ok all you unisaw experts.HELP!!!!

We'll i took the plunge. [sort of] Picked up a vintage unisaw yesterday. This be a good Q for you unisaw. the tag on the back of the saw i bought does not look like any of those on your website. it is a tad that appears to be welded in place and is not colored. just a steel tab. the number is 64-0344. I figure this to mean it may have been built in 1948. the fella i bought it from said it's a 3 phase 3 hp unisaw. im not so sure. I'm sure its a unisaw and im reasonably sure it is 3 phase but everything i have read about saws of that era tell me its probly 1 1/2 or 2 hp. anyway it has the 5 1/2" pully on the motor so it aint 3450 rpm. is there any place that a 1725 rpm 3 hp

1 phase motor can be had for this saw? I realy dont want to use a static phase converter as it will lose me some hp and probly shorten the life of the motor. A rotory phase converter is way too much money! I don't mind buying a motor but was trying to get around spending an additional 50 bucks for a pulley. I have a magnetic switch already. I'm not sure if this saw is worthy of a gloat at 400 dollars as i will have to put quite a bit more in it but the castings are in good shape and i think the saw is mechanicaly sound. it cleaned up well. even the old jet lock fence seems servicable. any advise or recomendations gladly accepted. skeez
Reply to
skeezics
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We'll i took the plunge. [sort of] Picked up a vintage unisaw yesterday. This be a good Q for you unisaw. the tag on the back of the saw i bought does not look like any of those on your website. it is a tad that appears to be welded in place and is not colored. just a steel tab. the number is 64-0344. I figure this to mean it may have been built in 1948. the fella i bought it from said it's a 3 phase 3 hp unisaw. im not so sure. I'm sure its a unisaw and im reasonably sure it is 3 phase but everything i have read about saws of that era tell me its probly 1 1/2 or 2 hp. anyway it has the 5 1/2" pully on the motor so it aint 3450 rpm. is there any place that a 1725 rpm 3 hp

1 phase motor can be had for this saw? I realy dont want to use a static phase converter as it will lose me some hp and probly shorten the life of the motor. A rotory phase converter is way too much money! I don't mind buying a motor but was trying to get around spending an additional 50 bucks for a pulley. I have a magnetic switch already. I'm not sure if this saw is worthy of a gloat at 400 dollars as i will have to put quite a bit more in it but the castings are in good shape and i think the saw is mechanicaly sound. it cleaned up well. even the old jet lock fence seems servicable. any advise or recomendations gladly accepted. skeez
Reply to
skeezics

oh goodie.

this is the only destinctive thing on the saw. can't seem to find any other names letters numbers or anything else for that matter. but as yet i havn't removed anything exept the fence and some rust. hehehe.

kewl! now we getting somewhere.

yes i know.

7 holes yes but so far as i can tell no tag.

i was hoping to NOT do any cutting on the cabinet. i went for the old saw versus the new one cause i LIKE old tools better. i just didnt think a phase converter was a viable solution. thats why i came here first before i did anything i might regret.

nuff said.

im assuming you mean a rotary and not a static converter?

bust away!

ok.

the saw does not have a switch on it. the previouse owner removed it for whatever reason. he gave me another switch but i dont know if its any good. i allready had the mag switch so it doesn't have to be used here if i don't need it. im sure i will find a use for it some where.

ill go get some but the SWMBO will have to get em into the machine for me. i aint so good with the teck stuff! lol. ill go sweet talk her and let you know when i get em up.

thank you so much for responding. i think i sent this message again caquse i couldn't find it the first time. blind carpenter. interesting concept huh? skeez

Reply to
skeezics

ok im posting some pics on ABPW. damn that woman is good!!! skeez

Reply to
skeezics

{{.. munch ..}}

The blind carpenter is _well_ known. "... he picked up his hammer and saw."

I *presume* you had a hammer, before you picked up this saw.

Reply to
Robert Bonomi

Keeter et all,

If this is indeed a 3 HP 3-phase motor and one would want to run it on single phase, one may wish to consider a variable frequency drive (aka VFD). Now, some folks will say they cost an arm and a leg, that they're big, complicated and will mess up the electrons forever ... and "once upon a time" some of this information was correct. That was then, this is ... uh not then.

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$379.00 will get you a VFD sufficient for historic needs (1) ... and the best part is you don't have to hack anything up to make it work. You can use the ball-tip switch to provide power to the drive (hidden within the cabinet if you wish), set the drive to line-start (2) and be done with it. Single phase 220 in, 3-phase 220 out ... PLUS you get a smooth start when you power it on. If you are willing to use that ball-tip switch to control the on-off function of the drive (and use the panel-mounted circuit breaker to shut the drive off), you can have both a ramp start and a ramp stop (with DC braking) ... so the blade doesn't coast for an hour and a half (great motor, good bearings, and so on). Your belts will last longer because they aren't playing catchup on startup (thump removal).

Don't want to fuss with putting this into the cabinet? Mount it to the wall, and just use it as a phase converter that doesn't rob you of horsepower.

Endless options ... all easily done without fuss. (3)

From time to time Automation Direct puts some drives on clearance ... couple of months ago, 1 HP drive was around $100.00. Drive costs (especially the no-frills ones WITHOUT vector drive capability) are dropping monthly ... though the curve really flattens out before the manufacturers are paying you to take them off their hands. (4)

Now there will be those who will holler that a phase converter is cheaper ... and the answer is maybe so. They do require a bit of space (the VFD does too ... but not nearly as much as one would believe). Static phase converters do cost in terms of horsepower, and unless you're only lighting off the saw to see it spin once in a while, you'll probably want a heavy duty converter. Rotary converters are big, noisy, expensive heat generators that do as advertised ... but unless you REALLY need a pure sinewave (and for a saw you DON'T), you really don't need a rotary converter. Got one free ... That's a different story ... use it.

Rick

(Who is still waiting for his Unisaw to adopt him)

(1) historic needs meaning you don't have to change the motor, hack up the cabinet, chase after the impossible to find, look for your lost dog, etc.

(2) Line start means the drive starts up as soon as 220 power is applied. No additional switches needed. You can have a slow ramp-up ... but when you shut the power off ... the motor and blade will coast to a stop rather than being driven/braked to a quick stop.

(3) Assuming you can read the installation manual, understand just a little bit about electricity and 220 VAC wiring, or aren't afraid to ask someone to help with same.

(4) Like THAT's going to happen.

(5) Just checking to see who's paying attention.

------ pretty much random snipping ---------------------------->

And you thought I'd forgotten. (5)

Reply to
Rick

Typically on a Unisaw of vintage you will find the serial number and the name Delta on the dust door. The trouble is, the dust doors are usually missing. In other words, buying a "complete" Unisaw is about as rare as things will get.

The seven holes indicate a 3 phase motor. You found the holes right almost on the tippy-tip of the bell. That smallish (2"-3") round spot would have been where you'd have found the tag on older motors. Look for a couple of holes where the drive screws would have held the tag. If so the motor can be figured to be 3/4 to 1 1/2 horse. Later motors had the larger tag on the cylinder body.

Thank you. By the way, did you see the reply on VFD's?

See! Shunning does work.

Rotary or a VFD. I'll leave it to someone who has the knowledge of these things to explain. There is also a wealth of info archived on the OWWM forum.

I should probably not have posted my own bias when it comes to this sort of thing. In the end it comes down to two priorities (in this order).

1) Get the machine running and functional. 2) Make it showroom shiney.

Sounds like you have your priorities straight.

I noticed you'd posted some to the bio-naries. Mind slipping them into an e-mail and shooting them over via the back channel?

My grandfather was a blind bus driver. OK, he was a bus driver that went blind.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

It's not that hard to find a low-rpm 3HP motor. But you're unlikely to find one that's still the right size. I think you'lll either have to drop the power, or deal with the high rpm.

The "box of capacitors" sort are expensive and just never work right. The only thing worse than one on a saw is one on a thicknesser. You also need either one per machine, or to be continually re-adjusting them.

If I were going to buy a phase converter these days, I'd look at VFD.

So build one ! All you need is a hunky great 3 phase motor and a look at the Old Woodworking Machines site.

A UK trick is to use the orginal motor as the converter and fit a smaller motor to the machine. We have a problem here where our small machines are more powerful than the USA (240V rather than 110V) but our 240V domestic supplies are a lower current than your 220V domestic supplies. A real 3HP in the UK often means installing a 3 phase supply, just to get enough power.

Good. Those old non-NVR switches scare me.

BTW - If it's necessary to cut a larger hole in the saw cabinet, is it an easy task to replace the whole panel and just "butcher" the modern panel ?

Reply to
Andy Dingley

found 2 small holes on the bullet. they are near the outer edges and 2

3/4" apart/

no i didn't. was that on owwm or here?

i need to read some about these.

it will run. the previous owner fired it up and ran several hundred feet of lumber through it while i was making the deal. they just had it wired direct to the breaker and turned it on there to use it.

show room shiney may happen but i am more interested in rule number 1 for the moment. lol.

no problem and ill get others if needed. i sized the pics down for posting purposes would you like them full size? or maybe a little better quality? im on cable so size dont matter on this end.

Reply to
skeezics

"Unisaw A100" typed in...

What's that old joke? Oh yes, I remember!

"I want to die peacefully by slipping into a deep sleep and not recovering, like my uncle did. Not screaming and yelling and blubbering like the people in the bus he was driving at the time"

Reply to
Groggy

the cheepest rotory i found was 375 so 379 aint no stretch. i like the idea of not loosing any power as i dont beleive this is 3 hp anyway. after suggestions from unisaw a100 im thinkin 1 1/2 hp tops.

nope no freebees yet! gonna have to buy somthing anyway as long as its comparable im open to all suggestions.

that isn't a problem. keeps the naborhood cats guessin ya know! lol.

electricity aint my strong suit but i got freinds who know more. dont mind asking at all.

Reply to
skeezics

lmao.

Reply to
skeezics

My last Uni restoration was a saw that originally had the bullet motor but was butchered to accomodate a newer motor. I recut the hole to a more pleasing shape and mig welded a new flange to the inside of the hole. It looks O.K.

I wouldn't close up too much of the cabinet, you will restrict the airflow to the point where you are not getting any of the fine dust.

Still looking for a couple of dust doors. They are $135.00 from Delta.

Jamie

Unisaw A100 wrote:

Reply to
Jamie Norwood

$400 seems pretty cheap if you have three phase power but why a Jet fence ona Unisaw? Does it fit right? If you have pictures I'd like to see what the saws look like. 1948 was a long time ago! Castratta

Reply to
Castratta

Teknikally no. The Jet Lock didn't come into being until

196(mumble-mumble-mumble) OK, the early 60's. Your fence is/was the Micro-Set fence.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

sent some. aol can be a pain.

Reply to
skeezics

Since 1958, JET Equipment & Tools has earned a reputation as a premier supplier of quality products which are uniquely backed by an extensive parts and service network, and customer-friendly technical support. Because of our broad product line, JET is able to meet all of your manufacturing needs.

JET, located in Auburn, Washington, also owns Powermatic, the premier manufacturer of heavy duty woodworking machinery, and Performax, famous for a complete line of high quality drum sanders.

-- mike hide

Reply to
Mike Hide

Different year but still appropos: Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot to turn on my hearing aid, sorry folks. Hold on. There I can hear you now. El Guapo, the saw saved from the belly of the beast? If I were vice president I'd save all the old pre-1960-something American iron. Jet certainly had the reputation as crap even in the eighties. I used one of their metal lathes for awhile and the headstock bearings ran hot to the touch even at moderate speeds. Turned out to be an alignment problem between bores hopefully from warpage of the casting AFTER machining. Not really a put down of current Jet offerings but most of this modern stuff is crap by comparison no matter where it comes from. Quality still costs big money and iron castings do need to "season" before finish machining same as they did waaay back when. Health & Peace, Uncle Lucky

Reply to
Uncle Lucky

Keeter,

Rotary. VFD is a device that allows you to take single phase input and create variable 3 phase power so that you can control the speed of the target device. I don't think you'd want to put one on a table saw, but they would do quite well on a DP, shaper, or lathe.

You can pick up used 3 phase motors for a dime a dozen, and the components to build a converter would run from $20-100 depending on HP ratings and newness of parts.

Resto Rick

Reply to
Rick Chamberlain

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