I have an opportunity to purchase a Delta/Rockwell 14" bandsaw that was made in the early 1980's for $375. It has a new poly tire on it, and looks, to my untrained eye, to be in good shape. The retailer has an excellent reputation in town as well.
It's a one-owner saw, and was sold to the original purchaser by the same retailer offering it now some 20 years later.
It is an open-stand model, and it has the original 3/4 hp Baldor motor on it. Yes, that's right...it's the original motor. The retailer in question used to buy them from Delta without the 1/2 hp Marathon, then install 3/4 hp Baldors instead.
I remember reading somewhere that Rockwell equipment started to go downhill sometime in the 1980's, though. Maybe a fiction of my imagination.
Can anyone talk to the (potential) quality of this saw? Were they still good models back then?
Thanks in advance.