Delta/Rockwell 12/14

[Jesse Busenitz]

How many of you have used one of these before, and how much better are they than a unisaw? There's two of these saws on CL and ya' know bigger is always better, but how much? What is one of these worth in decent shape?

[David Kumm]

Much heavier build than unisaw and I prefer them. Short guys might not as the blade sits farther back from the front edge. My first saw was a Rockwell 12 and it still runs like new. They are usually a bargain, 1000-2000 covers the range of good ready to use machines. Dave

[Larry Edgerton]

I had one as well. It was in an old lumberyard that went out of business, I bought it for a song and put new bearing in it. It made me a lot of money before I moved on, and at times I still wish I had it around. Great simple saw.

[mark kosse]

Here is a pic of mine with the wing off and a unisaw wing next to it. This shows how much heavier built the 12/14 is. Necessary for a home shop? No. But nice to have.

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[Dave Cav]

I would sell my PM 65 before I would sell my 12/14, and I really like my PM 65. As mentioned above, they take some getting used to because the blade is quite a bit farther back than on a 10" saw, but unless you're especially short it shouldn't be a problem. The extra real estate on top is especially useful for sheet goods, and I use mine extensively for breaking down stock. I do some crosscutting on it (you can build a BIG sled for a 12/14), but mostly mine is used for ripping and some panel work. They have been extensively covered over at OWWM, so if you get one there's a wealth of info waiting for you. They have been out of production for some time, so plan on new bearings and probably belts, at least. The guts are a lot like a Unisaw, just a LOT heavier, so plan on having help or a hoist for taking it apart; even the top, without wings, is too much for one person to handle.

[Dave Cav]

Here is a pic of mine with the wing off and a unisaw wing next to it. This shows how much heavier built the 12/14 is. Necessary for a home shop? No. But nice to have.

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And you got a miter gauge, too. Good score. What are you using for a fence?

[Brian W Smith]

Our "big" TS is slightly bigger yet.This next point can NOT be stressed enough.I'm not a TS guy,even though I've used them basically daily for 40+ years.Second,bigger is not always better,in fact,like"too small".....is rarely correct.There IS an optimum size for just about everything.Our shop is over 75' end to end.....I consider this to be smallish,to the point of being a "professional,two man shop".Try working in 10k+ sq ftg shop.....where the WW equipment is setup for tow motors.Run that as a one man shop with or without the wheels and tell me how big you think it should be?Having said that....you would be spoiled rotten getting one of these larger saws,they are that nice.Ours shoots dust out the bloomin DC port with the system off......so 90% of the time,I only use a shop vac as DC on it because of it's inherent efficiency......so don't buy into needing more(bigger) DC to run one.Good luck,BW

[Henry Kramer]

They are quality HD saws to be sure. Be prepared though to spend a lot on saw blades. 1" arbor so you can't use ony of your current 10" blades

[mark kosse]

I was lucky Dave. This pic was during reassembly but it came with the original fence, a long unifence and long rails, the insert, the motor cover, two wrenches (1 repaired) and the miter gauge.

Brian, those should figure into the price too. Miters and wrenches are hard to find. The saw requires a longer fence too.

Not to high jack the thread but this saw has a story. I have a friend from Wink, tx. The back of this saw is stenciled with the word Wink. I dated the saw and it came to his woodshop his junior year and he remembered them getting it. It's a small world. Not many folks from Wink.

[Doug McKay]

Nice saw, had mine for a while, eats pallets for lunch.... Watch out for; Early saws used a 1-1/8"th inch arbor, double check. When using a 14" blade, the blade dosnt retract all the way down, stands proud 1" above the table. OSHA hated it, Delta countered with " It's got a guard on it all the time anyway". Need a really good set of casters for it to be mobile, mine weighs in at 870lbs. I rebuilt/assembled mine using a small electric hoist rigged overhead.