# Rockwell 12/14 arbor issues



## Popeye1 (May 12, 2011)

This is my first time posting here, but I have been reading on this site for some time now. 
I just had to tell someone about my newest tool that would appreciate it. I have been wanting to upgrade my table saw for some time now, icaught a major break earlier this week and found an old Rockwell 12/14 (model 34-395) Table saw. It is an awesome machine and I got it for a song. I am adding a picture.
It needs some work, so I am stripping it down and will replace the bearings on the arbor. I am also replacing the 3phase motor with a smaller single phase (2-3Hp).
Here is my question/dilema:
Probably 98% of the time I only need a 10 inch blade, however to use a 10 inch blade on the 1 inch arbor, I would have to have the blade bored out. Also, a dado set for a 1" arbor is clearly out of my price range (especially considering that 12" blades are more $ too).
I am planning to pull the arbor in order to replace the bearings, is there any reason why i couldn't take it to a local machine shop and have them reduce it to a 5/8" arbor and rethread it?
It might be an initial investment, but I think it would save me a lot over time.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

First off, that's saws a beast! Congrats on the find.

While I hear what your saying... these are my initial thoughts. 

There's no real down side to having a 12" blade on your saw as long as you go with the correct motor hp and rpm & pulley ratio. The blades will be a lil more expensive but not terribly. As for the dado, any 6-8" will work given it has a 1" arbor. You can still find dado sets with 1" arbors that include a sleeve for use on 5/8" arbors. They were made to be used on either because of the 12" radial arm saws out there...

Just my thoughts...

~tom


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## HugeCow inc. (Jun 12, 2010)

Welcome to the site, 


and that saw is BEAST, i love it!


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

Those saws have interchangeable arbors. There is a large pin wrench that fits in the holes on the flange and a flat on the end of the arbor, reverse thread. The end of the arbor is a taper with threads on the end. It's not likely you need to replace the bearings. I only had a longer arbor for stack dadoes, I don't know if they made one for 5/8 blade holes. I bought 10" blades with a 1" hole. You could have existing blades bored larger.


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## Popeye1 (May 12, 2011)

*Exchangable Arbor*

So, I think I will look into buying an exchangable extension for my arbor.
Any suggestions how I can get the old one off since it is quite rusted and I don't have the spanner wrench?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Fyi*

Just checked Ebuy for 12" blades...LOTS with 1" arbors.
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=12"+saw+blades&_sacat=See-All-Categories
Hopefully You can get the adaptor off! 
I would not reduce it and rethread it down based on Hammer1's advice and the expense.  bill


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## jreedfelton (Jun 10, 2021)

Popeye1 said:


> *Exchangable Arbor*
> 
> So, I think I will look into buying an exchangable extension for my arbor.
> Any suggestions how I can get the old one off since it is quite rusted and I don't have the spanner wrench?


Popeye, Congrats on owning one of the best table saws Rockwell ever made! I also acquired one recently. Here is my 2 cents. Don't remove or re-machine the arbor. It will devalue your saw. 12" blades are not that much more expensive and gives you more capacity. The cost and time involved to remove and re-machine the arbor could be better spent buying a variable frequency drive which would maintain the original 5 HP capacity and save allot of work. The interchangeable arbors were a clever idea by Rockwell. When the saw was made larger arbor holes were much more common. Not so much today. Grizzly used to make a saw that copied the interchangeable arbor design. I talked with them last week to see if they had any arbor extensions available. They shared that they don't and they stopped production of the saw because for some reason they had problems keeping blades on the saw. Yikes! My saw came with only the original 1" arbor. A good friend with the same saw told me they were interchangeable. I wanted to be able to use a dado stack and went searching for an arbor extension. Not available anywhere. One site advertised them but had no inventory. I have a prototype shop so made my own longer arbor to use with a dado stack. I also made a spanner wrench. The holes in the arbor shaft collar are 1-7/8" on center. I used 1/4" X 1-1/2 " steel stock and two 1/4" X 1/2" roll pins to make the wrench. I currently am making 4 more of the 1" arbor extensions for dado stacks. Let me know if I can be of assistance. Reed *Email Address Removed by Moderator*


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

Jreed - welcome to the forum.
unfortunately, this is a 10 year old thread and the O/P's last visit here was 2015.
your contribution is appreciated - it may help others with the same issues.


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