Good deal? Delta 34-802

[Patrick Whitehorn]

I am new here, but I was hoping to get your general impressions on this 34-802 on offer on CL.

Price: $800 (semi-firm)
Serial Number: 90H51900 (August 1990 - 25 y.o.)
52" Unifence
Shop-made extension which needs work (loose, etc).
No splitter
No wrenches
No motor cover
Power plug needs to be replaced (currently covered in loose electrical tape).
340576340577340578340579

We fired it up - I forgot to try the nickel test - but it started immediately and ran smoothly (no screeching, etc). Pass or start haggling?

Thanks!

[Charles Lent]

Based on my experience buying one a few years ago, the missing items, the lack of a factory side table, no motor cover, and the dirty/rusty top, I think he's about $200 high, but I doubt he will negotiate that much. Your negotiating success and how bad you want it will likely determine the outcome. You will probably get him down some, but not the full $200. How bad do you want a Unisaw, and how long have you been looking for a good used one? I looked for over a year.

You can find the wrenches through www.ereplacements.com. Plastic motor covers are available on the internet and work well, with spring clips to attach them to the saw cabinet. The plastic ones are also better at sound proofing than the older metal ones. I love my 52" Unifence and prefer it over Biesmeyer and other fences that I've used. www.ptreeusa.com has fence extrusions in different lengths that quickly exchange with the Unifence extrusion. I have both a short and a long version of these because they have T slots in the top and side for attaching feather boards and accessories. The short 16" long fence is used as a length stop when cross cutting many pieces an identical length using the miter gauge. But I still like the original Unifence extrusion for it's high fence / low fence capability and still use it frequently.

When I bought my 1986 Right Tilt Unisaw, it too needed a thorough cleaning and fix up, but the top had no rust. It had the 52" Unifence and the factory side table, a 10" cast iron left side table extension, a home made metal motor cover, factory miter gauge, the front clean-out door (these can be hard to find) and the saw ran fine. I paid $550 for it and hauled it home from about an hour away. I've since replaced the belts and arbor bearings, replaced the home made metal motor cover with a plastic motor cover, a pop-up splitter bought used, a Wixey DRO, a folding home made out feed table, a ceiling mounted Brett Guard, and the Uni-T-Fence extrusions from Peach Tree Woodworking. My life long search for a better table saw has ended. I've owned 7 other table saws in my life time and I was never satisfied with any of them. My children will inherit this saw. With the Wixey DRO and Unifence I can make a cut, move the fence away and then back to the same setting, make the same cut on another board, and then measure the two boards with digital calipers. The readings will be within .004 inches of each other. That's way better than needed for quality woodworking.

Charley

[Patrick Whitehorn]

Charley,
Thanks for your input.

I have not been looking that long when this one popped up and, to be honest, I am not deadset on a Unisaw; this simply seemed like a good deal and I am not opposed to using older machines. I am a little concerned by the right-tilt, but I do so little beveled mitres that it will almost never be an issue in reality. I do wish that it had a splitter and the wrenches, etc - I will need to double-check with the owner to find out if he does have them and they were simply not mentioned. I think that I will see if he is open to a bit of haggling - which I am not necessarily great at - but it is worth a try. If this falls through, I can always keep saving my pennies and looking at Craigslist in my spare time.

I think that it has the 10" left-side cast iron wing, but I don't know what the factory side table would look like - do you have a picture of yours or another with those features, please? And re: motor cover, I had read about the plastic reproductions, but it is good to know that they are even better at capturing the noise than the originals. Is there any concern, in general, with air flow with either cover? It would seem that having the cover over the motor would seriously restrict the circulation of fresh air into the motor.

Thanks!

[Charles Lent]

When you want the benefit that you would get from a left tilt blade, just move the fence to the left side of the right tilt blade. The result is the same. If you mount the side table on the left side of the saw you would have all the benefits of a left tilt saw, but I prefer to keep my table on the right.

The two wrenches are about $10 plus shipping (from memory), maybe a little more now. You could add one of the Micro Jig splitters to the blade insert. This would allow you to change it for different thickness blades and still allow the use of Grrippers over it. Splitters don't do much except get in the way until you rip long solid wood boards. Then having one becomes very important, especially when the saw motor is 3 or 5 hp. You can't use Grrippers with the Delta Pop-up Splitter, and it won't work with blades with less than 1/8" kerf. The Brett Guards are the safest guards, in my opinion, but I don't think you can buy them new any more. I bought mine used. HTC was the supplier and maybe the Brett Guards are back in production. The Shark Guard is supposed to be very good and includes the splitter, but you can't use the Grrippers with it. One guy builds them in his home shop. They are very good, but last I knew, they were back ordered for several months. There is also a **** (Bolt On Riving Knife) available on the internet, but I know nothing more about it.

You will likely look long and hard to find a Unisaw this old and approximate price in this good of condition. I was looking for either a Powermatic 66 or a Unisaw when I found my Unisaw. I was on a tight budget then, and was hoping that I could get it for a little less. I'm not a good negotiator either, and he was very insistent on holding his price of $600 until I waived $550 cash at him, and he took it. I knew nothing about the Unifence when I bought the saw, but fell in love with it after I learned what it could do and the Uni-T-Fence extrusions that could be used with it. Where I work they have a 12" commercial Delta 5 hp saw with an old Biesmeyer fence. The fence is OK, but I prefer the Unifence. Both fences hold their adjustments and are very accurate when locked down, but I don't like how the Biesmeyer goes way out of square when trying to position it, but goes back to square as you lock it into place. The Unifence stays closer to square while positioning it and very square when you lock it in place, making it easier to set the position quickly.

I don't run my Unisaw steady, but have left it running for about an hour a few times with no problem. I'm a hobbyist at home, so my Unisaw is not used every day or for long periods. There are vent slots in the front door and holes between the webbing on the underside of the top, so some circulation occurs. I don't have a dust collector attached to it, so I just use a small shovel to clean out the sawdust about every 6 months.

The plastic cover has a foam weatherstrip type gasket around the edge to seal to the saw cabinet. Spring clips on it grab the sides of the opening and hold it in place. There are also two slots molded into it to let you store the miter gauge(s) when not using them.

The side extension table is just a frame that attaches to the side of the Unisaw with two legs and leveling feet. The table top is particle board with a textured laminate top surface. You can make an equivalent, but life would be easier if the frame came with the saw.

I forgot to mention that I also have an HTC base under my saw. I bought one from HTC that was on sale. It was kind of a "yard sale" where they had many different bases with dimensions that nobody was buying any more. I bought one that I knew wasn't the right size and then cut it apart and welded in 1 X 2 square pipe to make it the size that I needed. It was made from the same size pipe, so after grinding the weld down and painting it looked like their finished frames. I painted it with a spray can of paint from Lowes that was a perfect match to what HTC had painted it, and I had a base with wheels that looked and worked just like the HTC base that they sold for my saw for several hundred, but at a total cost of less than $40 including the paint.

Please let me know if you get it. I know you will be happy, even if you have to pay $800 for it.

These saws travel best upside down in a pickup with a blanket or moving pad on the bed and tailgate to keep from scratching the table surface. Remove the side tables and the unifence, either remove the blade or lower it completely into the table. Back the truck up close to the saw with the tailgate down. Hook the rear edge of the saw table on the end of the tailgate, and then lift and rotate the saw until it's upside down in the truck. Tie it in so it can't move and pile the rest of the pieces around it. One person can do this if they are physically fit. With two people it's a breeze. All the weight is in the cast iron table and motor. The rest is mostly sheet metal. The hooking and rotating removes most of the weight from the people since you aren't picking it up at all. When you get home, just reverse the process to unload it. It is top heavy, so when moving it around, don't tip it too far or it will get heavy on you real fast.

Charley

[Patrick Whitehorn]

Charley,
I think that the saw *might* have the side extension table you are talking about then (see attached pictures). Does this resemble what you are thinking? The side table here (covered by a microwave in part) is white melamine/MDF and does have the two legs underneath.

340647340648

Patrick

[Cary Falk]

I would say that it is not a very good deal at that price if it had all for the missing parts. I sold my Unisaw and bought a Grizzly so I could get a riving knife. I couldn't be happier.

[Patrick Whitehorn]

Cary,
The Grizzly G1023RLW is my current top choice for a brand-new saw, for certain. That said, it would be just about $1600 delivered; if I can save ~$800 by purchasing a Unisaw of good quality, I would be able to more quickly get other needed items (jointer, planer, etc). I know that the serpentine belt of the Grizzly is supposed to be much smoother and I know that it comes with a riving knife, but I also learned on a non-riving knife'd, non-splitter'd monster table saw. I am confident of my ability to be careful and double-check myself - and that will protect me far more than a riving knife ever would.

Thanks!

[Charles Lent]

Patrick,

The two attachments in post #5 won't open. Please re-post them.

Charley

[Cary Falk]

When I have settled, it has never ended well for me. I would wait for a sale, 10% coupon or free shipping offer unless you need a saw now.

[Patrick Whitehorn]

That is a good point - I am trying to be patient, but I am sure you know how it can be! <laughs>

[Cary Falk]

The table saw is my most used tool. I have been through 4.

[Patrick Whitehorn]

Thanks to the nature of Craigslist, the table saw was sold out from under me. Thanks for your help, everyone.

[Charles Lent]

Yes, that's the Delta extension table. I've seen white, but mine is a very light gray. Too bad you missed it, but you now know better what
these look like. Maybe you will find another. Good things sell fast on craigslist, sometimes before you can get there.

Charley

[Chris mcadoo]

Last week I bought a 34-802 made in 1989 for $750. Was bought new then the man died. It was never used. It also came with a Freud stacked dato set, Delta 1 hp dust collector and an icra gauge. Nothing had ever been used. I waited 3 years for this deal. My point is wait. You'll find the deal you're looking for. Good luck in your search.. Chris
I had to drive 130 miles each way. Don't know how many I looked at in my search.

[Andrew Seemann]

The value of something like a Unisaw will depend a lot on the local market (not surprisingly). In some places of the country, it seems that there is an abundance of old machinery for sale and in some places there is not. It helps a lot to give the location of where you are at when asking for a value.

Even if you said the saw was $500, you would still get responses from people on SMC that it is overpriced and that you should go no more than $350. While that may be true where they live, it apparently isn't where you live, since someone snapped up the saw for a price we can assume was around $800.

[Bill Dufour]

where in the world are you? that makes big difference in price.
bill D

[Chris mcadoo]

Very good point. I live in Central NY. Here unisaws go for a premium and not many. Most I find are nj, Connecticut and down toward NY. I bought mine in Scarsdale ny.