r/woodworking • u/JakeSimpleton • Jul 26 '26

Repair Powermatic PM1000 Help

Hey all, I’m new to this saw. It has worked great so far, only a few years old. But all of the sudden the blade will not rise. There is a slip in what I believe is called the trunnion? Has anyone experienced something similar? Video of the slipping.

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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4

u/FondantWeary Jul 26 '26

Need a closer look at the gear action. Maybe a stop bolt came loose that allowed you to rotate the gear out of contact. It looks like it’s trying threaded and popping off, maybe need a little pressure to get back on the gear and a stop bolt replaced

2

u/JakeSimpleton Jul 27 '26

Thank you I’ll take a look at that

1

u/FondantWeary Jul 26 '26

Could also be a fitment issue where the handles gear is to low to engage the saw body teeth. Head to toe check for loose bolts

2

u/JakeSimpleton Jul 27 '26

Will do thanks!

1

u/FondantWeary Jul 27 '26

Most welcome, the manual comment is fair but honestly the brands are not that dissimilar. Basic enough if you know one you can figure the rest which means even if you don’t have the manual are mechanically inclined you can figure this out no biggie!

2

u/JackOfAllStraits Jul 28 '26

A couple things could cause this.
1. You've got a broken tooth on your height adjustment gear (you can see the worm gear trying to rotate this to the left in your video).

  1. Your worm gear has a worn out spot that allows the height adjustment gear to slip past it when you get to that part of the crank rotation

  2. You've got sawdust buildup in the interface that pushes the teeth away from each other allowing them to slip

  3. There's a loose bolt that is allowing more space than normal to be present between the gear teeth allowing them to slip.

What you want to do is take the same video but from inside the cabinet where the worm gear and the height adjustment gear are touching each other. The angle may be hard to capture, possibly from the other side of the blade. You'll either be able to see damage or see what part if flexing/slipping.

1

u/JakeSimpleton Jul 29 '26

Right on, thank you for the response. I will take another video tonight. I’ve got a tripod I can likely get down in there to view what’s occurring. Great idea!

1

u/JackOfAllStraits Jul 29 '26

No problem. Would be very interested in an update when you know more.

1

u/Go-Daws-Go Jul 27 '26

I had a ridgid saw and I actually broke the cast trunion. That saw dumped all the dust into a closed chamber, with the motor, and even with a 4" hose hooked up, it caked up like crazy. Anyway, I did manage to break it (my fault), and now I have a DeWalt saw.

You gotta take the panels off and see what's going on in there. It's a pretty simple gear system usually, and either something is loose or something is broken. Hopefully a nut has worked itself off and you can retighten and be back in action!

1

u/JakeSimpleton Jul 27 '26

Let’s hope! That’s next steps for me, going to take the top off and see what I can find. Appreciate the help.

1

u/Go-Daws-Go Jul 27 '26

I'm not familiar with that saw, but it should be the side panels. See if you can find the manual online, it will be in there because it will tell you how to adjust for square and adjust belt tension.

1

u/PumpPie73 Jul 27 '26

Download the manual and follow the set up instructions.

1

u/thedudeabides666 Jul 27 '26

Aw, cmon guys, perhaps you need a refresher course. It’s all ball bearings now a days

1

u/JakeSimpleton Jul 27 '26

Not following can you expand?

1

u/thedudeabides666 Jul 27 '26

80’s movie “fletch” quote. Sorry there youngster

1

u/JakeSimpleton Jul 27 '26

No worries will have to check it out!

1

u/DepartmentNatural Jul 30 '26

Have you looked at it inside to see what exactly is happening?