Project Update: The Motor is in the Building

Yes! The table saw motor arrived today.

It appears to be a new one. I assume whoever worked on it in Pennsylvania couldn't get the pulley wheel set screw out, either, and just gave up and sent me a knew motor. I know it's new because it is squeaky clean and one of the exhaust hood screws that was missing has been replaced. And there's not a scratch or a speck of sawdust on the entire thing.

When I went to reattach the wires you see sticking up, I carefully checked the photos I had taken of them before shipping it to Pennsylvania. It turns out that it was originally wired for 240v. Now, I don't know a heckuva lot about things electrical, but this seems odd to me. I suppose it would run that way with no ramifications, though it would throw a breaker or worse had it been wired for 110v and I plugged it into a 240v outlet. No worries. I went ahead and wired it up according to the 110v specs and tested it out. It worked fine. As Michael Keaton says in Mr. Mom, "Yeah, 220, 221, whatever it takes."

I had quite a time getting the thing mounted back on because it weighs 50 pounds and took some contortioning of my old body and some awkward lifting to get everything positioned in the right place. Once I got it installed, I took the blade back to 0 degrees (it needed to be tilted to get the motor off) and tried raising the blade.

Nothing.

Nada, zippo, zilch, goose egg.

Nothing.

I was turning air and, upon closer inspection, discovered the "bull gear" was missing. This is the gear on the motor that meshes with a long screw to raise and lower the blade using a handle on the lower front of the saw.

Now, I must say that this did not surprise me. While I appreciate the dollar:value ratio of Grizzly products, I just shook my head and said aloud: "Yeeeeeaaaaaah." I immediately went upstairs to my computer and fired off an email laced with invective born of three months of frustration. And then it hit me: The gear might still be in the box. So, I trudged out to the recycling bin and, yep, there it was, bolts and all, hidden under the packing at the bottom of the box. Of course, I shot another email to Grizzly asking them to please ignore my previous email - and to kindly not respond to me. I'm about Grizzlied out for one lifetime.

I'm thankful I found the gear, yet one must wonder why the technician in Pennsylvania simply didn't take the two minutes to mount the gear before sending the whole thing back to me. Okay, I get that the poor bastard is under the gun to get as many warranty repairs done per day as possible, but really? Gratitude is the proper response here, so I'm letting this one go and even considering purchasing one of their 17" band saws. I may be sorry later, yet I'm hoping this whole experience has been one big, frustrating anomaly in my relations with Grizzly.

Until next time...