Jointer and Table Saw Uses Same Motor

In 1968 I bought a Rockwell-Delta combination 9” table saw and 4” jointer that can use the same motor (but not at the same time). It was a clever tool design in one convenient unit but the table saw lacked the wider side table extensions. I added the two side extensions but had to move the jointer farther away from the table saw and provide a pulley shaft extension.

Adding a side support table onto the side of the table saw base provided a way to hold the jointer and still have access to the drive motor. In addition, a post supports the bearing block for the ½” dia. drive shaft pulley extension. The parts are made from ¾” plywood and 1” right angle cold rolled steel. Everything is glued together and then held with flathead screws and hex head bolts. I improvised a universal coupling by drilling a ½” hole through a section of discarded brass garden hose nozzle and fastened with cotter pins to the jointer and pulley shafts. The improvised universal coupling has worked well over the years but there are better ways to do this with flexible couplings.

Thanks Paul! I've added your Jointer and Table Saw Motor Sharing Extension to our Table Saws category, as well as to your builder page: Paul Jones' Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/jointer-and-table-saw-motor-sharing-extension"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/120966/jointer-and-table-saw-motor-sharing-extension.jpeg" /></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/jointer-and-table-saw-motor-sharing-extension">Jointer and Table Saw Motor Sharing Extension</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/Paul+Jones">Paul Jones</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/table-saw">table saw</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/jointer">jointer</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/motor">motor</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Hi Paul,

Like the build. Looks like you have my outlook on life in that if you can build it with bits you have it's a much better feeling.

Do you have a way of disengaging the drives or do the machines always run together? I also assume that the saw blade can be tilted as it looks like an arc for the setting on the front? If so could you show how it works as I had a similar problem when I fitted a 3hp motor in my archaic tablesaw instead of the virtually useless 3/4hp it had. It was a complicated change as the saw originally had the motors shaft as the blade arbor so I swapped it for a pillow block assembly driven by pulleys. I have always wondered if I could have done it more simply so a look in yours would maybe show an alternative way.

Regards, Al

Hi Al,

Thank you for the comments and questions.

Only one V-belt is used depending on whether the table saw or jointer will be used. The motor shaft extends from the front and rear of the electric motor. There are separate motor pulleys mounted at the front and rear of the motor shaft and separate drive belts to fit the different pulley distances to the table saw and the jointer. The table saw drive belt uses the PowerTwist Plus V-belt (I highly recommend this for ultra smooth cutting) and the jointer belt is the conventional V-belt type.

The blade tilts in an arc using a worm drive driven with a handle on right side of the cabinet and the blade up-down position is adjusted from the front (this moves in a wide slot in the front as the blade is tilted). The motor tilts with the blade and the angle can exceed 45 degrees.

The motor is attached at the back on a mounting plate the pivots and allows very easy placement and removal of the pulleys. The weight of the motor is sufficient to keep the pulleys from slipping even when the table saw blade is jammed (extremely rare but it does happen). I found the Freud LU87R009 9-Inch 22 Tooth ATB Thin Kerf Ripping Saw Blade with PermaShield Coating the best all-purpose blade for cabinetmaking work for Rockwell-Delta 9” table saw. The blade does cross cutting as smoothly as it does ripping and hardwood cutting does not even slow down the table saw and absolutely no burning in the saw cuts. I know I publish a lot of articles about machining at this website but I love finish carpentry, cabinetmaking and custom mill work built with this saw and jointer ( e.g., http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/b...0954#post42712).

Regards, Paul

Hi Paul,

There are similarities between how our machines work especially the motor drive relying on its own weight. My saw, which is a virtually unknown "Naerock" 10" tablesaw with a cast iron top (rare in the uk) was a mess when I got it about 5 years ago. It was rusty, stiff, very underpowered with the 3/4hp direct drive motor and worst of all had a wobble on the arbor.

I bought it for about $40 in your money and for all its faults I was just so glad to have a cast iron top with real mitre slots instead of the usual pressed steel or formed aluminum that is so popular here. These crappy options are in my mind unacceptable to anyone wanting even average results from their milling and there seems to be no way of avoiding them without spending around $1500 for a cabinet saw in the UK. So with all its faults I was very happy to have it and didn't even bother trying to make the saw work as it was, I just wanted a good cast iron top! :)

When I was looking for a new motor I was dismayed at the 100s I would have to spend for a minimum 2hp so I thought outside the box and bought a garden shredder from B & Q for $80 which had a 3.3hp induction motor. Ideal. I knew however that the direct drive option wouldn't work with that beast as it was nearly the diameter of the blade! So I decided it would have to be belt drive like yours, which worked but meant I had to extend the box hugely to allow for the tilts motor swing. Since then I have been interested in other ways of hanging the motor and have found some saws that have their motors separate to the moving arbor and rely on tension/weight of the motor to allow up and down on the blade and then running the belt at 45 degrees to allow mitre movement, but I can't actually find any examples that I can look at in detail, but I'm still looking.

Sorry for the long yarn and hope to see some of your work posted.

Al

Hi Al,

2 HP or larger electric motors are expensive. I like your motor find with the garden shredder. I bought my table saw and jointer combination (before adding the cast iron saw top extensions) in 1968 for $450 (not a real bargain based on our CPI cost of money because $450 is more than $3000 in 2015 dollars (see How Much Is That? )). Over the years, the original motor has been rebuilt twice rather than replaced because finding an electric motor of this size with front and back shafts is not easy.

Today the table saw cuts much better with the computer designed carbide tipped blades than it ever did in the 1970's using the best available hollow ground planner blades. I do believe spending the money on very good quality table saw blades can over come many of the deficiencies of lower HP electric motors.

Thanks for the discussion,

Paul