James Goodman
06-01-2022, 11:10 PM
I’m a retired interior trim carpenter and am setting up my home woodshop in the hopes of eventually being able to call myself a woodworker. I have a right-tilt 3 hp Delta Unisaw with 54” Biesemeyer fence and its also on a mobile base. My shop is going in a stand-alone 3-car garage that will be dedicated entirely to being my shop, with the exception of needing to leave the floor space served by the 1-car garage open so I can park my 40 hp Kubota tractor inside. When working in the shop I will pull the tractor outside, so that floor space can be used temporarily by machines and work benches / work tables on casters.
So, here’s the background to my eventual question: Years ago, I bought a neglected Delta 34-395 (12”/ 14”) table saw with Biesemeyer fence for $200. It has a 5 hp, 3-phase motor and is missing the bottom pedestal that the saw’s base would normally sit on…..so the saw is about 5” shorter than it would be if that pedestal were not missing. In addition, the magnetic starter and control box need replacement. Also missing is the motor side cover and the bottom louvered front cover…..and the top is rusty (but not pitted). But the motor is not original and looks quite new. So, it is NOT a thing of beauty, to put it mildly. Nonetheless, I have the table off, and the arbor pully spins smoothly, and the blade adjustments operate smoothly and easily. I've attached a photo of someone else's saw that is in similar condtion to mine, but mine is missing the bottom part of the base and the louvered cover shown in the photo.
In the garage, I have built-in work benches and storage shelves against the entire left and right walls and across the entire back wall of the building. These installations project out 3’ from those 3 walls and leave unencumbered floor space of 17’ x 20’ where woodworking machines can be left in place, and 10’ x 20’ in the space that can be used temporarily, when the tractor is backed out of the garage.
That 17’ x 20’ is not a lot of space, and my stationary equipment will be on wheels. I have a Grizzly 15” planer, an old Rockwell drill press, the Delta Unisaw, a 20” bandsaw (yet to be purchased), and an 8” helical head jointer (also yet to be purchased). I am also preparing to start building a 3’x9’ European-style woodworker’s workbench. All of these are or will be on wheels.
I was originally intending to fix up the 14” Delta and put both saws side-by-side, with the 14” saw being my main saw and the Unisaw would be set up with a dado stack. I would merge the 2 Biesemeyer fences to create a fence capable of handling 8’ long sheet goods. But the 2 saws are just too different in size and I would need them both to be mobile while connected together, and I also don’t have the room to accommodate those saws side-by-side with the 8’ long fence capacity. After coming to that conclusion, I was thinking I should just get rid of the 14” saw and stick with the Unisaw, since it is just a hobby woodworking shop and there are lots of accessories for 10” saws. But, with the condition the 14” saw is in now, I’d get next to nothing for it, despite the nice motor, and I got to thinking; What if I used the 14” saw as a dedicated rip saw with a power feeder? I pretty regularly rip pretty good amounts of 6/4 and 8/4 lumber (another story) and in using the Unisaw for this in the past, I regularly would overheat the motor and the thermal overload would kick in and shut it down. I’m thinking the 34-395 could be ideal for this application and I could move that saw around to the back side of the Unisaw and they each would act as outfeed tables for each other. And then, they would not need to be connected together and they could each be wheeled out of the way when that need came up. I would get a VFD to be run the 14” saw off my 1-phase power.
So please give me your opinions on using the 12”/14” Delta 34-395 as a dedicated rip saw with power feeder. Thanks!
So, here’s the background to my eventual question: Years ago, I bought a neglected Delta 34-395 (12”/ 14”) table saw with Biesemeyer fence for $200. It has a 5 hp, 3-phase motor and is missing the bottom pedestal that the saw’s base would normally sit on…..so the saw is about 5” shorter than it would be if that pedestal were not missing. In addition, the magnetic starter and control box need replacement. Also missing is the motor side cover and the bottom louvered front cover…..and the top is rusty (but not pitted). But the motor is not original and looks quite new. So, it is NOT a thing of beauty, to put it mildly. Nonetheless, I have the table off, and the arbor pully spins smoothly, and the blade adjustments operate smoothly and easily. I've attached a photo of someone else's saw that is in similar condtion to mine, but mine is missing the bottom part of the base and the louvered cover shown in the photo.
In the garage, I have built-in work benches and storage shelves against the entire left and right walls and across the entire back wall of the building. These installations project out 3’ from those 3 walls and leave unencumbered floor space of 17’ x 20’ where woodworking machines can be left in place, and 10’ x 20’ in the space that can be used temporarily, when the tractor is backed out of the garage.
That 17’ x 20’ is not a lot of space, and my stationary equipment will be on wheels. I have a Grizzly 15” planer, an old Rockwell drill press, the Delta Unisaw, a 20” bandsaw (yet to be purchased), and an 8” helical head jointer (also yet to be purchased). I am also preparing to start building a 3’x9’ European-style woodworker’s workbench. All of these are or will be on wheels.
I was originally intending to fix up the 14” Delta and put both saws side-by-side, with the 14” saw being my main saw and the Unisaw would be set up with a dado stack. I would merge the 2 Biesemeyer fences to create a fence capable of handling 8’ long sheet goods. But the 2 saws are just too different in size and I would need them both to be mobile while connected together, and I also don’t have the room to accommodate those saws side-by-side with the 8’ long fence capacity. After coming to that conclusion, I was thinking I should just get rid of the 14” saw and stick with the Unisaw, since it is just a hobby woodworking shop and there are lots of accessories for 10” saws. But, with the condition the 14” saw is in now, I’d get next to nothing for it, despite the nice motor, and I got to thinking; What if I used the 14” saw as a dedicated rip saw with a power feeder? I pretty regularly rip pretty good amounts of 6/4 and 8/4 lumber (another story) and in using the Unisaw for this in the past, I regularly would overheat the motor and the thermal overload would kick in and shut it down. I’m thinking the 34-395 could be ideal for this application and I could move that saw around to the back side of the Unisaw and they each would act as outfeed tables for each other. And then, they would not need to be connected together and they could each be wheeled out of the way when that need came up. I would get a VFD to be run the 14” saw off my 1-phase power.
So please give me your opinions on using the 12”/14” Delta 34-395 as a dedicated rip saw with power feeder. Thanks!