A Brief Throat Plate and Saw Blade Buzz

I have a Sears Craftsman 9 inch table saw that I purchased on sale for $299.95 way back in autumn 1976  My saw is ancient, maybe even an antique by now, but it's still going as strong as ever.

This table saw is the only one I've ever owned (although I've toyed with thoughts of replacing it) but it still runs the same as it did on Day One when I first tried it out.... and it still runs on the original electric motor too. 

This saw has seen some heavy duty ripping over the years, and literally, I've ripped miles and miles of lumber on this saw... and I mean those real 5280 feet to the mile miles.

I can't even find nine inch saw blades for it anymore, but a few years back I discovered that 10 inch blades work perfectly well as long as the saw's slightly lesser clearances are respected.

In fact, my saw is so old that I can't even find used accessories, add-ons or replacement parts for it, not even on e-Bay.

To digress here a little, last fall when I visited Rangeley, Maine, I picked up several small panels of 1/8 inch Baltic birch plywood on the very cheap (meaning their everyday store price) but at perhaps a fifth of the price I would've had to pay here in Canada... if I can find the plywood.

Anyway, for ripping thin pieces I needed a blade-hugging throat plate, so one afternoon this summer I decided to make one by using the saw's original one for a pattern.

1.

Here's the new blank throat plate next to the original Sears one that came with the saw.

2.

The new blank has been fastened down and is reading for the next step; turning on the saw and then slowly raising the blade.

3.

Seconds later the blade is through but minutes later the blade is stopped. 

This ancient table saw is so reliable that it will be here after I'm gone and/or no longer able to use it.

My single complaint is the saw doesn't have a brake, which means and the blade will rotate for a long time after the saw is turned off. An exposed free spinning blade is always a potential hazard waiting for a mere fraction of a second of inattentiveness.

The work-around I use is a long thin piece of pine that I place against the blade to stop it with friction. It works well, but the caveat is to have the blade high enough to prevent the pine stick from catching on the blade's gullets.

The Oddblock Station Agent