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Is there a tablesaw expert on here?

When I'm checking for slop in the bushings I see about .005" with a little pressure but if I push harder I get another 10-15 thou from somewhere. Kinda Like the arbor is moving. I can't see in there so I'll have to tear it apart. Maybe when I get sick of planking:)
 
Don, I've been around table saws as long as your table saw is old. You mentioned a clunk in the arbor, is the arbor sliding in the bushings or are the bushings worn so the arbor moves slightly up and down? Are the bushing mounts fixed solidly to the table top? I know bushings wear because they are usually brass or copper but seldom steel because they are sacrificial. If the arbor is not damaged and it's the bushings that are worn I would look into replacing the bushing housing with a new housing that has a suitable ball bearing race in it that fits your arbor. for starters you've got Princess Auto, Canadian Tire, You 'd be surprised what you can order from Home Hardware, then you try your local bearing shops, there should be shops in your city or town, and as a last resort there is always the internet. It sounds like a bushing problem, to check it out shouldn't take more than about fifteen minutes . Remove the blade and unplug it, remove the fence and flip it upside down then start checking the arbor and arbor mount and alignment and just have fun. I'd love to own that saw, when it's good, it's good!
 
Thanks Mike I will add this to things to look for. If I'm remembering right from when I had it apart, it seemed to be a very Mickey Mouse arrangement. I looked like the whole arbor hung from one bolt that was also the pivot/lock for the tilting of the blade. You have to loosen this bolt to tilt the blade and I'm not sure how they guarantee that the blade alignment would be the same when you tightened it up again. I will have to force myself to stop working on the Discovery and tear into the saw. I guess now is a good time as I just cut a bunch of stuff and won't need the saw for a while.
 
I turned it over and blew out all the dust. You can see the bolt that everything hangs from just to the left of center. I put my dial indicator to work and the blade has .015" runout. It doesn't feel like there is any play in the shaft. In fact it feels really good. Like I said earlier I did change the bushings a few years back. I thought maybe the shaft was worn but it feels really good. There is no movement except for up and down. There is about 1/8-1/4" of slop in the raising/lowering mechanism so you can grab the blade and move it up and down. Do you think this may cause problems. It looks like a fairly easy fix so I will sort that out anyway. I will take the blade off and maybe pull the shaft and check the mounting face for trueness. maybe I can get rid of some of the .015" runout.DSC04421.JPG
 
Well I took it apart, took the play out of the up/down. Peeled the label off the arbor side of the blade and made a minor adjustment to the fence. I made a couple of test cuts and it seems better but time will tell. I have the blade runout down to about 7-8 thou. We'll have to see how it goes. A new blade may be in order but this one may be old but it really doesn't get much use. I've used it more in the last 4 months than I did in the previous 5 years.
 
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