New (to me) table saw - Yates-American G89

[Alan DuBoff]

I guestimate it was manufactured in 1945, and has a "USN Buord" plate, which I think the procurrment folks attached to the saw, like govies do.. Table looks stamped also by the navel geeks, on the edge of it.

EDIT: The Buord seems to be the "Bureau of Ordnance" and were responsible for procurments. Yates-American machinery seems to have been standardized by the U.S. government at that time. The plate would appear not to be a ship, but the US Navy buord number, I'll have to check it out closer.

It included a static phase converter, 2 electrical boxes for the wiring, a decent switch, and the base has been cleaned up and painted. I've been told if you file the cast iron, you can put a much better finish on it. All the parts are there for the guard, which is quite unusual, most old saws don't have guards as many folks take them off and they get lost. The seller also welded the base out of angle iron. Seems sturdy. No miter unfortunately.

Found the saw on craigslist, took me about 2 weeks to put the deal together. Had quite an adventure getting it today, but I won't dwell on that... :eek:

Yates-American G89 (http://www.softorchestra.com/woodworking/tools/yates-american/)

I'm really looking forward to getting this running. There's still some things to do to get the saw together, a few things need to be painted (like the handwheels), but it's mostly complete.

Those are the seller's pictures, I'll post some when I put some of them together.

It has several more plates, one for a patent in 1939, and another for the ship it was on, and one other that wasn't shown. I'll try to get some pics up on those.

[Alan Turner]

Good looking saw. Glad I was not on the moving crew. I must say that the fence might require several guys to take off and replace. What is the rip capacity? What is the blade diameter? 3 Ph. I am assuming.

[Alan DuBoff]

Good looking saw. Glad I was not on the moving crew.I moved it by myself. They loaded it on the trailer, but the most difficult part for me was getting the mobile base wheels to align in the tracks on the trailer.

I resorted to using a large pipe wrench to turn them, but even so had to do it a few times as they kept moving back. As you might imagine there was a lot of weight holding them in place, even when the stops are off!

I must say that the fence might require several guys to take off and replace. What is the rip capacity? What is the blade diameter? 3 Ph. I am assuming.There is nothing light on this saw. The fence is solid cast iron, as is the insert for the table. Pretty much the entire saw is cast, and the base has a tubular channel cast into it that funnels under the blade to the 6" dust port. The handwheels weigh about as much as my current contractors saw. Handwheels need to be stripped & painted. I need to build a jig to lift the table, I need to be able to lift it and suspend it. The 2 other guys strugled to slide it on the concrete so they could get the crane hooks at it.

5 HP 3 phase, almost all of the large machines are 3 phase. I haven't decided exactly what I'll do yet, but the plan is to use the new static phase converter in conjunction with another 3 phase motor to create a rotary converter. I'm not comfortable with electrical, and a friend offered to help me. He put a 3 phase motor in his rafters and has a switch to turn it on, and he has 3 phase plugs to the machines. I like that idea, because then you can just buy 3 phase machines and hook 'em up. Most all of the machines I'm interested in are 3 phase. When in Rome...yada-yada-yada...A shop full of Yates-American machines wouldn't be all that bad, IMO. I'd love to have one of the planers, and a jointer, and a band saw, and a shaper, and a lathe...like I said, a shop full of Yates-American machines wouldn't be all that bad...:cool:

EDIT: I think the rip with no extention is 26" as it is. I'm most intrigued with the miter bars which are rusted in.

[tod evans]

way cool alan! nice score! tod

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Who-hoo Alan!

Out to burn some electrons eh? :D

5Hp direct drive, you will not stall that suck easily!

Nice gloat!

Cheers!:D

[Jeff Horton]

...A shop full of Yates-American machines wouldn't be all that bad, IMO. I'd love to have one of the planers, and a jointer, and a band saw, and a shaper, and a lathe...like I said, a shop full of Yates-American machines wouldn't be all that bad...:cool:


That statement brings a tear of joy to my eyes! ;)

Congrats Allen, hope you like your new saw as much as I am my Unisaw. There is just something about a shop full of old iron!

[Alan DuBoff]

Stu, actually burn less electrons by going this 3 phase stuff I guess. My motor is only 12 amps at 230v, 3 phase. I need to do a few things before I can spin some blades on it.

I put the guard together kind-a-sort-a, it looks pretty cool. It's amazing how heavy everything is, even the posts for the guard, they're huge and heavy. Makes me ponder, this saw was manufactured right as the war was ending. Any type of steel was at a premium, yet the entire saw is made of cast iron.

Jeff, as you know, there's some work to do before I can use it. I'm looking forward to it, most certainly, and getting rid of my other saw to free some space up. This saw is so massive, I have never used such a saw. I think you could jump up and down on this things and it wouldn't budge. The gears are pretty smooth, I didn't put the handwheels in place yet, but can actually spin the pins with my hands.

The seller was a really nice guy, turned out to be much younger than I had though originally.

He had a really nice FJ-Cruiser pickup, which there were very few of. he has it in parts.

I still can't believe I made it home. That was quite a days worth to get that saw. When it rolled off the ramp on the trailer, I thought the eagle landed. :eek: I'm considering taking it off the mobile base, seems to raise it a couple inches. As I've mentioned, an old Unisaw could have suited me fine, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have this saw! ;)

I'll get some pics tomorrow with the table and guard on, although it's not completely assembled, it gives a much better idea what it is. The name plates are all pretty cool also, and in pretty good shape. The seller salvaged most all of the rivets and/or screws.

The fence is so heavy, I need to reserve comment on it until I can get the table cleaned and see how well it slides. I have a feeling it will feel pretty nice, even though it is heavy. The fence lock is like a clamp which holds the fence in place, all made out of cast iron. It has a couple slices where someone slid it into the blade, and the guard has some cut-a-roonies. The older guards don't appear to completely encase the blade, as new ones do, so I guess that's how that could happen.

[Greg Ladd]

Alan,

That is a great looking piece of old arn. It looks exceptionally clean and virtually rust free.

Congratulations. With a little bit of work you will have a great saw.

Greg

[Brett Baldwin]

Very nice score Alan. That looks like a chunk of iron that will serve you well.

[Alan DuBoff]

That is a great looking piece of old arn. It looks exceptionally clean and virtually rust free.Yes, it is.

Very nice score Alan. That looks like a chunk of iron that will serve you well.I certainly hope so. It's quite a machine, can't wait to use it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nice saw Alan! Keep us informed of your progress! Dev will be in tears!

[Matt King]

Now THAT is a table saw! :eek:

I'll own a 'real saw'........ One day, one day..... :o

Matt

[Alan DuBoff]

Here's some different pics I took yesterday.

New pics at this link (http://www.softorchestra.com/woodworking/tools/ya-g89/)

I continue to be more and more irmpressed with the quality of this saw. Can't wait to get it wired up so I can hear it roar!