I just got this 23 year old, small tablesaw from a friend of mine. I know it’s nothing great, but if it can be made to work, it will suit my needs.
It’s been stored indoors and seems to be in good shape generally. But, he said he hasn’t used it in the last 12 years or so.
What do I need to do and check to put it safely back into service?
Be sure it's unplugged, then...
Check the integrity of the arbor by wiggling the saw blade laterally to see if it's got a lot of play (not flex--that's different). If so you may need to replace some bearings.
Restore the table if necessary. This may involve steel wool and oil, followed by a preservative. Better saws have cast iron tables, which are more rigid, but yours looks to be aluminum. It may just need a cleaning, and you could wax it for a better slide.
Check the safety of the electrical system. The cord jacket should be flexible and intact. If it's brittle or damaged, replace it. Also look at the cord between the switch and the motor. The switch itself should operate smoothly and with a distinct action.
Check the fence for stability and squareness. It should not have much free play and should be parallel with the table edge. It should hold position well when locked down.
Check the blade angle. It should be parallel with the fence and square with the table when set to 90° on the angle indicator.
Seek out a manual. There are websites which archive scans of them. Read it and heed it. (Thanks for the reminder, jay613.)
Install a freshly sharpened or new rip blade and give it a test. If it struggles to rip a 2x4 lengthwise, for example, the motor may be tired and not up to regular service. Note that a table saw blade is different than a miter saw blade intended for crosscuts, which may add resistance (increasing motor wear and reducing safety). I use them fairly interchangeably in my table saw, but it is a factor in cut effort.
Table saws like this use a screw-drive mechanism for blade height and tilt adjustment. those screw drives tend to get jammed up with sawdust which makes them hard if not impossible to turn. I recommend you clean them out and relubricate them with a few drops of light machine oil like 3-in-1 oil.
Before first use, you must also check the blade angle with a square to make certain it is cutting perpendicular to the table surface. In this regard, do not rely on the angle scale on the side of the saw base!
I would first check the insulation and continuity with a multimeter and the cable condition.
I just got rid of a skil3400 that looked almost identicle to yours, one thing I didn't know is inside the tablesaw there's a box for the electrical power switch, check that it is not FULL of sawdust, mine was, also saws like that need modification to the vacuum system and vents blocked on the side and near the top for adequate dust removal with a vacuum, but the cool thing is it's not too hard to make your own zero clearance inserts out of 1/4 underlayment for these compared to the new ones. Finally, check screws and blade wobble before starting, good luck
