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Tablesaw Lubricating Advice
Question
Forum Responses
From contributor M: Also use spray lube on any bushings where the raise/lower and tilt mechanism shafts go through. From contributor D: I'm going to wager a guess that it's in the design. We have one here and I've seen a few older Powermatics that all suffered from the same problem. Spraying Liquid Wrench helps, but it may be inherently difficult to lift the heavy left tilt arbor mechanism with the worm drive geared too high. From contributor S: I agree that the problem is not the gears but in the bronze bushings on the pivots and the shaft of the crank handle. Oil is drawn into tight areas via capillary action. If the machine is of high quality, there is no space for any oil between the shaft and bushing, and oiling it will only provide short-term benefit. I've also seen fine sawdust packed tightly between a shaft and a bushing. Bronze bushings should not be lubricated, and should not need to be lubricated. I suspect you need to disassemble the mechanism and clean the bushings and shafts. If any bushings show signs of slop or wear, replace them.
From contributor M: There are no bronze bushings on a PM66, according to the parts diagram for a 1995 model. The steel shafts go through holes bored in cast iron assemblies. If you grease and lube all areas where there are moving parts on the raise/lower and tilt mechanism, especially the shafts, it should solve your problem (it always does for me). Do not disassemble anything without trying this first. I usually get 6-12 months out of a lube job, but this depends upon usage. I just did a full lube job on mine this morning and it took about 15 minutes. You will have to remove the motor cover to access all the areas that need attention. Some are easier to reach if you tilt the arbor, and a flashlight is invaluable. Move the blade up and down and side to side several times to distribute the lubricant throughout the contact areas, and you should be back to new in no time.
From the original questioner: What kind of grease did you use? From contributor M: I use white lithium from a tube, which makes applying it easy, but I really don’t think the type of grease is very important. We're not talking about high heat or heavy usage on table saw trunnion and gear assemblies. If I didn’t have the white lithium I would just use the grease from my edgebander or automotive grease, but applying it would be a little more difficult. The spray lubricant that I use on the shafts is Boeshield T-9, but again, I think that any good quality spray lubricant would work just as well. From the original questioner: Thought I'd share something pretty off the wall. I poked around under the saw with a flashlight and realized the gears were really gummed up with crud. I found a can of 3M Citrus cleaner, sprayed the heck out of the gears, ran the arbor up and down, sprayed some more. So far, it seems to be working quite well with no lube at all. Now every time I fire up the dust collector, it smells like oranges in the shop. The comments below were added after this Forum discussion was archived as a Knowledge Base article (add your comment). Comment from contributor A:
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