Old Unisaw & old friends

[Chris Rosenberger]

I first saw the Unisaw pictured below about 38 years ago.
It was setting back in the corner of a tool shed belonging to a school mates parents. After I was bit by the woodworking bug in junior high school I tried to buy the Unisaw from my friend's Dad. He would not sell it because he said they use it sometimes. I made several more unsuccessful offers during our school years. Upon finishing high school my parents presented me with a Delta tablesaw. It was not a Unisaw but it served me well until I could buy my own Unisaw. After getting the saw from my parents, I never thought about that old Unisaw again, until 2 weeks ago. I saw an auction bill. My friend & his parents decided to quit farming & where selling everything. As I read through the sale bill I noticed a Delta table saw listed. I thought this could not be the same saw that i craved when I was in school. Being one to not go to auctions, let alone farm auctions, I decided to take the day off & go.
It was a very enjoyable day. I had not seem my friend & his family for several years. We got to catch up on years of lost time & I also got to see alot of other friends I had not seen for several years. To top the day off I got to come home with that old Unisaw. It is a little worse for wear than it was when it was when I first saw it. But it was never used during all that time. I know because we had had dropped something on the plug back then & smashed it. It still has the same smashed plug.

[tod evans]

cool old saw chris! a little sweat equity and she`ll purr for another 50 yrs! .02 tod

[Richard Neel]

Great story Chris. I assume you'll be restoring the saw?

[lou sansone]

nice story... you do have a labor of love on your hands now

best wishes
lou

[John Timberlake]

Great to get reacquainted with old friends - human and machine. Post pictures during and after the restoration. Best of luck.

[Michael Gibbons]

Looks like you have quite a job ahead of you. Good Luck!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Great story and reunion! Keep us posted on the restoration!

[Jim Becker]

Ya, a little work required, but not only is it a great old saw, it has history with YOU, too. 'Can't ask for more than that!

[Jeff Horton]

I have one very much like that. My cabinet is not as rusty but it's got to be stripped just like yours does. Have you looked to see what year it is? You can look it up by the serial number. Looks very much like mine and it's a 1948 model. Also like mine yours appears to be very original!

[Corey Pionk]

Great story!! Even after all those years the table looks to be in great shape dirty but in great shape. The base and the motor on the other hand are gonna need some work.

[Mike Swindell]

I hope you enjoy your rebuild, I know I did. Here a link from Enco for the revolving handle on the tilt wheel. I drilled and tapped my wheel for this one:
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=990-3301&PMPXNO=3012748&PARTPG=INLMK3

Works great. If you need a manual go here, www.sawcenter.com

Cheers

[Tom Pritchard]

Chris, what a great story, and a nice find! Are you planning on restoring it and using it? Looks like it will keep you busy for a while! Thanks for sharing!

[scott spencer]

I can't wait to see the before and after pics on this one! Neat story...

[Don Stanley]

Thanks for the great story Chris. I hope you restore the saw -- it's hard not to love old iron! Take a look at the Walker-Turner jointer for inspiration; a friend gave it to me. See the link below for more pictures. This machine runs like a baby Cadillac!

http://home.comcast.net/~kc7cn/walkerturner/FrontView.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~kc7cn/walkerturner/

[Corey Hallagan]

That will be a cool machine when you are done. I wouldn't know where to begin! Congrats and good luck.

Corey

[Chris Rosenberger]

Thanks for all of the replies & Mike thanks for the links. I am planning to rstore the saw. It will have to wait until next winter or sooner if work lets up. I do not believe it is as bad as it looks, although I do not know if the motor runs. I will not be able to check that until I can get it in the shop.
The rust is light. The table & cabinet are not pitted & the only parts I can find missing are the dust door, hand wheel crank & the rear clamp from the fence.
Anyone have a dust door laying around?

I will post pictures of the restoration. I will not make the same mistake I did last year when I restored a Powermatic 66. I got so wrapped up in the restoration that I did not even think about taking pictures until I had it complete. There was also some history behind that saw.
Thanks again.
Chris

[Chris Rosenberger]

Don,
That is a very nice jointer.

[Joe Scarfo]

Chris,

I've rebuilt a Uni.. If you want to peek at a few before and afters..

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=10278

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a note.

Good luck w/ yours.

Joe

[Rod Upfold]

Its amazing...you never forget your first love...

Have fun refurbishing the saw...mine is a 1955 unisaw.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Joe it looks like you have a nice start on your saw.

You are right Rod.

I went back to the barn to get the serial number from the saw. I could not believe my eyes. The serial number is, 6-2828. My buyers number was 28.

Anyone know the year this saw was bulit.

Chris

[Mike Wilkins]

Great find Chris. You will have an enjoyable time bringing this baby back to life. I got a similar machine with the cast iron base, oval motor cut-out and Jet Lock fence that is a 1964 vintage. You can check the born-on date by looking through the OWWM web site and the dating charts from the serial number. If you decide to upgrade the fence, the Unifence bolts up perfect and is a fine updrade option for this machine. These older Unisaws are built like a tank so you should get lots of years use out of it.
I got a replacement front door from Delta; don't forget to order the knob hardware at the same time; the door does not come with it installed.
Good luck with the resto-you have a nice one.

[Rod Upfold]

Here is the Delta page at OWWM - a great source of info on old machines.


http://www.owwm.com/MfgIndex/detail.asp?ID=1141

[Kyle Kraft]

Boy, I wish I had some friends like that. It is a lot of fun and one can get a lot of satisfaction bringing old machinery to like-new condition!

[Matt Day]

Joe it looks like you have a nice start on your saw.

You are right Rod.

I went back to the barn to get the serial number from the saw. I could not believe my eyes. The serial number is, 6-2828. My buyers number was 28.

Anyone know the year this saw was bulit.

Chris

Here's the link:
http://www.owwm.com/Delta/VintageProject/Part1.asp

I don't see a serial number combination like yours.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Rod & Matt,
Thanks for the links. I also did not find my number there. From were the numbers start on that page, my saw must have been built in the 30's.