# Need help with Craftsman tbl saw/flex shaft



## tpf229 (Dec 6, 2011)

I recently got a craftsman table saw model 113.241691,,,, 10" with a flexable shaft at an auction. There is a little rust and I am sure it has not been used in a long time. When I turn it on, the flex shaft wobbles badly and saw will not get up to speed. It has even tripped the breaker. I have disconnected the shaft and oiled what i could. Do I need a new flexable shaft? Is there a kit to change it over to belt drive? Thanks!


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

It looks like you have some good news and bad news. Bad news is that you're probably correct in that the flex shaft is going south. Good news is that they are still available from Sears: http://www.searspartsdirect.com/par...00012438/00002?blt=06&prst=0&shdMod=113241691

More bad news: The part is nearly $100.

I know a guy who has had one of these saws for years and is perfectly happy with it. He uses it a lot, too. If you put a new flex shaft in it you'd probably be good for years.

Swapping the saw to a belt drive, from what I've read, is very impractical. Maybe someone could chime in here who knows whether it's possible to disassemble and lubricate the flex shaft.

A couple of things to check: Does the motor run smoothly with the shaft disconnected? Does the blade and arbor turn smoothly when the shaft is disconnected? If both of those are smooth, it's likely the flex shaft is the culprit.

Bill


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I also own a Craftsman flex drive and while the cable jumps a little at start up it comes up to speed and cuts very nicely. Its the inertia causing the jump. You turn on the power and suddenly a flexible cable that was at rest is being spun at 1300 rpms against and stationary arbor with a 10" blade bolted to it. The blade wants to stay still until the cable over comes inertia and makes it spin. If the cable doesn't jump a little, it will break....

If you are tripping breakers, make sure you have it plugged into a 20amp breaker and not a 15amp. If it were the motor pulling that much the thing would not turn at all.

There is no practical way to convert these saws to a belt drive. The casting on the table for the arbor forbids it.

If your saw is like mine, the motor has oil caps on both sides of the armature shaft. Try a few drops of 3 in 1 machine oil in each cap. Pull the cable assembly off completely and remove the cable from the housing. Clean the housing as best as you can with mineral spirits to remove old caked on grease (a bore brush for a 22 works good. Tie a length of wire to it, thread the wire through the cable housing, and work the brush through), then butter the cable with regular automotive bearing grease and slide it back into the housing. I do mine twice a year and it works like a charm.

Another thing to try is change to a thin kerf blade. I just did this and it has cut down on the cable jump and the motor isn't working as hard as it used to to come up to speed or to cut hard woods. I just used it to resaw a chunk of 8/4 Walnut 6" wide by 6 feet long without any hesitation at all.

They are good weekend saws, but they need a sharp blade and proper maintenance to keep running.


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## Pirate (Jul 23, 2009)

Ever wonder why more saws don't have that drive system?
I would look for a saw with a normal belt drive.
I know, it's not what you wanted to hear, but.......
Got a scrap metal buyer near you?


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## bobandbetty (Jan 16, 2019)

I bought a new flex drive tablesaw in 86 and replaced the flex drive about 10 years ago and recently the cable got to where it would not drive the blade.I also looked everywhere trying to find a cable..no luck. When I looked at my cable both ends were rounded off and the cable just would not engage the square ends on the arbor side or the motor side. If you look at the cable you will notice that each end forms a square which looks like maybe 1/4 inch. If you notice both ends are square and the square extends back about 3/4 inch from each end of the cable. I took my grinder and cut off each end of the cable maybe 1/8 inch. To allow for what I cut off each end I moved the motor coupling out away from the motor another 1/4 inch. This solved the problem and my saw works . If your cable just has rounded ends this should work. If the cable is broken well hope you can find another one......questions? 

[email protected]


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