switch. It was given to me by my father-in-law who bought it new, he is maticulous about his tools so everything is in fine order he even had the owners manuel. The gears are perfect the one problem I have is that I don’t think the motor is original. It’s an old craftsman as well but it’s 3/4 hp. Anyway it’s causing problems with the blade tilt function (belt keeps slipping off the pully). Seeing that your set-up is similar I was wondering if you ran into the same situation? And if so how did you remedy it? Any advise you have would be appreciated.
Thanks
Noah
Hi Noah,
The motor-mount sits on a sliding bracket so the pulley/motor can follow and track as the arbor tilts. On mine the sliding bracket is badly bent so it works to a point and then the motor gets stuck in a particular position.
Is yours mounted that way? It might be the problem.
I have the same model 103.22161 and need to get rid of it cause it is taking up space in my workshop. I used it for quite a few years after buying it at a yard sale. It’s mounted to a homebuild stand with three drawers (the top drawer catches the sawdust) and runs fairly well and is rust free. If anyone is interested in picking it up near Annapolis, Maryland, it’s yours for free. Please contact me at garyleeh@aol.com if interested.
Hi Doug,
I like all the comments you’ve had so far from this post. I’m in the rebuilding process now of two similar craftsman models, but what do you think of this? I am connecting two table top surfaces so i can have a dado set in one and maybe a plywood blade or something else set up in the other. I also plan to build a new base for both and not use the originals. Any good ideas?
Josh Parsons
Gonut7@yahoo
Sounds interesting Josh. I like these simple old machines because you can cobble them into whatever you want; simplicity inspires creativity. Sounds like you’ll figure something out! My old Craftsman is currently sitting idle as I have been too busy to mess with it. I think someday when I have a bigger shop I’ll set it up as a dedicated machine for something or other!
Hi,
I was looking to get some parts for my old Craftsman tablesaw and ended up on this site. I too have a Craftsman 103.22161 Model 80 8″ tablesaw. I was up visiting my father one day and told him that I was looking for a table saw. He told me that there was an old tablesaw at the house my sister & bro-in-law just bought. He didn’t promise me a whole lot as far as the condition other then my bro-in-law put it outside in the scrap pile about 3 months earlier. I figured what the heck the price was right. I went to look at it and was a little nervous when my dad plugged it in. I turned it on and to my suprise it ran fine, I even cut a piece of wood with it. I brought it home took it all apart, cleaned and lubed it and removed the rust on the table. I have a fence with it and the miter gauge as well. We were in the process of renovating our entire house when I got the saw and even at 50 + years old it works great. My friend had let me borrow his table saw which is also a Craftsman and is only a couple of years old. This tablesaw that I saved from the scrap heap works so much better then the newer saw. I don’t have the heart to tell my friend that because I do appreciate him lending me his saw. So instead of buying a new saw as I had originally planned I am going to do a complete overhaul on this nice old tablesaw. The only thing I really want to get for this saw is the table extensions. I found a antique dealer the has 4 or 5 of them sitting in his garage. Maybe I can make a deal with him for some parts. Noah I also had the same problem with my belt falling off when I would change the angle of the blade. I took the slide shaft on the motor apart and cleaned & lubed it, it works great now.
Thank You,
John
They are great little machines, kind of like old cars; very basic and easy to figure out. Mine is curently retired but I may revive it this Summer.
Hi everyone,
Can anyone please send pictures or a better explanation as to how this slide shaft works on the motor of the tablesaw. I too just inherited the same saw and have taken it apart to get it back to working order, I’m in the process of putting it back together and didn’t even figure the belt problem as the angle adjustment was tightened down to the 45 degree mark when I got it.
Sounds like something else I need to look at.
Jeff
Also, if anyone has the fence, mitre gauge and extensions that they no longer want or need I would be interested in them.
Thanks,
Jeff