Unisaw won't tilt

[Ken Combs]

I have an ancient Unisaw that has never given me a minutes trouble, until now. Really don't remember the last time I tilted it to cut an angle. But, I need to cut a bunch of 1.25" wide pieces with 15 deg side angles and it won't budge! Unlock the crank but it is solid, no motion at all. It's like the plug that locks it is stuck.

Any suggestions before I pull the top to take a look.??

[Bill McNiel]

Nope no guesses here, I've rebuilt two Unisaws and believe you pretty much have to pull the top and find out what's up inside.

[johnny means]

My first move would be done penetrating oil in all the likely places. These are very simple mechanisms, there's only a handful of possible issues. Removing the top would be way down the line for me. Lube it up, jiggle some things around, a few sound (not destructive) taps with a dead blow. Make sure there's nothing jammed in the mechanism. My money's on a little rust being your culprit.

[Bruce Page]

Do you keep it lubed? Depending on the environment it could be rusted solid. Remove the blade and shoot some WD40 on the tilt mechanism.