Mike Poulin
03-08-2011, 9:57 PM
Hello,
only my second post here but I have a question some of you veterens might have an idea on. I purchased a used Delta Unisaw(Platinum edition circa mid to late 90's ) off of craigslist here locally a number of months ago. It looked in OK shape and it was only $400.00 so I had to move quick( the owner said a couple of guys wanted to come by but whoever was there with the cash first would get it. Well I got there quick and noticed there was a few pieces missing and the owner had purchased it from a guy who sold his whole shop but the tools had been out in the elements for a while ( whatever that means in Southern Calif. ) It did have a lot of rust on the table and most all of the parts had some surface rust and the paint was not great. The motor looked god as did the trunnion and it seemed tight ( squealed like a pig with the elevation and tilt but seemed smooth despite the noise.) The Biesemeyer rails were missing and the fence had taken quite a beating and was marginal.An extension table was missing and a few other items. For the next few months I have been pouring my time ( and money ) into cleaning,lubricating, and painting. I drilled out the rivets on the label and the tilt indicator and had the Platinum paint matched at a custom car paint place. I re-attached the labels and such with black rivets I got off ebay. The inside was cleaned and de-rusted and painted with a brush ( the trunnion and such ) The inside cabinet was not bad so I left it as is after a good cleaning. Any sheet metal screws were removed and drilled out to accept a bolt with lock nut. Almost all rusted bolts were removed and replaced with stainless except in places where I felt the steel had more strength. I cleaned and painted those. I bought a 30 inch Delta unifence off of ebay for a good price and also a Delta uniguard for even a better price. I am in the process of mounting these. I also purchased a Rockler rough terrain mobil base that is fabulous. I had the Delta on my previous saw and there is no comparison ( it was a little pricey-$200.00 ) but it is the best mobil base I have ever used ( I have a number on my other tools.
Well the saw has turned out beautiful-but lots of sweat and money. I'm sure I could have bought quite a nice one for the money I have poured into this one. ( but then I couldn't tell my wife I only spent $ 400.00 for the saw )
Ok so finally my question. I noticed after putting the base back to the cabinet and then bolting it to the mobile base and putting the cast iron top back on that the table is not level...its off @ +1/8 inch. I put a fat washer under the level and it showed perfect so I loosened up the cast iron table to cabinet and inserted the 2 fat washers on one side only and the table is perfectaly level .Of course now my saw blade is not the 90 and 45 it used to be but I'm hoping I can use the tilt adjusting screws and change the 90 and 45 reference points. My question is -am I going the wrong way with this shimming or would I accompish the same thing by putting the washers down in the cabinet to base ( or base of saw to mobil base ) Also would I eliminate the need to re-adjust the 90 and 45 if I put the shims in the base ?
By the way my garage floor is not level-mysteriously off by about the same amount as my table top. I did make a sloppy quick attempt to shim under the wheels of the base to see if that made a differance but only used cardboard. Hopefully this is not a moron dilema but it seems important to have the table level. Thanks.
only my second post here but I have a question some of you veterens might have an idea on. I purchased a used Delta Unisaw(Platinum edition circa mid to late 90's ) off of craigslist here locally a number of months ago. It looked in OK shape and it was only $400.00 so I had to move quick( the owner said a couple of guys wanted to come by but whoever was there with the cash first would get it. Well I got there quick and noticed there was a few pieces missing and the owner had purchased it from a guy who sold his whole shop but the tools had been out in the elements for a while ( whatever that means in Southern Calif. ) It did have a lot of rust on the table and most all of the parts had some surface rust and the paint was not great. The motor looked god as did the trunnion and it seemed tight ( squealed like a pig with the elevation and tilt but seemed smooth despite the noise.) The Biesemeyer rails were missing and the fence had taken quite a beating and was marginal.An extension table was missing and a few other items. For the next few months I have been pouring my time ( and money ) into cleaning,lubricating, and painting. I drilled out the rivets on the label and the tilt indicator and had the Platinum paint matched at a custom car paint place. I re-attached the labels and such with black rivets I got off ebay. The inside was cleaned and de-rusted and painted with a brush ( the trunnion and such ) The inside cabinet was not bad so I left it as is after a good cleaning. Any sheet metal screws were removed and drilled out to accept a bolt with lock nut. Almost all rusted bolts were removed and replaced with stainless except in places where I felt the steel had more strength. I cleaned and painted those. I bought a 30 inch Delta unifence off of ebay for a good price and also a Delta uniguard for even a better price. I am in the process of mounting these. I also purchased a Rockler rough terrain mobil base that is fabulous. I had the Delta on my previous saw and there is no comparison ( it was a little pricey-$200.00 ) but it is the best mobil base I have ever used ( I have a number on my other tools.
Well the saw has turned out beautiful-but lots of sweat and money. I'm sure I could have bought quite a nice one for the money I have poured into this one. ( but then I couldn't tell my wife I only spent $ 400.00 for the saw )
Ok so finally my question. I noticed after putting the base back to the cabinet and then bolting it to the mobile base and putting the cast iron top back on that the table is not level...its off @ +1/8 inch. I put a fat washer under the level and it showed perfect so I loosened up the cast iron table to cabinet and inserted the 2 fat washers on one side only and the table is perfectaly level .Of course now my saw blade is not the 90 and 45 it used to be but I'm hoping I can use the tilt adjusting screws and change the 90 and 45 reference points. My question is -am I going the wrong way with this shimming or would I accompish the same thing by putting the washers down in the cabinet to base ( or base of saw to mobil base ) Also would I eliminate the need to re-adjust the 90 and 45 if I put the shims in the base ?
By the way my garage floor is not level-mysteriously off by about the same amount as my table top. I did make a sloppy quick attempt to shim under the wheels of the base to see if that made a differance but only used cardboard. Hopefully this is not a moron dilema but it seems important to have the table level. Thanks.