Accident moving Unisaw

[Ron Hampe]

I was moving it with a front loader from the basement to the new shop. As I sat it down it tipped over landing on and shattering the handwheel. It must have hit the handwheel at an angle because there wasn't any damage to the locking screw.

I haven't had time to dismantle it yet, but didn't see any visible damage to anything inside and both hand wheels function as they should. The only issue I found is that the motor is now hitting the hinged cover slightly and I suspect that the impact may have bent the hinge a bit, but that's minor and I can live with it.

With the 3 belts on there is a tight spot when turning the blade by hand. I removed the belts and the blade spins freely. I plan to remove the motor and have it checked. I also plan to take everything apart inside and do a thorough visible inspection on the parts. Thought about having them magnafluxed but it would likely be cheaper to buy a new saw. Fortunately I had taken the table and rail off before moving it.

This is their Grand Edition and thinking its app. 18 years old. I bought it from an older gentleman 8 years ago who used it to make furniture for his friends and family. I'm going to replace the belts and thinking this would be good time to replace the bearings.

Any thoughts on this and what I should look for?

Thanks
Ron

[Bill Dufour]

Check to see if the shaft, gears, brackets that the handle mount to got bent or cracked. Sounds like it got bent at the least. That would explain the tight spot.
Bill D.

[Charles Taylor]

Sorry to hear that. Mine toppled over many years ago when I was first moving it from the PO's shop onto my trailer, but fortunately I avoided damage to the saw by sacrificing my body underneath it.

Unisaw trunnions are prone to break in a tipping accident like yours, so be sure and give yours a close look. Unisaws were made in huge numbers, though, which makes it relatively easy to find replacements for any broken components you may discover. Hopefully the handwheel is the only casualty!

[Jim Becker]

Ron, if it hit right on that hand-wheel, it could very well have "dis-aligned" a lot of things inside because that hand-wheel is connected to pretty much everything that counts. Be sure you carefully check and adjust everything so you know things are in alignment, both when the blade is at 90º and when it's tilted all the way to 45º, etc. Also check for cracks in the trunnion setup.

[Dave Cav]

Take a close look at the teeth on the elevation and angle quadrants, and the end stops as well.

[John K Jordan]

...Thought about having them magnafluxed but it would likely be cheaper to buy a new saw.

If inspecting for fine cracks you might consider dye penetrant instead. It requires some materials in spray cans but no other equipment. If not familiar with it, you clean the part carefully (must be oil-free), spray a bit of red dye on the metal which will soak into any crack, clean the dye completely from the surface, then spray with a whlte powder "developer". Dye will seep out of a fine crack and make a bright red line on the white surface.

Dye penetrant is cheap. Even Amazon sold kits the last time I checked (some years ago).

I used to be an NDT tech in the nuclear field in the '70s. Dye (we used visible, not fluorescent) was the quickest and easiest of the methods we used (dye, radiography, eddy current, and ultrasonic) and was better in many cases for defects that reached the surface, especially if the surface was smooth. A quick search showed this, perhaps interesting: https://eu.magnaflux.com/penetrant-v-eddy-current-testing/

JKJ

[Ron Hampe]

If inspecting for fine cracks you might consider dye penetrant instead. It requires some materials in spray cans but no other equipment. If not familiar with it, you clean the part carefully (must be oil-free), spray a bit of red dye on the metal which will soak into any crack, clean the dye completely from the surface, then spray with a whlte powder "developer". Dye will seep out of a fine crack and make a bright red line on the white surface.

Dye penetrant is cheap. Even Amazon sold kits the last time I checked (some years ago).

I used to be an NDT tech in the nuclear field in the '70s. Dye (we used visible, not fluorescent) was the quickest and easiest of the methods we used (dye, radiography, eddy current, and ultrasonic) and was better in many cases for defects that reached the surface, especially if the surface was smooth. A quick search showed this, perhaps interesting: https://eu.magnaflux.com/penetrant-v-eddy-current-testing/

JKJ

Thanks I'll give that a try.

[Ron Hampe]

Thanks for the advice.

If I find any cracks I think I'll part it out and buy a new one or a sawstop. Shame though as it was in really nice condition and I have a cast iron unisaw (bare) cabinet, table, rails, extensions and a cast iron peach tree router extension for it. When done this would have had a 7' to 8' cast iron table.

[Tom M King]

It might be okay.