Delta/Rockwell 33-310 RAS

[Alan Muller]

I recently came into one of these. Age seems to be mid-60s and the entire guard is a plastic moulding (!). So I suppose this must be a fairly low-end saw of this type.

I want to try it out as I've been intrigued for years by the center-pivot design.

Does anybody know anything about these saws, or where to find a group or list focused on them?

(I found a couple of queries here with a search, but no responses.)

Thanks.

Alan

[Keith Avery]

Alan,

I have a newer Delta 33-411. It is a tank. I have done quite a bit of research about Delta Turrets and they all have good reputations, with the possible exception of the newer 10" saws. During the 60's they were on par with the Dewalts of the time. Dewalts started going downhill in the 70's I think and cheaper Delta's in the 90's. The big Delta's are still made in the USA(at least last I heard) and are as good as ever. Mine was built in the 90's and is by far the highest quality power tool I own.

[Dave Cav]

If you go over to OWWM.org (Old Woodworking Machines) you will find a lot of people with them who may be able to help. You can also go to vintage machinery dot com and go to the Delta section to find pictures of the same and similar machines. Finally, you can go to the vintage machinery Wiki, find the Delta section, and look up the serial number, and it will tell you when it was made.

I haven't seen all of them, but I have never seen a turret saw with a plastic blade guard. They have all been cast aluminum. (I'm talking about the more or less contemporary models, not the older "900" series from the 50s.) I have a 10" model from the 90s and it's blade guard is aluminum. I also have two others from the 60s and they are aluminum as well. There is no such thing as a "low end" Delta turret saw, although it may be argued that the bigger ones (14, 16, 18") are more "industrial" than the 10". There is really no difference in build quality, and in some cases, the newer saws, with the replaceable track rods, are actually better than the older ones with grooves machined into the arm.

[Alan Muller]

Seems like a useful saw but of course I won't really know what I think of it until I cut wood with it. These models use an overhung motor with a bracket welded to the motor frame, as opposed to being hung between trunnions. The guard is definitely plastic. I'm a bit concerned about the anti-kickback bar being hung on that. I'm not likely to rip on the saw anyway, but hanging that on a fifty-year-0ld, likely brittle, plastic thing concerns me. So I'd like to get a cast aluminum guard that fits.....

Alan