20 Year Old 1.5 hp Delta Unisaw

I have been looking for a cabinet saw there is a 20 year old 1.5 hp Delta Unisaw that is in very good shape. Made in USA. Prior to that I was thinking of a 3hp Grizzly cabinet saw for around a $1000.

The Grizzly has 3hp and the ShopFox Fence while the Unisaw is only 1.5 hp and has the old style tube rails and fence. I assume I could wire the 1.5 hp to 220 which may make it slightly better than running on 120. I would think the fit and finish would be superior on the Unisaw but I figure I get more bang for my saw dollar with the Grizzly 3hp with ShopFox fence. Be cool to have a USA Delta but might not be worth it.

I would appreciate your opinons on the 1.5 hp Delta Unisaw; is the 1.5 hp motor going to be a limitation? Down the road will it be possible for me to put a 3 hp motor on the Unisaw or will it not fit? How are the older Unisaw fences - is this something that will require upgrading down the road? What do 1.5 hp Unisaws in good condition bring on the market today?

I have one of those 1.5 hp Unisaws, wired for 220. It is about 25 years old, and it has built lots of furniture -- check out my website. 1.5 hp is fine. It cuts everything I've ever thrown at it. That OEM fence (maybe it was called Jet-Fence?) is okay, but I eventually replaced mine with Biesemeyer-style one. It is a definite improvement; the fence is always parallel to the blade.

www.owwm.com and www.owwm.org has all the info on older Unisaws.

If it is one of Bullet shaped motors jump on it. But your saying 20 years old makes me wonder if it is a capacitor start motor? The old bullet motors are Repulsion Induction motors and they have much more torque than a capacitor start, so the 1.5 HP rating is a little misleading. I will cut anything you will ever want it to do.

The early fence work good. But they are not as nice as a new Bessy. I use one of the pre-Jet Lock fences and it suits me fine. But I can't fault anyone for wanting a nicer one. They are much smoother, but both get the job done.

Not to knock Grizzly, but that Unisaw will be a much better quality machine. I have a couple of Grizz machines, but nothing beats an old Unisaw or PM cabinet saw.