# Craftsman 113.299040 Table Saw (arbor/key question)



## mina86 (Mar 11, 2011)

Hello all:

Last weekend I picked up a Craftsman table saw off of Craigslist for $50.00. The saw had been thoroughly abused. It had been left outside, was covered in rust, bolts were missing, it had a worn out auto-fan belt on the pulleys, the rusted blade had been hand tightened onto the arbor, etc. 

I cleaned the saw up, removed all the rust, oiled all the appropriate parts, replaced the belt, put a nice 40T Avanti blade on, waxed the table, etc. 

After all that, the saw cut nicely, but it had a distinctive rattle whenever the blade got up to speed. Also, I noticed that the belt was slapping and the arbor pulley was wobbling as it moved. 

Upon further inspection, I noticed that the keys were missing on both the motor pulley, and the arbor pulley. The key having been missing from the arbor pulley actually caused the inside of the arbor pulley to become damaged over time. 

I ordered a new pulley and new keys from sears. They pulley came as expected, but they keys were not correct. They were square on the bottom and half round on the top, but were considerably larger than could have ever fit in the slots. Luckily, my local lumber yard stocked every possible size of key imaginable. 

After all of that, here is the issue: 

- They key that fit properly on the motor shaft was a 3/16" 1" long square key. That part is all taken care of. 

- On the arbor shaft, the key slot does not go all the way to the end of the shaft like it does on the motor shaft. 

- In addition, the key slot on the arbor shaft is considerably shorter than the slot on the motor shaft. I would say the slot is only about 1/2" long. 

- I went back to the lumber yard and found a 3/16" key that is rounded at the top, and square on the bottom. It is the same height as the square key, but is only 5/8" long. I plan to try this out tonight. 

Does anyone have any input on this? Is the key slot in the arbor shaft supposed to be this short? Or did someone change the arbor shaft at some point to something non-standard?

---

Here is the picture from the ad, and an "after" picture:


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

In looking at the parts diagram on Searspartsdirect.com it looks like the arbor shaft key way is short, so you most likely have the original arbor shaft. Some of that wobble you observed could mean the arbor bearing needs replacing. Not knowing how hard the saw was ridden in its past, it might not be a bad idea to replace the bearings anyhow.


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## yonygg (Nov 9, 2011)

*What did you end up doing?*

Did you replace the arbor / bearings?
Did it solve the problem?


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## GNM (Jul 14, 2016)

mina86 said:


> Hello all:
> 
> Last weekend I picked up a Craftsman table saw off of Craigslist for $50.00. The saw had been thoroughly abused. It had been left outside, was covered in rust, bolts were missing, it had a worn out auto-fan belt on the pulleys, the rusted blade had been hand tightened onto the arbor, etc.
> 
> ...


I purchased my table saw in 1979. I always thought it was strange that there are two different keys on the same belt but that is the way it is. The key close to the motor is a square key #65691 and the key closest to the blade is a half circle called a Woodruff key. this arbor has a u shaped recess and the arbor end has no slot. The Woodruff key is #STD 580025. You can buy the Woodruff key at Sears but 65691 is no longer available. Glad to know it is available at other places.


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## Jig_saw (May 17, 2015)

If someone was selling me a Craftsman table saw for $50, I would be wary. It is a sure indication that I may end up spending 5-10 times more to fix it. Why take the trouble, and instead get a saw in good condition for $150-$200.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

Jig_saw said:


> If someone was selling me a Craftsman table saw for $50, I would be wary. It is a sure indication that I may end up spending 5-10 times more to fix it. Why take the trouble, and instead get a saw in good condition for $150-$200.


$50 saws can be a lot less intimidating to some than others, it is often a matter of knowing what you are getting and what you can do with it. Price really has little to do with it, either they are fixable or they are not, trick is to know which before buying.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I'd buy all the $50.00 saws I could find IF .....*



FrankC said:


> $50 saws can be a lot less intimidating to some than others, it is often a matter of knowing what you are getting and what you can do with it. Price really has little to do with it, either they are fixable or they are not, trick is to know which before buying.


IF I needed more tablesaws than I currently have, I would gladly scoop them up at $50.00 per each. Woodruff keys are cheap at about $2.00 each so there would be enough money left in the budget to buy a pulley and a new belt, even a motor. Bearings are about $10.00 per and we are still under $100.00 for parts. 0


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## yonygg (Nov 9, 2011)

*New pulleys*

Hi,

Did you check InLine Industries? They sell steel machined pulleys for this saw which are far better than the lousy ones the saw originally came with. I bought them long time ago and I'm pleased from them. They came with the correct size keys.

Here's a link:
http://in-lineindustries.com/products/accu-link-belt/


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

yonygg said:


> Hi,
> 
> Did you check InLine Industries? They sell steel machined pulleys for this saw which are far better than the lousy ones the saw originally came with. I bought them long time ago and I'm pleased from them. They came with the correct size keys.
> 
> ...


Those prices look pretty fair, definitely a worthwhile upgrade to any saw.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Your saw really looks good. It sounds like you reworked the top very fast. 
When you go through a saw thoroughly like you have this one, you know exactly what you have and have a better understanding of this piece of equipment. 
Good job.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

the key length on the motor shaft compared to that on the arbor is irrelevant. both will do their job by design, quite well. realize that different manufacturers and trades produced the 2 shafts in question. your saw will be great.


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