Photo Index - Oliver Machinery Co. - Model # 232

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:	3 HP 14"
Submitted By:	Chuck Hess

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Model # 232
Date of Manufacturer:	1968
Serial Number:	200662 (View SN Registry Entry)
Last Updated	4/24/2006 3:43:58 AM

Comments:

Oliver 232 Table Saw serial # 200662, 1968.

Aloha,
I had been stalking this nice looking little saw on the internet for a long, long time. I submitted an offer while it was on ex-factory 1 or 2 years ago, but I never seem to get far with those guys. I could tell from the internet photos that the saw looked to be in great shape, mostly complete accessory wise and at only 38 years old was a youngster compared to most of my other Olivers. I was also intrigued with the foot brake shown in the photos, I had not seen one like that before but it looked nice and I am always thinking about safety. I thought the saw was out of my budget but I did start to think of how fun that would be to get a machine in plug and play condition and after all, I paid about that much for a new Powermatic 66 saw about 10 years ago (juicy rationalization). Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy working on my machines, but it seems like every time I get my head inside one the phone rings, or every time I am grease covered from the shoulders down someone comes in to talk or something, and we are a very busy shop. So I forgot about this saw until one day I saw its photo on the woodweb and my spidy senses went off! When you are 2500 miles offshore you have to rely on such things. I just called the dealer up and said I will take it. He came down a little, crated it for free and threw in a reproduction miter bridge and the deal was made without me really understanding why I did that.
So the saw arrived 3 months later and it is in superb condition and I quickly assembled the parts. It looked to have come from a school shop with very little use. The blade was a little rusty so I went and got a new 14" 36 tooth rip and prepared to check the arbor flange. I bust out the dial indicator, clean the flange and get a reading of .0005. No way! Call my right hand guy over to tell me if I am having a senior moment. He agrees, less than 1 thousandth! We give each other the deer in the headlights look. Incidentally we both just spent a *lot* of time truing the flange on our EC SLR. Now he's watching me very closely as I mount the blade and reset the dial indicator. It reads the same thing; less than 1 thousandth at the rim of the blade the first time I mounted it. I have never heard of that before but I do have a witness! That may not sound like a big deal to some of you, but to anyone who has spent a lot of time trying to true a flange you know what I am talking about. Super smooth saw! I guess I could feel that from the arn force and thats what made me buy it. Honest judge. Well I do feel sort of guilty, I didn't save a sad bastard and I wont be looking for hard to find accessories on the internet for the next 10 years like I usually do. But I do have another very nice saw to mess up some wood with, and with that I throw myself at the mercy of the court.
This is the first time I have ever used one of these and it looks like a great design. Like I said I have chased a little Oliver saw for a long time, and always seemed to be second bidder. I can see why people like them so much; it looks like it will be a real fun saw for smaller stuff. Also looks like it will be very accurate saw too. It has the nicest foot brake I have ever seen on a saw. A micro switch kills the power and a cable runs to a mechanical brake shoe on the flange. It is so nice that I want to retrofit my other saws with similar ones (big project, pipe dream). It also came with the short stop electronic brake which doesnt seem to be functioning now and I have not had time to mess around with that yet.
Sweet Little Saw!
Aloha,
Chuck

Photo 1:

Comments: Check out that brake pedal!
Source: Mines

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Photo 2:

Comments: Nice dust collectability!
Source: Mines

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Photo 3:

Comments: Cool little saw.
Source: Mines

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