Should I buy this Powermatic 66

[Matt Chambers]

Hi everyone,

I currently have a 1947 unisaw that is being stored in anticipation of my future woodworking area.

I have come across a roughly 20-30 year old (green) Powermatic 66. It is single phase, and has a non-factory 4 hp motor. It has the original fence and I have been told that it runs well.

The owner is asking $400 for it. Should I go for it? How would you expect it would compare to the unisaw? I would guess that it would have quite a bit more power, given the differnce in motor size 4ph vs. 1.5 hp.

If so, should I keep it or the unisaw? How much do these 66's normally sell for?

Thanks for your thoughts?

[Frank Drew]

Matt,

I haven't been pricing machinery lately, but if this saw is in good condition $400 seems like a very good price; I'm not wild about the older Powermatic or Unisaw fences but you could retrofit one of the newer style fences for not too much.

[Dave Cav]

If it's pea green it's late 50s to 60s. If it's dark green then it's probably 70s. $400 is a reasonable price if it's intact and operational although as the previous poster said, the older Jet Lock style fences are somewhat more fussy to use than a Bies or Unifence. The Powermatics are actually slightly more heavy duty than a Unisaw (in my opinion, others may argue), and the Unisaw you have in storage will probably only have a 1 or at most 1.5 HP motor in it, if that makes any difference to you. My mid-40s Unisaw with a 1 HP Delta R.I. motor seems to have plenty of power, for what it's worth.

If you can afford it I would get the saw and then add a Biesmeyer fence. When you take the Unisaw out of storage then you can set them up side by side or back to back and use one for ripping and one for crosscut and dado work.

Both saws will most likely need new bearings in both the motor and the arbor. Neither is a really difficult job, but the PM is marginally easier. All the info you need is available on the old woodworking machines (OWWM) sites, both the .com (archives) and .org (forum) sites.

[Cary Falk]

It hasn't been mentioned yet but the Uni is right tilt. I believe all PM66's were left tilt. The PM66 is suppose to be more heavy duty. Both would be fine for a hobbiest. You will probably want to replace the fence. If you have the money, buy it, use both of them and sell whichever one you like the least. Even if you have to sell the Uni for the price you paid for the PM, you will break even.

[Matt Chambers]

Yeah, I am feeling pretty lucky. I got the Uni and a similar vintage delta bandsaw, both which are in pretty nice shape, for $350.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.