Photo Index - American Machine & Tool Co., Inc. - tilt-top Bench Saw

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
American Machine & Tool Co., Inc.
Royersford, PA.

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Table Saw
Machine Size:	8"
Submitted By:	Paul Kline

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	tilt-top Bench Saw
Date of Manufacturer:	1947
Serial Number:
Last Updated	12/18/2013 9:19:03 AM

Comments:

Listing edited after identifying saw from March 1947 Popluar Science Ad. Missing splitter, guard, miter.

Small bench saw purchased at a garage sale, bolted to a heavy table covered in bird droppings, zero safety features, lots of rust, $5.00 - perfect! The owner was deceased and his daughter and son-in-law were selling off his tools and stuff. They thought he might have had the saw second-hand.

The arc that guides the table tilt had broken in the past, been poorly welded, was broken again. I drilled a new hole below the crack but then it wouldn't quite reach 90 degrees, so I made a wooden one for now.

There are no badges or stamped numbers on anything except the fence which has the number 230-16 stamped on it. I searched the photo index for old table saws and everything I saw looks better built or more modern, so I suppose it is pretty old [1947]. The blue paint is faded over all but for a small space under the tilt guide where some bright blue remains.

The top is 12" wide by 14 deep and is made of a cast rectangle with a 1/8" steel plate welded on. There's a very shallow slot for a miter. A length of angle-iron bolts to the front and the fence grips that. The arbor is 1/2". The original motor mount was there but unused, an old Emerson 1hp motor was bolted to the table. The motor is mounted behind the saw to maintain belt tension as the blade is raised/lowered.

I put a 5.5" blade on it, the only one I have with a half-inch arbor.

I'm thinking about a wooden top and fence to make it more usable. Maybe give up tilt and use it for small stuff, makes a nice complement to the 12" H&A bandsaw.

After buying it I drove to another garage sale where they had a modern 8-inch Craftsman saw for $30. I could pick it up with two fingers but it looked pretty. I'll stick with this one for now, a little work and it'll go another 70-80 years.

Photo 1:

Comments: table saw, fence, broken tilt guide, motor mount
Source: self-shot

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 2:

Comments: fence mounted
Source: self-shot

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 3:

Comments: front-left corner showing wooden tilt guide
Source: self-shot

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 4:

Comments: underneath, not much to it
Source: self-shot

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 5:

Comments: left side, center disk is pulley, overlapped by disk that loosens/tightens blade depth, knob below to the right loosens-tightens table tilt
Source: self-shot

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 6:

Comments: left side with blade withdrawn
Source: self-shot

Direct Link
IMG Code