This saw is definitely cursed

It was looking good for a while. I decided to give it the "acid test" and put the drum sander attachment on and turn her face down. WAY TOO noisy!

Gosh darnit! I am beyond frustrated with this frame 196.

I've rebuilt many a motor and this one is the worst of all! I rebuilt a crazy old frame 553 from 1947. No problem! Smooth as silk!
I've rebuilt 3 frame 156's. All good!
Frame 230. Good.
Frame 235. Good.
Frame 236. Good.
Frame 250. Not great but OK.

Very discouraged.

A breakthrough (finally)!

It all comes down to this... don't use IKS 88500's for the rear bearings in a DeWalt Frame 196 motor.

On a whim I decided to try a "Wide Cup" version of the 88500 that Accurate Bearing carries. It's a JAF bearing.

Night and day! My frame 196 is now quiet and powerful with no extra heat. The IKS design is the basis of about a year and a half of frustration with this project saw on my part.

Now I need to make a proper table for my GWI, align everything, and start making sawdust!

Let's not get it coated

It turns out the the process is really not that good of an idea for RAS owners.

They typically strip and then bake the items to get them clean and über dry. Then they coat and bake them to finish.

This process changes the tolerances of the aluminum parts enough to make them essentially worthless.

Live and learn... no more GWIs for me. It's "Go big or go home". I will keep my 925 and switch my attention to turning my flawed 3526 into a perfectly functioning Medium Arm GA.