Another Unisaw question and report

[Jack Hoying]

I reported last night that I picked up a old Unisaw (message http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26678) Many thanks for all those who replied. I worked on cleaning it up and dissasembling it later last night and today. Some problem I encountered were that the belts had rusted the pullys where they were in contact with each other. I removed the pullys from the arbor and motor and mounted them on a 5/8" dowel in my lathe. I was able to shine them up like new with some sandpaper and scotch pads. The arbor bearings were rough, so I pulled them out and will be replacing them. Using some scotch pads and WD-40, the saw top cleaned up very nicely. There was actually a lot less rust on the interior than what I feared. Overall, it's in great shape.

My question is: On the shaft that controls the blade tilt, the worm gear and stop are held on with roll pins. There is almost 1/16" of sideways slop in this setup. Is this normal, or should I remove the stop and put in a shim washer or two?

Here's a photo of what it looks like tonight.
http://users.adelphia.net/%7Ejmhoying/saw2.jpg

Happy Thanksgiving,
Jack

[Chris Rosenberger]

Jack, looks like you are making good progress. I rebuilt a Unisaw several years ago & it had the same play in the tilt shaft. I can not remember exactly how I fixed it. I believe I was able to adjust the play out with the collar. It is possible I used shims but I do not think so.

[lou sansone]

basically you want to take up the backlash between the shaft collars and the machine foundation. sounds like shim washers like those sold by mcmaster carr would do the trick. Some saws have trust bearings in that location for even smoother operation.
lou

[Jack Hoying]

Here's a photo of the part in question. As you can see, there is a substantial space between the collar and casting. Since the collar uses a roll pin, it can't be adjusted. If in fact this is not normal, I could use shim washers to fill the space.
http://users.adelphia.net/%7Ejmhoying/rod.jpg

[Chris Rosenberger]

Jack,
That picture brings it all back. I had remembered there being an allen screw in the collar. I did use shims to fill the gap.
Chris

[Mike Swindell]

The gap between the collar and the bushing is normal. there is a fiber washer that fits there. Be sure to get the right thickness, there are fiber washers on the handwheels and then two different ones for the shafts. On your saw they were either worn off - rare - or the shaft was removed previously for some reason and it was not reinstalled. Go to the saw center website and download a parts breakdown. You'll see the fiber washers listed, the old p/n's are LTA 456 - Delta will get the right new numbers when you order.