40 year old Unisaw

[Tom Majewski]

I might be getting lucky. There's a dirt cheap but good looking Unisaw near me. Before I seal the deal, how hard is it to find parts - bearings, arbors, screwgears, ect for an old Unisaw, most likely from around the mid 60's model 34-450.

Needs a fence and I just bought a new Shopfox last week.
Has a 3 phase, but I wonder if I could use the 2hp from my Grizz, or do I need a specific mount motor?

Tom

[Chris Rosenberger]

Thats great Mike.
Parts are not hard to find. There are always alot on Ebay & people on the internet sell them. The motor is a specific mount motor. Those are on Ebay also. Just do a search for Unisaw.

[David Wilson]

Tom
I just got my 1940 unisaw running. Replaced the 3hp/3ph motor with a 3hp/ single phase motor. A great source for info and parts is OWWM.COM
old woodworking machines.com. You have basicly 4 alternatives. 1- static phase converter. 2- rotary phase converter. 3-variable frequency drive.
any of the first 3 will allow you to use the 3ph motor or 4- change out motor. There are arguments for and aginst all of these alternatives. I chose to replace the motor.

[Richard Keller]

Parts are also available new from Delta if you wish. New unisaws are different outside, but same inside. Both Blador and Leeson make new motors with the specific mount to fit in that saw as well. As for the Shopfox - Look at the motor and look for two things. Frame size, and RPM. Get a hold of a motor where these two are the same as the old, and your all set. (So if your 2 hp grizzly is the same frame size, it should go right in - BUT watch the RPM as well, otherwise you may have some unexpected operation)

Richard.

[John Shuk]

Parts are pretty easy to lay hands on. It might be worth it if the price is right and if you have a little time to spend getting it set up right.

[Tom Majewski]

Thanks for the info guys,

I'm hemmin' and hawin' over this because it looks like a good deal, and I like restoring machinery, but the Grizzly works fine. I WAS planning on purchasing a thickness planer next. Sheeesh...decisions. The smart thing would be to pass on it, but why break 50 years of bad habbit now.

[Michael Gibbons]

Feel The Force My Apprentice