# Motor-Less Unisaw on CL



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

I'm not really in the market, but wondered about how good a deal this is. It looks like a fairly recent Unisaw but no motor. I think I read somewhere that Unisaws use a non-standard motor so I'm guessing that plopping a 3HP single phase in this unit would be cost-prohibitive. 

<<_Rockwell Unisaw - $350 (Newtown Pa) _ _Date: 2011-04-13, 2:38PM EDT

Rockwell Unisaw 10 in blade. Good Condition but it has no motor. Comes with starter for 3 phase motor. All cranks and bearings are good and operate smoothly. 
Comes with fence ,big 3 belt pulley and a used blade. 
Good saw ,no motor. _>>

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/tls/2323034054.html



Your thoughts?


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Look at it this way*

A new motor off ebay for $360.... a used saw for $350...For $700
very neat saw.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...&_nkw=unisaw+motor&_sacat=See-All-Categoriesb :thumbsup: bill


----------



## mickit (Oct 5, 2009)

Not a real recent model, but a good one nonetheless. If you can get the motor and electrics at a good price, you'll have a saw that'll outlive you. I say go for it! (Gee it's fun spendin' other peoples money:laughing


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Well, I went and took a look at the Unisaw. It seemed basically intact. It had the basic fence, no major rust and the electrics for the missing three-phase motor. Missing parts were the lock knob for the blade elevation (older round type), blade guard/splitter and of course, the motor. There is no motor cover but on closer inspection, I decided the saw didn’t come with that option.

So I decided to think on it for a while and noticed this week it was still in CL for the same price - $350. I emailed the fellow and offered him $250. I was somewhat apologetic as some people get upset when you low-ball a price but I explained that was about what it was worth to me. He got back to me yesterday and accepted the offer.

So today I went to his place again (less than 10 min. away), and gave the trunnions and motor mount area a more careful inspection for cracks. All looked good so I agreed to buy it, then took the fence, table extensions and table off the saw so I could lighten it and load it in my mini-van more easily. I was surprised at how easy the thing came apart. A 5/8" wrench and a screwdriver were all that were needed. I took the parts I removed home and then came back for the base with the guts still in it and loaded it on my hand truck. It wasn’t as heavy as I thought it might be.

So now the saw is in my garage in pieces. When I got it home I took the lower base off before I took the saw off the hand truck. The base has some heavy surface rust underneath so it will go in the sandblaster, get primed and then a coat of semi-gloss black. A nice bonus I wasn’t expecting is that the base has a factory standard hole for a dust port in the rear.

Next step will be to take the trunnions, arbor, etc., out. Nothing is rusty so hopefully that will go smoothly.

Now that it’s mostly apart, I could inspect things more carefully. I was happy to find no cracks in any cast parts (I read the one trunnion mount can break). The angle and elevation mechanisms have no noticeable slop in them, which I was also happy to find out. The 3-phase electrics may be able to be re-wired to work with single phase.

One thing that wasn’t good: The motor pulley that came with the saw is 5-1/2 inch. I believe that’s for the old Unisaws with the 1725 RPM motor. This one was apparently made in 1979 (That's a correction - I initially thought it was an '81) so I have no idea how that pulley ended up with it.

This afternoon I went paint shopping for matching paint. It seems that Rustoleum’s Smoke Gray is a very close match. Next closest was Krylon (also called Smoke Gray!) which is a bit too dark.

I hope you guys don’t mind if I pepper you with questions through this little restoration project. I plan to strip everything down, clean, re-paint re-lube and re-wire. The tables have a brown patina to them but no actual rust other them one small pitted spot about an inch in diameter on the far corner of the left extension. They may see the sandblaster, too.

Advice is welcome!

Bill


----------



## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

That's gonna be a great project and an even greater saw. :thumbsup:

Post some pics along the way.

Personally... I would leave the pretty brown patina on the tops. :smile:


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

I've been meaning to post pictures of the Unisaw project here (I have mostly been documenting the restoration on that other site that deals with old arn). I got a lot of help through this site, though, and wanted to show you where the saw is at. 

To sum up the rebuild, I tore the saw down completely, stripped and painted pretty much everything, got a new motor (thank you to those who gave me motor advice - I went with a 3 hp Leeson), a new full-kerf Delta blade (thanks, Knotscott), belts, a used Unifence (thanks to Woodnthings and the others who gave me advice on that) the proper motor pulley, a new splitter and guard assembly, a replacement lock knob, new arbor bearings and a whole bunch of little replacement parts to get this saw up to snuff. I also got quite an education in motor controllers while figuring out how to convert a 3 phase magnetic starter to a single phase.

Last week I bolted the motor on, hit 'Start' and nothing happened (of course). But after some troubleshooting and messing with a stubborn overload switch, it fired up. Today I finished up the table and extensions and bolted them on. It looked complete enough to take some pictures. 

I still have a ton of little things to do. As you can see, there is no fence yet, the new throat plate doesn't have a slot in it and I guess I should put the cover on the starter box.  I haven't done any blade/table alignment as I'm going to take the table off again to move the saw to the basement. So there's still a lot of work to do but it's getting there. I'm looking forward to making sawdust with this soon!

Bill


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Nice job on the saw. It looks brand azz new.:yes:












 







.


----------



## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Good gravy, that looks like a new saw. You are going to love that bad boy.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Outstanding Job!*

How old is that new saw? :laughing: bill
30 years
"One thing that wasn’t good: The motor pulley that came with the saw is 5-1/2 inch. I believe that’s for the old Unisaws with the 1725 RPM motor. This one was apparently made in 1981 so I have no idea how that pulley ended up with it."


----------



## klr650 (Apr 4, 2010)

250 for that? You got a good deal for that saw.


----------



## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Beautifull resto. :thumbsup:

Now you can sell that one, and buy 2-3 more. :stuart:


----------



## renovatio (Jul 4, 2011)

Great job on the restoration! If you don't mind me asking, how much are you into it for after all the upgrades?


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

<<_If you don't mind me asking, how much are you into it for after all the upgrades? _>>

I don't mind you asking but I can't give an exact answer. I learned long ago when working on hot rods as a hobby that keeping exact financial track of each project was bad for both my mental health and marital health! Plus, I didn't get into this project to make money but to have a great cabinet saw.

But to give you an idea: The saw cost $250. The motor was about $400. Miscellaneous parts were maybe $100-$200 (the pointer bracket was shot which locks the blade elevation and that was about $50). I also got a new splitter assembly (~$40) and a used lock knob ($22). Plus there were lots of cans of spray paint, the belts, arbor bearings, nuts and bolts, etc...... I needed a new motor pulley but sold the one the saw came with for more than the correct one cost so that worked out well. 

The saw came with a complete, usable Jet-Lock fence but I purchased a used 52" Unifence for $140 (plus about another ~$60 until I have that all fixed up). That's a big upgrade and I'll sell the Jet-Lock to compensate for what the Unifence cost.

So without adding all that up and getting depressed, I'm sure I have the cost of a good used Unisaw wrapped up in the project. But; I have a brand new motor, brand new paint and the only thing not new in appearance/function is the table top, and it's not too bad. I came in much lower than the price of a new Unisaw and got the satisfaction of restoring it myself.

If I had to do this over again: I would look for a saw that needed work but already had a single phase motor. Unisaw motors are not cheap and as they have a special mount you can't just use any old motor. $400 was a good price for a new motor but if I could have gotten into a crusty Unisaw _with _a motor for $400-$500, I could have restored it for less $$.

But then I wasn't even looking for a Unisaw. I just happened to come upon one. And I plan to keep this one for a long time and sell the Ridgid 3660 I've been using, so that will help offset the cost, too.

Bill


----------



## RJweb (Feb 25, 2011)

how much are you asking for the ridgid, I live in your area, thx


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

RJ,

I sent you a PM.

Bill


----------



## RJweb (Feb 25, 2011)

Bill,
did you get my pm, not sure I did it right, thx RJ


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Got it! Thanks


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

*Not Finished but Functional!*

Yesterday I got my two sons together and we moved the Ridgid 3660 from the basement to the garage and then took the Unisaw from the garage to the basement. My back is almost back to normal today! (almost). 

Anyway, we took a bunch of parts off of the saws to lighten them up for the move because the basement stairs are a pain. The table extensions, fence and motors came off both saws and the table came off the Unisaw.

Last night I put enough of the Unisaw together to do some alignment. Today I finished table/blade/splitter/fence alignment, put the table extensions on and assembled and installed the Unifence. I got everything aligned using one of those little digital angle squares and a dial indicator. The hardest part was setting the blade stop for 45 degrees. To reach the adjustment bolt, I had to take the blade out every time I changed the adjustment until I got it right.

I was having trouble with the handle/lock shaft of the Unifence being too tight in it's bore. I finally found the problem: Some knucklehead had hammered on the end of the handle shaft and mushroomed it slightly. That I found pretty quickly but later I noticed there was a hammer mark halfway along the shaft. After that was filed down the shaft fit well. Some people shouldn't be allowed around good tools!

I fired it up this afternoon and ran some oak through it. It cut great and the last thing I did was fasten the measuring tape for the fence and calibrate the cursor. It seems it's a 46 inch fence so I suspect the rail lost about four inches of length at some point as it should be 50. I didn't think the Unifence was very smooth until I rubbed Johnson's wax all over the rail. Now it glides much better.

I still have things to do like hook up some dust collection, come up with a blade guard/dust collection setup (I got a PSI blade guard for that), replace some Unifence parts that are back-ordered like the rail end caps, put some laminate over the dinged fence faces, etc. But at this point it's ready to make sawdust! 

It's not as smooth as the Ridgid was. It passes the nickle test but not every time. I suppose those three V-belts have something to do with that. Plus I have it on small rubber feet.

The other odd thing I noticed was that when I was ripping oak with a 40 tooth combination blade, the saw didn't slow down one bit!

Bill


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*that turned out great Bill*

I see that it's a right tilt and you have the on/off switch mounted to clear the wheel on the far right hand side. If I were to offer one suggestion it would be to use a paddle type OFF switch similar to the one you have so you can bump it off with you leg or hip without removing your hands from the workpiece. I can't tell you how many times I use mine that way.
These are from Grizzly and cheap: http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2011/Main/258  the other bill


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Bill - Good eyes! I have scarfed the big red paddle from another On/Off switch and am going to adapt it to the Unisaw switch (the Uni's switch being a 24V magnetic version). While I was resuscitating that fence rail, I drilled and tapped a hole on the left bottom of it so I can mount the switch there, too (I left the cord long enough). I'm thinking that's where it will end up since I usually stand to the left when crosscutting and ripping all but real wide stuff.

Bill


----------



## eagle49 (Mar 22, 2011)

You can weld a regular motor to the Rockwell brackets, you don't have speed all that money on the special motor. Mine is that way and it works just fine. 







mine is


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

I realize that some people have successfully built adapters so they could use standard motors on Unisaws. I also know that some people haven't had great success, having alignment problems or interference between the motor and saw cabinet. I didn't want to take the chance. 

Also, along with the non-standard motor mount, Unisaw motors use a smaller than normal 3/4" shaft. Many motors in the 3 hp range use a 7/8" shaft. 

Anyway, different strokes for different folks. I just figured it was most practical for me to go for a Unisaw-specific motor. I would have gone used if I could but didn't find anything available. If I had a standard 3 hp just laying around, I may have considered adapting it.

Bill


----------



## troyd1976 (Jul 26, 2011)

Beautiful resto


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

An update: Like Woodnthings suggested, I moved the on/off switch to the left side and further front (it's screwed into the fence rail now), making easier to get to. I still have to put a 'paddle' on the switch.

I solved the vibration problem I mentioned above. Though I used premium Gates belts, I didn't spring for the more expensive 'matched' Delta belts. Last week I broke down and purchased a set. They are truly matched and have sequential batch numbers. They are identical in length (with the Gates belts, one was tight and two had some looseness) and tension identically. The saw passes the nickel test with ease, now.

While answering a question about Unisaw serial numbers on another thread, I made a discovery. I thought this saw was an '81. It turns out that they made this model through several years and the serial number ID's it as a '79.

Bill


----------



## yocalif (Nov 11, 2010)

Awesome restoration, if your wood work is half that good it is exceptional.


----------



## 240sxguy (Sep 13, 2010)

Man, I need to tear down my saw and fix it up. It looks pretty sad after seeing yours 

Nice job!


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Bill, that is just a fantastic restoration. Not only is it a great saw but you "own" it having taken it a part and rebuilt it. Lot of satisfaction in that. Very well done! :thumbsup:


----------



## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Thanks, Guys!


----------

