One of the issues you always have with running a woodshop is taking the time out for machine maintenance and to sharpen your tools. You don’t get a lot of enjoyment out of doing these basic processes, but if you fail to maintain your tools, they will stop working well for you – or worse, you may get injured by pushing the tool too hard and suddenly ‘jerking’ the tool around. Bad news!
So here I’ve pulled my tablesaw out where I can access it on all sides, and pulled off the access panels. As you can see, wood dust has built up and caked up on a lot of the gears. I will need to clean these off, reapply grease to the tilt and elevation mechanisms. The general process is:
- Clean off area with compressed air, brush out and wipe off
- Apply grease, wipe of excess and then “exercise the movement” back & forth to distribute the grease
- Clean off other parts of tablesaw, including top
- Double check fences, guards and other items for accuracy and function
It did not take two long to do this routine maintenance, and now I can continue to use a clean, well-functioning machine.
Kevin