Clean Your Pinion Gears

Hands On Sept/Oct 79

The pinion gears on the Mark V that drive the saw table up and down are made of copper and iron. Running on steel back teeth, they need no lubricant. However, after some use, sawdust builds up and collects in the rack and pinion teeth. This can cause the pinion gears to strip off these teeth – so the sawdust has to be cleaned out periodically.

To clean the rack and pinions, use a stiff bristle brush. Removing the pinions to clean is easy:

First, remove the saw table assembly from the carriage. Then remove the table height locking handles, washer, and lever assembly. Slide the square pinion shaft out the rear of the carriage and each pinion will slide out, one to the front and one to the rear. Don’t worry about getting them mixed; they’re identical.

To reassemble, just reverse the procedure. This whole cleaning process takes 5 minutes and should be done whenever stiffness develops in raising or lowering the table – or you may strip off the teeth!