Unisaw Top Shims?

[thomas d evans]

Hi all,
First time poster, here. I found a 1984 Unisaw (34-801) and bought it for $500. It is pretty rough in my opinion and I probably overpaid. It's 3 hp - 1ph and came with a Biesemeyer T-square fence. The rails and tube are 10 feet long! I'm going to have to cut those down for my garage shop.

Anyway, I've been researching the heck out of saws for the last couple of months (and new hybrids & Ridgids & Steel City etc, etc.) And I've read several times about shims under the four corners of the top of Unisaws. Mine has no shims. The bolts are also different from each other, so I don't think they are original. Shims may have been ignored and lost by previous owner or owners.

Did all, many, or most old Unisaws have them? How thick could they be? Are they washers?

I assume these were there to keep the top in plane in three axis' ( left to right & front to back, diagonal corner to corner) to the blade?
Is there an article any where about this?

Hmmm, how to check? Shim the cabinet level and then check the top to be level when setting it back down?
Or do I have too much spare time on my hands to worry about this?

Thanks, Tommy

[Randy Gillard]

http://books.google.ca/books?id=s_YD...%20top&f=false

[Jamie Buxton]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ghlight=unisaw

[thomas d evans]

Wow! Thanks, Randy. I've saved that in my library. I'm glad to learn there are others as anal as me about at least learning these things and how to adjust it.
Right now I'm heading to pick up a couple of things to drop a 20 amp 220 outlet for the saw from the subpanel in the garage.

Tommy

[thomas d evans]

Thank you, Jamie. I need to learn how to do search queries. There's probably every answer I need already here!!

Tommy

[David Kumm]

This may be more than you need but if you set up many machines, particularly sliders, a Starrett 199 Master Machinists level is a great tool. Each mark on the dial is .0005" so moving the level all around the top tells you what is out of whack- relative to the floor- and especially if the corners are high or low. Tells you if the slider is parrallel to the cast iron top, etc. They aren't cheap but watching ebay and CL can get you one $200 or so. Dave

[glenn bradley]

I use shim stock or foil tape for shim material. If the adjustment is small the tape works well as it stays put while you are tightening things up to re-check.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Tommy
First off welcome to the creek. Second I can't add any thing else. But I think you got a great deal on your Delta Saw.. I sold my 10 year old uni for $975 last year. Tom

[thomas d evans]

Thank s @ Thomas, David and Glen.

I have the 220 up and the saw works well. I've ordered bearings for the arbor and a set of belts. The arbor has a bit of 'catch' or click in a spot or two, so..... better now than after it's all set-up.

The interior of the cabinet is very rusty toward the bottom so I'm cleaning that up and repainting. The wires from the start box to switch are toast and I'll get that after work today.

I think I may try to sell or trade the Biesemeyer 10 ft rails and tube for a shorter set before cutting them up. It's a rural area here, so may end up cutting them.
I'll keep ya'll posted and upload photos as the process goes on.

Tommy

[Joseph Tarantino]

these two threads address aligning the blade to the miter slot and computing the amount of shimming for 45* bevel rips:

http://woodgears.ca/delta_saw/alignment.html

https://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/t25836/

[thomas d evans]

thanks Joseph,
I remember having seen the woodgears article, it now makes sense on what it's about.
And the ridgid pdf file really clarifies the whole theory of adjustments. Kudos to the author!
Tommy