Unisaw motor mount

[the_tool_man]

Hi all:

I'm searching for a used Unisaw, and anticipating buying one that's a little rough - possibly from a school auction. It will almost certainly have a 3-phase motor (which I can deal with) and may be 460V (which I can't deal with). I do have access to a number of suitable motors, but none of them have the proprietary Delta mounting. I do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for a new motor when I have a free one, so I'm wondering if it's possible to modify a standard motor case to fit. The Delta mounting appears to be two large tabs welded onto the side of the motor. Anybody done this, or have plans or instructions? My searches so far have yeilded very little.

Regards, John.

[max]

A long time ago I bought a Unisaw for $100 with a burned out motor. I didn't know how expensive the motors were. I tried to do it myself but couldn't. I took a motor I had to a welder and her welded the tabs from the old motor to the new motor. He did first check and made sure the internal wiring wasn't in a spot where it could get damaged. max

[skeezics]

the mount isnt the only problem that could come up. you will also need a motor with a 3/4 inch shaft else you will be buying a new pully. also most of the older 3 ph motors were 1725 rpm wihich means they use the larger 5 1/2" pully. most of the new motors i have seen are 3450 rpm and you will need the smaller variety of pully. 3 1/4"? or there abouts. it is a 3 belt drive pully and may be hard to locate if you have a smaller or larger shaft size. you can take a standard mounting plate and have ears mounted to it but i think you may be getting into as much moey and trouble as getting a new motor. you may need to get new pullys anyway. when i changed mine from 3 ph to single ph i found all of the motors offered to be the higher rpm variety and of course mine was not. check out t owwm site.

skeez

[captmikey]

Why not save yourself all this grief and just buy a vintage Unisaw that has a single-phase bullet motor? They will run fine on 110v or

220v and the torque those motors have is hard to match unless you go over 3HP IMHO.

BTW, most older Unisaw builders/rebuilders/collectors would kill for a burned out bullet motor because it can be rebuilt. Not cheap, but "they just don't make them like that"... he says looking at his beautiful 1948 Unisaw!

Bought mine for $450 (one-owner) and probably have $1000.00 in it now... looks and runs like new.

[the_tool_man]

Ahh, well, that's plan A. However, I've been looking for months (years, counting some casual trips to local auctions and such). All the Unisaws in good shape with single-phase motors I've found are going for $1000+ around here. Last auction I went to, even that Unisaw brought $650 with a 3-phase motor, badly rusted table and no fence. Plan B is to find a well-used one at a school auction for $400 - $500 and spend some time fixing it up. I have a VFD if it's 3-phase, but I can only go 230V. If it's 460V, I'd need a 3-phase transformer, which I don't have. I do have several 230V 3-phase motors (some TENV washdown duty) but no mounting, which is why I asked my original questions.

I know motors can be rewound for different voltages. Can a 3-phase motor be rebuilt into a single phase? If I buy one that needs rebuilding anyway...

Regards, John.

[the_tool_man]

Hi skeez:

All good points, for sure. Assuming I don't have to change pulley diameter, I can re-bore or sleeve it to match the motor I use. I am concerned about getting things lined up, but the photo's I've seen of Delta style motors make it appear that the motor simply has two metal flanges welded to it. This doesn't seem to be too difficult to reproduce (which is why I asked).

Been to owwm.com - great site.

Regards, John.

[skeezics]

on another note.... i still have the 3 ph original motor from my saw. it is 240 volt . if you were in or around central NC you could get it cheap. i aint gonna try shipping this beasty! it ran fine when i looked at the saw.

skeez

[the_tool_man]

Thanks skeez:

I live in upstate SC :*) I'll let you know if I need it (gotta get the saw first!).

Regards, John.

[skeezics]

k. just drop an email or a post. im here nearly everyday

skeez

[skeezics]

oops the email is fartntouchit at hotmail.com

skeez

[the_tool_man]

Hi all:

Thanks to all who replied. It's all moot, now. Yesterday I bought a Powermatic 66 at auction. It appears to use a standard C-face motor mount.

Regards, John.