What a Delightful Surprise

It turns out the guy who sold me the Powermatic 66 has a sense of humor.

I was trying to get the rails mounted. This should have been a ten-minute job, but I found rust and gunk on the tube, and I had to get it off. I started with a drill and wire wheel…then I remembered my GIGANTIC COMPRESSOR. I fired it up and appled the needle scaler. Unfortunately, it ate the paint pretty fast. So I finished up with sandpaper and the drill. I don’t care about the paint, because it’s going to have to be redone anyway. But I plan to use the saw before repainting, so I don’t want to mess it up more than necessary.

I got the tube cleaned up to where it was usable, and then I noticed three bolts, broken off inside the side of the tube. And of course, I had no extractors. So I had to hit Home Depot, just for the purpose of getting one. The assortment they had was lame, so I plan to root around on the web to see what else is out there. I bought one tiny extractor. It should do the job. Luckily, the bolts go into a hollow space, so if I can get them to turn in either direction, I’ll be fine. They’ll back out, or they’ll go forward and drop out inside the tube.

I saw a couple of bolt heads on the floor when I picked up the saw. Evidently, he had started dismantling it, but he hadn’t been able to finish. He didn’t say a thing about it. Maybe he was trying to take it apart so he could sell it to someone who would pay more.

I found out that the measuring tape on the tube can be replaced very easily. They cost twenty bucks, tops. So I may refinish the rails and tube eventually. Right now, I just want the saw to WORK.