Unisaw questions

[Rick Moyer]

I have a lead on a used saw but, aside from the usual look-for things, I have some questions:

What vintage is good, better, worse? This one is suppposedly from the mid-80's. How would I know when it was mfg'd?

it is supposed to be 220V, 3HP, single phase. what motor typically was used? Baldor, Leeson, other?

Any other tidbits of info? I'm going to look at it tomorrow morning. Sorry I haven't had time to research yet as this just came up this afternoon and I wasn't really thinking about a new saw right now, also thought I wanted a PM 66, but this might be something I need to consider.

Thanks, all!

[Cary Falk]

Some people on the old WoodWorking Machines (OWWM) site say the Rockwell era with the peace sign logo was the downfall. The design has not changed in some thirty years and the internal parts are pretty much interchangable with maybe a few exceptions. Other people say a Uni is a UNI is a Uni. If it is a good price go for it. I don't think you can go wrong if it is in good shape. I restored a 1970(pre peace sign) Uni last summer. You can find the mfg date by looking up the serial number on the OWWM site(it's in a pdf file). I would post a link but the rules prohibit it so Google is your friend

[David DeCristoforo]

Anything "pre-mid 70's" will be close to the original machines in most respects. From then until the early 90's, quality steadily declined (lighter castings, lower quality motors and switches, etc.). At that point, things pretty much stabilized again. So, assuming good condition, a pre 1970 machine would be "the best".

[Rick Moyer]

Anybody know about how much it would cost me to replace either an arbor, arbor bearings, or the motor? The saw is in reasonable shape but it makes a bit more noise than I would expect. May not be any big deal but I'm just asking just in case.

[David DeCristoforo]

http://www.sawcenter.com/unisawparts.htm