My wife and I purchased a 24" slab saw a couple of years back,now. John made this saw years ago. Gord bought this saw off of John, who was well into his 80s then , about 7 years ago. I talked to Gord a couple of nights ago, a millwright rule is always talk to the operator. Gord had put a hole in the saw "through my own fault " . As you know tubs ,can rust out. Gord then had a shop make a new tub and hood out of aluminum. Nice ! Gord only got to use it a few times when the feed jammed up and stripped the little brass gears. The gear box was off a floor polisher. We bought it off Gord, we might have paid too much, but it was from a friend and he lost money on the deal. After talking to Gord, here is what I think happened. The rails for the carriage and the arbor mount to the tub. The shop that did the tub and hood might not have gotten the alignment right. It's pretty critical on these saws. After much internet reading and learning , here is what I've come up with to fix the feedworks. John had used a 1/2" 13tpi rod, I'm switching to a 5/8" 18tpi for both easier reduction and a stiffer feed rod. I think the old Frantoms were the ones that used 5/8" 18tpi. Highland Park has a nice conversion kit for 5/8" 18tpi. But they don't answer their phone, it's always "We are helping another customer" They have either made a least 12 sales or they are not home. I could modify John's little split nut clamp, but the Highland Park version is pretty slick.