Delta Unisaw

[John-T-53]

Time for a saw upgrade. I finally found a vintage Unisaw for sale on Craig's list. It was in Bakersfield so I rented a Home Depot truck and made the two hour drive over there to get it. 

 

It's a 1940s or 1950s vintage (not sure exact year). This saw also came with a Biesemeyer fence, a big plus!

 

Single phase, 240 volt bullet motor. 20A plug.

 

I will be restoring this and adding a router lift to the table and will share progress on here. 

 

Existing on/off breaker switch is european and will be replaced with a motor starter type switch for proper protection. I need to figure that out....

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

very nice, nothing beats the older heavier units....they were made to withstand time and the hand me down generation to generation.  While not that heavey, I have my grandfather's table saw and my uncle's Forney welder...both circa 1940-41 both get used and I am grateful to own these.  

[cheesy]

Good find.  

 

I scored a 1958 Darra James table saw last year. It needed a good cleaning and I added a knee safety switch. It's a tad lower down the food chain than the Unisaw but compared to the bottom feeder Rockwell I have, it's a jewel. I also find power tools from the 40's to the early 70's to be of better quality.

[Ulu]

17 hours ago, cheesy said:

. . . .  It's a tad lower down the food chain than the Unisaw but compared to the bottom feeder Rockwell I have, it's a jewel. . . 

Bottom feeder? You haven’t used my Ryobi. OMG what a nugget that is …

Edited January 10, 2022 by Ulu

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have an old table saw that my Dad left me that looks like it was cobbled together by Rube Goldberg on a bad day.  I suspect my Dad found it in the trash somewhere on his mail route way back when and messed with it until he got it to work. I have used it several times and it worked well. Someone else’s  trash…..

[Los_Control]

That is a awesome saw, everything can be repaired or replaced on it .... some reason I think the bearings may be the hardest to replace.

Old timers told me when shopping for one, check the side to side play on the blade ... you want zero play. If that checks out everything else is easy to replace.

The Besmeier fence I think was about  $300 - $350 back in the 1990's to purchase ... they were the cats meow for a straight fence.

As a carpenter I would call your saw a cabinet saw ... A stationary saw capable of being used daily in a production shop to build furniture or cabinets.

Their may be  a more strict description for it.

 

Again as a retired remodel carpenter, I have a really crappy saw. I need to be able to throw it in the van and haul it around. A portable saw is perfect for installing cabinets and making most small custom trim etc ... So when I retired I replaced my tools with what I used when working ... I know how to fuss with the fence and get past their limitations.

 

A friend of mine did something really cool with his cabinet saw. He put it on wheels. They were high quality. You would use your foot and step on a lever and lower the wheel to raise saw off the floor. you could roll it around & then step on lever and set the saw back on the ground. Then he built work bench cabinets on wheels, exactly same height as the saw.

It was just easy to roll them against a wall out of the way til needed. Not everyone has the dedicated space to keep one permanent in one spot.

 

My Buddy had opposite problem. Had a 40 x 40 two story shop and he built shipping crates for hydraulic cylinders. Was his job and the saw lived in the middle of the bay.

If he ever had some free time and wanted to work on his tractor or truck, he could move the saw & tables and pull the vehicles in.

 

I think adding wheels too them is a worthwhile addition to them, unless you have dedicated space you wont want to move them.

 

[kencombs]

You will love that saw!   I have one of the same vintage.  Bought it out of an estate in the mid 90s.  It had the original Jet Locl fence which worked ok but I found a near new Delta contractor saw with a Beis and a 5hp motor!.  I bought it and swapped fences.  Sold the contractor saw and have a free beis,  the long one with a six foot front fence and extension table.    Also have a rear extension so I can rip and cross cut 4x8 sheets to the middle either way without a helper.  Also on a mobile base.

 

It has been used a lot in the last 35+ years.  I need to replace the belts finally as one broke but it still works fine with 2.  Built like tanks. 

 

Those repulsion/induction bullet motors are way underrated.  Mine has a 1hp.  I bought a 3hp to replace it but it is still laying on the workbench shelf as I never discovered a need to swap it.

[48Dodger]

It'll be a great lunch table too!!! Blade down of course......unless you need help cutting your sandwich in half.

 

48D

[Furylee2]

Looks like mine.  Dad was a carpenter, I have his old cabinet shop.  It’s a great saw.

[John-T-53]

Some disassembly in progress. Got the motor out, man is it heavy. I am in the process of disassembling the motor now, trying to get the housing ends off, carefully, but they don't budge and nowhere to grab them. Need to have the armature commutator end cleaned up on a lathe.

Not sure if I need to rebuild the arbor assembly yet....the bearings seem ok. But I'll at least get new belts. 

[John-T-53]

More progress. My friend came to visit last weekend and brought a welder with him so I was finally able to weld up the misc. holes that had been drilled into the cabinet over the years. Now, I can strip the rest of the paint, apply filler, and paint it. 

 

The 14 gauge steel made welding on this easy and fun. 

 

 

 

Edited February 22 by John-T-53

[John-T-53]

Oh, and also picked up a "new" repulsion-induction motor from a vintage machinery guy out in Clovis. This was November '22.

 

Before I found this, I had the original motor in the electric shop in Santa Maria to install new bearings. They checked the windings and reported that both the armature and field were grounded. I got this replacement motor for about 10% of what it would have cost to re-wind the old one. 

Edited February 22 by John-T-53

[Los_Control]

Looking good!