Photo Index - Oliver Machinery Co. - 88-D

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Oliver Machinery Co.
Grand Rapids, MI

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Table Saw
Machine Size:	18" Blade
Submitted By:	Chuck Hess

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	88-D
Date of Manufacturer:	1968
Serial Number:	200153 (View SN Registry Entry)
Last Updated	2/25/2006 3:15:18 AM

Comments:

Oliver #88 D- Table saw 1968 vintage.
This is one of my youngest Olivers and was one of my easier restoration projects. It started out mainly a teardown and repaint but we discovered that the worst thing about his saw was that someone had worked on it before. We lovingly nicknamed the previous mechanic as "plier boy". The saw was not in bad shape but it was amazing how many little things were wrong with it. The kind of stuff that must have made this saw miserable to try to use. For example someone had taken apart the arbor tilting crank and when putting it back together they had reversed the knuckle so that the blade would not quite square up with the table. That alone would have made me hate the saw. Another one was the shaft that raises the blade was mysteriously bent making the height adjustment really hard, another very significant user hassle. During the restoration as we solved each mystery my guys and I would discuss how the people that used that saw in the condition we got it, must think Oliver saws are junk. Now it has been my experience with Oliver machines that no matter how ugly and rusty they are when you get them, you can wire them up and they will do woodwork. This saw was an exception to that rule; it looked pretty good but was a miserable user.
Another mystery was that the saw motor was wired for 480 volts, but the magnetic starter had a 220/208 coil and looked like they had been running on 208 that way. In Maui the 3 phase we have is 208 and 480. I am lucky to have 480 in my shop, the machines love it and so do I. So when I fired her up the first time I checked the coil, plugged her in to 208 and tried to rip a piece of 8/4 teak. It made the cut but I knew that it didn't have the power that our 260-D has. We changed the coil to 480 and away we went. But again we wondered if the previous users thought this saw was a wimp.
Some nice things about this saw are the table is planed not ground and is very nice and engravings are very sharp and clear and it did have at least the right side table filler strip with the engraving on it. The other strip is MIA. It does have a non tilting micrometer fence, one miter gauge and Oliver guard. It was missing the outside blade washer but luckily I had one of those. I also had the spanner wrench, nut wrench, fence block, and dado adapter set, all from a shaper purchase but that is another story. So now this saw is fairly complete accessory wise and a joy to use. We use this exclusively for ripping and now I'm running a 16" blade on her and the throat plate is vintage 3/4" thick white corian, which works perfectly. It is our favorite saw in the shop, it is powerful, solid, smooth and accurate. This saw is so nice it will be lifted up in the rapture. I'm sure it belongs in heaven.
Pretty soon a miter gauge for a saw like this will sell for more on ebid than the whole saw used to cost. I am glad we have some serious Oliver collectors out there.
Aloha,
Chuck

Photo 1:

Comments: Guard removed for photo, Not!
Source: My beautiful wife photographer

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Photo 2:

Comments: Great for just plain ripping!
Source: My beautiful wife photographer

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Photo 3:

Comments: Hard to get accesories
Source: My beautiful wife photographer

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