Unisaw question

[Jim Hill]

Has anyone here bought a new Unisaw recently? I am considering purchasing one,and would appreciate any thoughts concerning fit and finish or any other input which you might offer.

Thanks,

Jim

[tod evans]

jim, are you going after brand name, color or quality with this purchase?

okay,i waited for a few hours to see if you`d answer? the delta saw is generally a better fit and finish than griz and jet but not as good as powermatic or general. it`s highly unlikely you`ll ever need service with any of these saws. at the price point you`re at it`s really down to the delta or jet and i think the delta is better than the jet all the way around. if you have a few more bucks step up to the pm or general and you`ll be quite pleased with yourself. if you stick with delta get the biesmier fence instead of the unifence i`ve had both and the biesmier is a much more substantial unit. all the other saws mentioned have biesmier clones as standard..........02 tod

[Ron Robinson]

Jim,

I recently purchased a left tilt Unisaw with 30" Unifence when it was on sale at Woodwerks in Columbus, OH. I paid $1299 and am extremely pleased with my purchase. Realize , however, I am a novice hobbyist and replaced a 15 year old Craftsman contractor's saw.

The Unisaw is powerful, sturdy, and vibration free. The alignment of the saw was great out of the crate. I checked everything with a dial indicator and did not move anything. The Unifence is a good fence that is accurate and repeatable. I am now, for the first time, concentrating on projects more than set-up. As Martha would say, "It's a beautiful thing." That being said...

The table extension is as bad as the saw is good. Or maybe I'm just picky. It is flimsy and was hard to align to the surface of the saw. The hardware that came with the table was mediocre at best. I think I will build a new top this spring and use the legs that came with saw.

Again, I am extremely pleased and would recommend a Unisaw to anyone.

Ron

If you have any particular concerns let me know and I will try to help as best I can.

[Bob Johnson2]

I bought the 50" LT with the Biesmeyer (sp?) fence just after they went with the Brazilian motor. Works as advertised out of the crate, no complaints that I can think of. As was mentioned the ext. table isn't the most heavy duty but it works just fine as is. I bought an after market miter guage and modified the blade guard a bit. Get a different blade too, the WW2 works well.

[Silas Smith]

I just bought a X5 right tilt with 52" beis and mobile base for $1440 and that doesn't include the $100 cash back I'll be getting from Delta. The fit and finish were excellent and the two cast iron wings fit great. Granted, I just do this for a hobby and a pro might find something wrong with the saw, but for me, I don' think there is a better deal out there. I looked for almost 2 years for a used unisaw, but around here they are hard to come by. Once in a while I would come across a used one, but the price was always about $1000 and the saw looked like it had been abused. If you're interested, I can give you a link for the saw. BTW, it ships for $1 in the lower 48.

[Chris Dodge]

I have one that is about 12 years old now and has given me no troubles whatsoever. Great saw!

[Roger Whitaker]

Mine is 13 days old today and making lots of walnut,red oak, maple dust. I got the same deal ( I think) as Silas did. ordered it 12-21 05, freight company picked it up 12-22 shipped to Columbus Ohio terminal and I picked it up @ the terminal 12-28. I got the left tilt uni 3 hp with the Biesmeyer commercial 50 inch with bies side ext. table 2 c/i wings and the delta mobile base. Took my son and I about 3 hours to assemble and set everything up. The blade that came with mine was Delta Industrial which I think is a Lietz blade which i think is a pretty good all around blade. By the way my saw did not need any adjustment on the table/trunnion it was set. The miter gauge was definately off.

[Jim Hill]

I just got in from work. Thanks for the replies. Let me elaborate a bit. I've had a contractors saw with a 30" bies fence for five years. Recently, I have needed a longer fence. Although I've drooled at cabinet saws with 50" fences, I haven't really had a NEED to upgrade until now. Honestly, I really like the General 650 the best, but it would cost about 2300 to get one in the shop; the Unisaw could have a new home for about 1340 after rebates. Either saw will most likely be more than I really need (got to have a long fence tho). The difference in cost would buy a lot of wood or other shop necessities. I know the older Uni's have a great reputation, but with all the changes at Delta, I'm concerned with comments about flatness of tables, different motor suppliers, and over all quality of the saw. I can buy either saw. I just don't want to spend more money than necessary for a high quality saw. Like most, I try to balance my needs against wants. Sure I would like to have the General, but I can't justify the difference if price if the Uni is still a high quality saw. Once again, thanks for your thoughts.

Jim

[Allen Bookout]

That is really a tough call. I have had a industrial model uni, 3hp left tilt, for about six months now I guess. I was dissapointed in the top finish as it has milling marks. The main table is flat but the wings are off a little. Did not measure as I really did not want to know since I had already bought it. The extension table is bowed in the middle so no way to bolt it to the saw correctly. You will be better off making one yourself. Mine has the "motor from Brazil" and not the Baldor. So far it seems fine but who know about the longivity. I have the Biesemeyer fence and it is GREAT.

The saw runs smooth, cuts straight and has plenty of power for anything that I will want to do with it so I will have to say that even with the flaws listed above it is a pretty good saw. Probably as good as you are going to get in this price range. I have not seen the Grizzlys though so do not know how they stack up agains each other.

If I was going to do it again I think that I might go with the Bidgewood 10" cabinet saw for about the same amount of money. Wilke Machiner has it. I don't know where you live so shipping cost might kill you though. I did not include the Powermatic because the color makes me fill ill and I really like to feel good.

If money was no object I for sure would go with General. No doubt about it. If I just wanted the best, same thing, General. Not Gereral International. If I was going to run it eight hours a day, same answer, General. This excludes the European saws that I know nothing about.

Like I said--------------TOUGH CALL!!!!!

Allen

[Dan Stuewe]

I don't know if it is allowed to sugest not buying a new tool, but for less than $400 you can buy a new 50" Biesemeyer fence (or better yet somehow just get the longer rails) and use that on your contractors saw. If you haven't ever needed that type of capacity (and don't expect to need it again), I'd hate to have it in the way permanently. After you're done you can sell off the rails and fence and probably only be out $100 or so.

[Bob Johnson2]

[quote=Allen Bookout]That is really a tough call. I have had a industrial model uni, 3hp left tilt, for about six months now I guess. I was dissapointed in the top finish as it has milling marks. The main table is flat but the wings are off a little. Did not measure as I really did not want to know since I had already bought it. The extension table is bowed in the middle so no way to bolt it to the saw correctly. You will be better off making one yourself. Mine has the "motor from Brazil" and not the Baldor. So far it seems fine but who know about the longivity. I have the Biesemeyer fence and it is GREAT.

quote]

So as not to confuse matters, the "industrial 36-730,731, and 732" are not the same machine as the Unisaws, they are imports. The Uni's are US made except for the motor, and maybe the Beis which I believe is Canadian.

[Anthony Anderson]

[quote=Jim; the Unisaw could have a new home for about 1340 after rebates. Jim[/quote]


Jim, Where are you getting the Unisaw for that price? Thanks, Bill

[Rich Bay]

I purchased a 50" Left Tilt Unisaw from Woodcraft around the 1st of December.

The alignment of everything was good "out of the box". The saw has worked quite well on everything I have tried.

The only complaints I have are minor. The adjustment bolt to set the blade at 90 degrees to the table is hard to get to (am I doing something wrong).

The quality of the Cast Iron top is very bad compared to other tools I have. The cast iron is flat and the extensions did align easily with the saw. However there are a lot of milling marks on the extensions. I have the UniSaw sitting right next to a Grizzly 8" Jointer and the cast iron on the Grizzly is ground and polished much nicer. This doen't seem to hurt anything in operation but?????

Overall I am happy with the UniSaw.

[Bill Lewis]

I bought 52" unifence, right tilt, X5 at last years WW show. I also bought the Delta outfeed table. With the rebates, free tool and free mobil base it (show special) was a good deal. I really don't remember what I paid, or how it would equate given the incentives.

Now about the saw, I have no complaints and it is a joy to use. Sturdy, solid, plenty of power, smooth, big, and accurate. I also like the uni over the bies fence I like being able to slide the fence back for cross cuts. The only thing I miss is the micro adjust knob on my old fence. I had a Delta Contractors saw with twin CI wings, and a jet-lock delta fence. It was a very good saw, but I did want a nicer fence. I debated putting a better fence on it, but I felt sure that modifying the saw wouldn't end there so I went for the upgrade and sold my old one.

I installed the Delta blade that came with the saw as a starter. Something to use while getting a feel for the saw. So far it has been a decent blade. I have a WWII that I bought for the last saw, but I never installed it. One of these days I'll swap them out and check out what that WWII will do.

[Robert Waddell]

Put me on the me too list on this one. I bought one in Sept. I use it daily. I've had no issues with it. The one thing that takes getting use to is the kill swith on them. They put them right where us right handers stand. Now that I've used it for awhile I seldom hit it by mistake. I say go for it.
Rob

[Allen Bookout]

Bob Johnson2 wrote: quote "
quote:
" So as not to confuse matters, the "industrial 36-730,731, and 732" are not the same machine as the Unisaws, they are imports. The Uni's are US made except for the motor, and maybe the Beis which I believe is Canadian."

I did not think that the above information was correct so I called Delta and talked directly to them. Both the X series and the Industrial series of cabinet saws are Unisaws (My Industrial model has Unisaw right on the front). Most of the parts, including the motors, are imports on both saws. I did not ask about this but I think that is the reason that you do not see (Proudly Made In The USA) on any of them any more. The only difference, according to Delta, is that the X series has a five year warranty and the Industrial series has a two year warranty.

I just posted this so that anyone that is shopping for a Unisaw has more accurate information available to help make a decision.

Allen