Unisaw motor question

[Gary Pennington]

I've been told that a motor from a left tilt won't fit a right tilt saw and vice versa. I thought they were interchangeable.

Thanks for shedding some light on this, Gary

[Chip Lindley]

It's the two mounting brackets which set Uni motors apart from all others. (plus a non-standard 3/4" shaft) The brackets are mounted so as to keep the motor's conduit box and capacitor *bumps* out of the way to maintain clearance. The brackets are *flipped* on left-tilt Uni's because everything else in the guts is also a mirror image of the original right-tilt saw.

Some have made their own mounting brackets attached to a standard motor, with welded brackets mounted to a flat plate. Of course, a motor would have to be found (or remachined) with 3/4" shaft. Else, the 3-groove motor pulley would have to be rebored to 7/8" or shimmed to 5/8".

Here are shots of a right-tilt Leeson 3hp motor. Notice the brackets. A hole on right side and adjustment slot on left. Notice the slant of the bracket top downward toward the right.

[Tom Veatch]

... Of course, a motor would have to be found (or remachined) with 3/4" shaft. ....

And that could be very difficult. Standard NEMA frame shaft diameters jump from 5/8 on the 56 frames to 7/8 on the 143T/145T and 182/184 frames. A NEMA frame with a 3/4 shaft would be a special and probably not very common in the general market. The standard frame closest to 3/4 (19.05mm) is the IEC D80 with a 19mm shaft.

[Gary Pennington]

Tom and Chip,
Thank you for the informative replies, I appreciate you taking time to clarify that. I've been making chips for 6 or 8 years but just found this forum a few weeks ago. There's a wealth of information and many extremely helpful people.

Thaks again, Gary

[Chris Rosenberger]

I've been told that a motor from a left tilt won't fit a right tilt saw and vice versa. I thought they were interchangeable.

Thanks for shedding some light on this, Gary

The motors for the left & right Unisaws are different.
The brackets are reversed.

[David Christopher]

even if it fit, it would turn the blade backwards

[Chris Rosenberger]

even if it fit, it would turn the blade backwards

Only if the motors are single phase.

[Gary Pennington]

Chris and David,
Thanks, especially for the photo. Speaks volumes.

Gary