Four footed unisaw

[Jack Clay]

Hi,
I just bought a four footed Delta table saw at a junkyard for 35 dollars. It is all original condition. The only thing that is missing is two of the feet. Someone removed them and put two wheels on it. The saw is very clean and very little if any rust. I would appreciate any help on the following questions.
This saw has a ¾ horse power 220 volt 1750 motor. I am looking to change it out to a 3 hp motor. If anyone has done this were did they get this type of motor and is the saw built heavy enough for this change.

[Chuck Lenz]

You may change your mind on the motor. Unisaw motors are expensive because thats all they fit that I know of. You might get lucky and find a used motor somewhere. A good place to look or find out what size motors were available for the saw would be OWWM.com. Nice find though. I'm jealous. Got any pictures ?

[Bob Vallaster]

Jack,
My Unisaw is a junkyard refugee, but not as old as your 4-footed model.
I cannot conclusively answer whether your saw will handle the motor upgrade, but you can find out. A parts list (illustrated parts breakdown) for your saw is an essential reference; available from Delta or on OWWM site. With the naked eyeball, compare your saw and a later saw to see if the table and castings beneath it are the same for later years. Or look at a parts list for a higher-hp saw of same vintage to see if anything other than the motor was different on the higher-hp model. Since the power upgrade will likely result in a 3450rpm motor, you might have to change pulleys (motor & arbor), drive belt set, maybe the on/off switch.
The $75 price on mine should tell you it needed parts to get back in operation, including motor bracket casting, fence and motor. I found onesies and twosies on the big internet auction site, and bought a few at my local Delta authorized repair station. The Bies fence came from the scratch-n-dent page on their site.
The 2hp/220v Leeson motor came from a motor outfit (name escapes me) in NC/SC; it has been mentioned favorably in several chats on this site about powering dust collectors. Their retail price (even with shipping) was the best I found.
There was a set of 4 feet for your saw on the big auction site in the last week or so, but I don't see them today or recall what sort of crowd they drew. ('Thanks for nuthin') The point of mentioning this: a search on 'Unisaw' will reveal a small cottage industry in dismantling wrecks and recycling their parts; there are also a number of dealers selling NOS parts. It's the ultimate swapmeet for woodworkers.
Good luck on your rehab.

Bob

[Richard M. Wolfe]

A friend and I are setting up a wood operation and were needing a cabinet saw. He found a four footer on CL in working condition with the motor wired for 110 and got it. A little digging and tinkering and he got it wired to 220. Since I didn't do any of the work on it I couldn't say but I think it's a 1 hp. As everyone knows, there's horsepower and then there's horsepower. We got it set up with an outfeed table and put a 52" Biesemeyer on it and with a sharp blade it cuts anything you want to shove at it. Have you used yours with the original motor yet to see how it will take loads?

If you got to the OWWM site you should find plenty of people to help with questions on it. Be prepared for abuse (friendly, of course) for finding a "Unisaur" for that price.

[Pete Bradley]

Four feet makes it one of the earliest Unisaws. This is a phenomenal score for 35 bucks!

I'm not aware of any way to put a 3HP motor into it Unisaw without cutting the cabinet (which many would frown on). Are you sure that the motor you have is a 3/4 HP? This machine should have a "bullet" motor of at least 1HP. These motors are Repulsion/Induction, a type that is rarely made today and sought after for its high starting and breakdown torque compared to modern motors of similar rating.

As others have said, all you need to know can be found on owwm.org and owwm.com

Pete

[Chuck Lenz]

I think I'd try the motor you have first.

[Michael Schwartz]

Is that 3/4 horsepower at 110 volts, or 3/4 at 220. At 220 it will run more effeciently, and should put out a bit more.

Also, remember, this was back in the days when 3/4 horse power actually meant 3/4 horse power. I can assure you it probably puts out more power than a new 3/4 horse contractor saw.

[John Lucas]

Me too!!! If Delta Unisaw worked for all those years with that motor, I wouldnt touch it other than clean it up and make workings run as smooth as possible. You will be upsetting the Delta Unisaw Gods if you change it out without trying it first.

[Pete Bradley]

At 220 it will run more effeciently, and should put out a bit more.


Actually there's no difference at the motor.

220 may allow a reduction in wire gauge to feed the motor, but that's about it.

Pete

[Randal Stevenson]

Also, remember, this was back in the days when 3/4 horse power actually meant 3/4 horse power. I can assure you it probably puts out more power than a new 3/4 horse contractor saw.

Yeah, they changed the way the "measure" HP over the years (marketing censored). Today that would probably be measured at 3hp on 110 the way they do things. Try it before you swap it, you'll pay good money for as good a motor as they used to build.

Can you tell motor rating is a pet peeve of mine?

[Phil Thien]

The motor may be one of the older bullet RI motors. I believe their power curves are such that they generate more HP where it is needed for sawing. So that 3/4 HP may compare very favorable w/ a modern 1-1/2 to 2-HP motor.

Someone that knows these old motors step in and give us the rundown on these older bullet motors.

[Bart Leetch]

It isn't a Unisaw but very well my be an A100. Don't change anything & try to get the proper feet for it. I believe it was made in the 1930's.

[Jack Clay]

I plugged it in today and it started and ran fine. I have a 1 ½ hp delta contractor saw that I run a thin kerfs ripping blade and changed from 110 V to 220 V witch changed it to 2 hp to keep the power up. If I redo this saw to replace mine I do not want to run out of power. I am working on the research on this 1939 unisaw bullet head motor wired for 220v. I want to thank everybody for the help.

[Bruce Page]

Jack, congrats on the Table saw. For $35 how could you go wrong!
I’m not a sparkey but as far as I know, you will cut the amperage draw by half but you do not gain any horsepower by going from 110 to 220.

[Jack Clay]

You are right in a stranded motor but delta used these 11/2 hp motors about 5 to 6 years ago on there contractor saws that use different windings on 220 v. It is listed on the tag on the motor. I do not no if that ½ means much but I was trying to peak the performance. Nice to talk to you.

[Michael Schwartz]

Its probably worth more than 35 dollars at the scrap yard :rolleyes:

The old deltas, delta milwaukee and earlier are as good as anything out there.

[Chuck Lenz]

I have a Delta Contractors saw that has a 1 1/2 hp motor also. I ran it on 110 for along time and occasionally it would bog down and trip the breaker if I was takeing a pretty good cut out of hardwood lumber or even wet green treated lumber. About 2 years ago I finally put in a couple of 220 outlets because I bought a dust collector that only ran on 220. I put a oulet in for the dust collector, the air compressor and the tablesaw. If I remember right in the manual or on the motor plate on the tablesaw it stated that at 220 the motor was rated a 2 hp. All I can say is what a difference. I wish I had ran it on 220 since new. The saw comes up to speed immediatly and it doesn't bog down or trip the breaker anymore. It's nice not to have to baby stuff through the saw anymore, not that I rush things. And no, I know what your thinking, when I was runing it on 110 I didn't have a bunch of other stuff running on that circuit at the same time or use dull blades.

[Matt Meiser]

I have the extra-winding Delta motor on my saw too and it does really make a difference on that motor, but on a typical motor it won't. One of the magazines did a test a while back comparing a motor on 110 and 220. I believe they claimed some very minor advantages to 220. I ran my old Yorkcraft jointer on 110 for a while then converted to 220 and didn't notice any difference. The biggest advantage of 220 is that the current is 1/2 of running the same motor on 110, allowing smaller sized wiring.

However, he already said it was a 220 motor and we have to take his word on even the existance of this saw since there are no pictures.

(Jack--first rule of the creek: no pictures, didn't happen :D)

[Pete Bradley]

You are right in a stranded motor but delta used these 11/2 hp motors about 5 to 6 years ago on there contractor saws that use different windings on 220 v.

We're getting off topic, but I'd be interested to see a picture of the tag or manual. This is a new one on me.

Pete

[Jack Clay]

If you go to old wood working machines and go to Delta Four Footed Unisaw you will see pictures of my old saw and an explanation to the Delta contractor saw hp change. I hope this helps.

[Rod Peterson]

The guy you want to talk to is Keith Bohn. He used to be a regular poster on rec.woodworking but he hasn't been there in a couple of years now. I believe he is heavily involved in the Old Woodworking Machines website http://www.owwm.com. He has a four footer, serial number A100 (which might be confusing Bart--that's not a model number and it's still a Unisaw), perhaps the earliest Unisaw still surviving, and has written extensively about Unisaw history. Do a search on Unisaw A100, which he has employed as a username for several years, and you'll find his email address (I've dropped him a note asking him to weigh in here). He calls his saw El Guapo, and he also used to be The Duke of URLs on usenet.

Nice score. Don't tell Keith how much you paid or you may be forever enshrined on OWWM accused of robbing some poor widder lady.

[Bart Leetch]

Thanks for the info Rod. I didn't know it was considered a Unisaw.

[Rod Peterson]

I had to do some research, because I've been aware of El Guapo for a long time, having been on the Wreck since '97. Starting with OWWM's Delta page (largely authored by Keith, it seems) which includes a great picture of his saw:

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

I then found an archive file of Keith's original story of El Guapo, which is in three parts:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/oldwwmachines/message/3153

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/oldwwmachines/message/3161

(third installment needs a Yahoo account access)

By the way, what happened to the usenet archive? Dejanews was acquired by Google some time back, but I can't find anything earlier than about 2004.

Anyway, here is Keith's article on the history of Delta (the three following links are the three links from the OWWM Delta page, so if you go there to start with you can just click them sequentially there rather than having to come back here and click on the following):

http://www.owwm.com/Delta/Hisotry.asp

And here is his article on Delta serial numbers (note: no records before 1941):

http://www.owwm.com/Delta/VintageProject/Part1.asp

Finally, here's a PDF of his published article on how he finally nailed down (insofar as it could be nailed down) his particular Unisaw #A-100:

http://www.owwm.com/Files/PDF/Delta/oww.pdf

The research also reminded me that in addition to Unisaw A100 and Duke of URLs, he was also known as Keeter. One of the great writers on the internet.