Paulcall or Paul Call Australian Made Tools

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Just wondering whether anyone has any experience of using Paul Call or Paulcall table or radial arm saws. Apparently Paul Call were an Australian tool manufacturer. A table saw has come up for sale and I am growing a bit tired of the Triton saw bench's inaccuracies. I could not find a supplier of spare parts mentioned online. For example, the saw blade guard.

I would like to be able to just set the height of a saw blade and set the fence to the right distance and be able to cut a straight line, Then not have to either sand or plane down the inaccuracy in the last couple of centimetres at the end of the cut. Yes, I know I am expecting a lot.

The Paul Call stuff looks like it was made to last. I have only seen photographs though - never seen one in real life or used one.

I would appreciate some feedback from those more experienced with the brand.

Kind regards
Lionel

[p38arover]

Back in the 70s, I bought a number of PaulCall tools. They were pretty good and I still have them. There was a hardware/tool shop in Penrith that stocked a lot of it. I loved that shop, all the tools and bits of hardware were on waist-high shelves(that’s the wrong description) and a salesman stood behind the shelves. I’ll have try to find a suitable photo on the net.

But I have no experience with their tablesaws. Sorry.

[Don 130]

I have a couple of their G clamps. Unbreakable.
Don.

[oka374]

Paul's was a large hardware and tool store in Sydney CBD, one of my dad's lunchtime haunts until they closed as he worked in the CBD for most of his life.
I remember him coming home with the occasional small tool or hardware item when I was a boy as he would buy them when they were on special as he had 4 kids and a wife to support money was pretty tight.
I still have a few small Pauls and Paulcall tools from him, G clamps and a couple of adjustable spanners and a few normal OE spanners. Most of there stuff was well made and I suspect they were bought out by another major tool or hardware supplier back in the day. Probably BBC hardware or similar.

[gromit]

Seems they went belly up.

PAULCALL - Directory of Australian Makers - Full List - Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia Inc. (https://www.htpaa.org.au/hand-tools/australian-tools-makers/australian-makers/directory-of-australian-makers-full-list/789-paulcall)


Colin

[Lionelgee]

Hello Colin,

Thank you for the post of the fate of Paulcall. Much appreciated.

Well, after a round trip of 262 kilometres I have a extremely well built Australian made Paulcall table saw. From my chat with the seller I am the third owner. His father-in-law was a carpenter and after he upgraded to a newer machine the Paulcall saw went to the son-in-law, who I bought the saw off, today. The saw is currently home soaking in a couple of coats of lanolin penetrant. I will take photographs of it tomorrow after I clean it up some more.

The photographs on Marketplace did not feature a table protractor - needed for things like cutting miter angles at 45 degrees and cutting square at 90 degrees. There was no signs of a blade guard either. I asked the seller if he had those parts. The initial reply was, "no".

I did some research online and found a Paulcall table saw on Marketplace that sold a couple of years ago. Also a larger capacity model that sold on Graysonline a year or so before that. Betwix these photographs I had some shots of the blade guard and the protractor. I sent these to the seller yesterday morning. By mid-day after looking at the photographs the seller went fossicking in his shed and then messaged me back. "Yes, I found those parts in my shed!" They reckon a picture paints a thousand words. It also prompts people to know what they are looking for while they search through their shed.

Anyway - photographs tomorrow. Here is one that was sold a couple of years ago that someone painted their own colour scheme. The nose or front of my saw guard is a bit different to the one someone restored. Mine has a rounded-angled nose that nudges up when a piece of timber is pressed against it. It then 'floats' over the timber as it is cut.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Tins]

Good pickup, Lionel. Any decently made table saw will be orders of magnitude better than the Triton. Something from that era is almost certain to be solid. It's all going to depend on the solidity of the blade carriage. Any problems there should be able to be addressed by a competent machinist, but hopefully it won't need that.

[gromit]

Any decently made table saw will be orders of magnitude better than the Triton.

Personally I've never had a problem with a Triton sawbench.
It seems others have also had good results Triton, here I come.... I think... - Page 2 (https://www.woodworkforums.com/f15/triton-4086/2)

In more recent times I've used the table saw at the local Woodwork Club.
Blade always blunt and you have to check the blade angle (someone has always set it just off 90degrees).
Easier to create the dust at the Club rather than in my shed.


Colin

[Tins]

Personally I've never had a problem with a Triton sawbench.
It seems others have also had good results Triton, here I come.... I think... - Page 2 (https://www.woodworkforums.com/f15/triton-4086/2)



A good table saw would be wasted on me, but my mate makes some pretty fine cabinet work and he's a fanatic for accuracy. He wouldn't use a Triton. His saw is a German thing which weighs a ton.

A chainsaw would be too accurate for my woodworking skills.