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