We Have The Technology…

…we can rebuild it.

And the best part is, it will be far less than $6,000,000. For those of you not keeping up, my table saw bit the big one yesterday, or so it seemed. I tend to buy low end tools because I am El Brokeo (The Legend Lives!). You do tend to take your chances with these things and hope they are not made with all the quality and engeneering of a disposable lighter.

I yanked the motor out yesterday and was going to take it to an electrical shop to have them take a look at it. I found out the only place that does this sort of work is in the next town, and that might as well be on another planet as far as I’m concerned. There is also the issue of cost. The saw cost me around $150.00 and you just know it is going to be $75.00 just to get some repair guy to even drip his morning coffee on it.

I decided to poke around on it myself. Even cheap tools – exuse me – inexpensive tools almost always come with a schamtic and parts lists so it was not too difficult to dismantle the motor. Once it was apart everything seemed fine. After inspecting it for a few minutes I noticed some melted plastic at the bottom of the motor housing. I reviewed the schmatic and it showed that a bushing/bearing sat down in that part of the houseing. I then found that bearing on the motor and sure enough it was seized up. After a short while I was able to get it to turn and it sounded like there was gravel in it. Not a good sign. Bearings should spin effortlessly and make no noise while spinning.

I got on the phone to the Sears Parts Hot-Line (insert spinning Batman symbol and horns here) and ordered a new bearing. Cost of bearing: $2.60. With shipping it comes to just under $8.00. I can totally live with that. The bad news is it won’t be here until the 15th.

Now, I’ve been told it is possible to live without a table saw, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m going to take the week off from work and sit quietly in a darkened room until the part arrives. This is no time to take chances. Once the part has arrived and the saw is working again, I will be ready to rejoin the world outside, safe in knowing that I once again have a working table saw.